Volume 56 Issue 2 February 2006

Long before the appearance of green, brown and black bins on our doorsteps we recycled our household rubbish. Tim Cooper investigates the history of waste recovery.

The Theosophists Helena Blavatsky, Annie Besant, Margaret Cousins and others went to India at the end of the 19th century to search for God and universal brotherhood in the Hindu tradition. They also ended up supporting women’s rights against contemporary Hindu practices. Mark Bevir explores the tensions between their fascination with traditional culture and the reforming zeal of their proto-feminism.

Alex Sanmark tells the strange tale of the ill-fated marriage of Philip Augustus of France and his Danish princess at the end of the twelfth century.

Alison Barnes has unearthed a transcription of the Privy Purse Accounts of Charles II that fills the gap for 1666, for which year the originals are now lost. They offer a fascinating glimpse of how the King liked to spend his time and his money.

Gillian Mawrey, editor of Historic Gardens Review, introduces the study of historic gardens as a hotbed of historical research, sheer pleasure and campaigning for conservation.