Thatcher’s Wordsmiths
Margaret Thatcher struggled to write her own speeches. Who put the words in her mouth?
Britain
‘The Sun Rising’ by Anna Whitelock review
The Sun Rising: James I and the Dawn of a Global Britain by Anna Whitelock offers a panoramic view of Jacobean foreign policy.
Execution of the Thief-Taker General
Britain’s self-styled ‘Thief-Taker General’ was not all he seemed. On 24 May 1725 Jonathan Wild was finally brought to justice.
The Hidden Death in the Victorian Wallpaper
Arsenic was a hidden killer in Victorian homes, but it also played a large part in the British economy. Which comes first: commerce or public health?
What was the Industrial Revolution?
Over the 18th and 19th centuries Britain’s economy, technology, and society were transformed by the so-called Industrial Revolution. Why?
VE Day: The Quiet After the Peace
When VE Day finally came in May 1945 it was met with relief, exhaustion, and cynicism. Was the Second World War in Europe really over?
Bismarck’s Britain
The German chancellor Otto von Bismarck saw himself as a puppet-master, engineering British politics from afar in his feud with Gladstone.
‘The Crisis of Colonial Anglicanism’ by Martyn Percy review
The Crisis of Colonial Anglicanism: Empire, Slavery and Revolt in the Church of England by Martyn Percy takes the British Empire’s church militant to task. Is there a case to answer?
Wool Aliens of the British Empire
From imported plant species to water pollution, Britain’s 19th century wool trade transformed the world.
‘The Celts: A Modern History’ by Ian Stewart review
Historians may no longer talk of a single Celtic culture, but in The Celts: A Modern History Ian Stewart crafts a unified history of a changing idea.