Volume 57 Issue 7 July 2007

John A. Kirk recalls the dramatic events at Little Rock, Arkansas, when a stand-off over the granting of black students access to integrated education brought the civil rights agenda to international attention.

Martin Evans talks to the historian of science Rebecca Stott about her new novel in which she explores unexplained events in the life of Isaac Newton, and considers the interactions between past and present.

July 15th, 1957

Napoleon and Alexander I of Russia signed a peace treaty on 7 July, 1807.

Edward Longshanks died on July 7th, 1307. 

Mark Bryant discovers the world’s first cartoon character, who sold large numbers of books, and all manner of merchandising.

Simon Ditchfield looks at the achievement of Ignatius Loyola and sees the Society of Jesus, which he founded, as the first organization with a truly global reach.

Hanna Diamond examines the mixed experiences of the French men and women of every social class who fled their homes in the mass exodus from the Nazis in 1940, and those who took them in.

R.J. Knecht looks at the ­practical considerations behind the smooth operation of the huge courts of the Valois kings of France.

Serving general and military historian Jonathon Riley uses his personal knowledge of command to assess Napoleon’s qualities as a strategist, operational commander and battlefield tactician.