Bernard Porter

The Victorians were wedded to fundamental tenets of liberalism, even when threatened with terrorism from abroad.

Once among the least monitored nations in the world, Britain is now probably the most watched. Why do Britons make so little fuss about this erosion of their ancient liberties, asks Bernard Porter?

The ‘British Empire’ was the name given by imperialists in the late 19th century to Britain’s territorial possessions. It was meant to create an image of unity and strength. But such a view is illusory, argues Bernard Porter.

A mid-Victorian competition to design new Government Offices in Whitehall fell victim to a battle between the competing styles of Gothic and Classical. The result proved unworthy of a nation then at its imperial zenith.

Bernard Porter reviews the field of studies of British covert operations and espionage.

Bernard Porter says that today’s advocates of humanitarian intervention would do well to ponder what J. A. Hobson and Ramsay MacDonald had to say a century ago about the dangers of liberal imperialism.

Bernard Porter argues that history and patriotism should be kept firmly apart.

Bernard Porter is unconvinced by American denials of a new imperialism and finds comparisons – as well as important differences – with the British experience.

Bernard Porter argues that, through most of the nineteenth century, most Britons knew little and cared less about the spread of the Empire.

Bernard Porter points out similarities and contrasts between terrorism then and now.