Volume 63 Issue 12 December 2013

The ‘little town’ celebrated by western Christians as the location of the Nativity is much more than a stylised depiction evoked in Christmas cards each December, says Jacob Norris. 

The tragic figure whose death led to the outbreak of the First World War was born on 18 December 1863.

Tinseltown pioneers founded the Jesse Lasky Feature Play Company on December 22nd, 1913.

The rebirth of one of the world's great buildings took place on December 24th, 563.

To be present where so many are now absent offers students a profound insight into the realities of history, argues Tom Jackson.

Should one of the greatest of Welsh treasures be returned to the country in which it was found? David R. Howell investigates.

The history of the Bayreuth Festival, the annual celebration of the music of Richard Wagner, is mired in controversy and scandal, as Mark Ronan reports.

Though UK governments rejected US requests to send troops to Vietnam, Britain did not stay out of the war, says Marc Tiley.