Volume 75 Issue 4 April 2025

Portrait of James VI of Scotland, by Adrian Vanson, c.1585. Purported to be the marriage portrait sent to the Danish court to seduce Anna, his future wife.

James VI and I: Spinning the English Succession

Eager to be first in line, the astute James VI of Scotland responded to the question of the English succession with a war of words.

Mary I of England and Philip II of Spain, Hans Eworth, 1558. Bridgeman Images.

Bloody Mary and the Missing Heir

A male heir might have saved Queen Mary’s reign, and changed the shape of global Catholicism for good.

Mavis Tate and Edward Wickham talk with a young Czech survivor in the prisoners’ barracks at Buchenwald, April 1945. Associated Press/Alamy Stock Photo.

Britain’s Witnesses to Buchenwald

In April 1945 ten British politicians flew to Germany tasked with investigating the ‘truth’ about Buchenwald concentration camp.

Stone head of a man wearing a cap or helmet, found in Yorkshire, c. 2nd-3rd century. Metropolitan Museum of Art. Public Domain.

‘The Celts: A Modern History’ by Ian Stewart review

Historians may no longer talk of a single Celtic culture, but in The Celts: A Modern History Ian Stewart crafts a unified history of a changing idea.

The young Brahmin is committed to the care of a Shastri Brahmin. From The Lives of the Brahmin, an album of 38 watercolour drawings of ceremonies undertaken during the life of a Brahmin, India, c.1820. British Library/Bridgeman Images.

Brahmins: The Origins of India’s Priestly Caste

In the first millennium BC the Brahmin class organised as a community and assumed responsibility for learning the sacred Vedas. What are the origins of India’s priestly caste?

Stone stela of Ashurbanipal inscribed with cuneiform commemorating his building work on the Temple of Marduk in Babylon. Trustees of the British Museum.

The Library of Ashurbanipal

When it was discovered in the 19th century, the Library of Ashurbanipal revealed an ancient Assyrian empire previously known only through myth.

King Lewanika wearing the Victorian ambassador’s court uniform he wore to Edward VII’s coronation, 1902. Aberdeen City Council (Archives, Gallery & Museums Collection).

The African King at Edward VII’s Coronation

King Lewanika’s invitation to the coronation of Edward VII was intended to stabilise British relations with the Barotse nation. Instead, it exposed the cracks in the imperial veneer.