The Contrarian

Modern paganism is an invented tradition, says Tim Stanley. So why is the Church of England offering it a helping hand?

Tim Stanley draws parallels between a New York gang war of the 1900s and an act of horrific violence in south London.

When major political figures die, history is put on hold and the simplicities of myth take over, argues Tim Stanley.

The Whig interpretation of the past is a moral fable more akin to theology than history, argues Tim Stanley.

We downplay terrible acts from the distant past, in a way that we never would when considering more recent crimes, says Tim Stanley.

Postwar Britain’s relationship with its past was laid bare in a long-running television show, argues Tim Stanley.

Who is and who is not an American? The question goes back to the Revolution. The answer is always changing, says Tim Stanley.

In challenging times Britons seek comfort in a past that never existed. Tim Stanley shatters their illusions.

While it is right to seek justice for those tortured and mistreated during the Kenyan Emergency of the 1950s, attempts to portray the conflict as a Manichean one are far too simplistic, argues Tim Stanley.

King Leopold II’s personal rule of the vast Congo Free State anticipated the horrors of the 20th century, argues Tim Stanley.