Jonathan Fenby

Just two years after victory in the most murderous war in history, the divisions between the Soviet Union and the Western powers became unbridgeable. 

French history since the revolution has been marked by promises of progress that end in bitter failure. The election of Léon Blum’s Popular Front in 1936 was one such example.

Following Napoleon’s defeat at Waterloo, France’s Bourbon monarchy was restored. It was the first, fragile step in a diminished state’s return to the family of European nations.

The cold but continuing conflict between China and Japan is the subject of sustained attention from scholars, says Jonathan Fenby.

Jonathan Fenby looks at a brief experiment in Chinese democracy, brought to an end by political assassination.

Jonathan Fenby on the long history behind the rapid demise of one of the brightest lights in China’s political firmament.

The failings of China's 1911 revolution heralded decades of civil conflict, occupation and suffering for the Chinese people.

Exiled in London in June 1940, with France on the brink of defeat, Charles de Gaulle broadcast a speech that was to create an enduring bond between him and his country, writes Jonathan Fenby.

The year 2009 sees a remarkable coincidence of anniversaries that tell the history of modern China. Some will be celebrated by the authorities on a grand scale, others will be wilfully ignored, but all reveal important aspects of the country’s past, as Jonathan Fenby explains.