Britain

At the beginning of the nineteenth century, writes D. Pepys Whiteley, an easy-going Royal Duke was deeply embarrassed by the scandalous revelations of a discarded mistress, and by the publication of his private letters.

During his many years of administration, writes H.T. Dickinson, Walpole was highly unpopular with large sections of the community.

W.J. Reader describes a scandalous episode that arose out of the transfer of authority in India from the East India Company to the Crown.

Stella Margetson describes how, with the single-mindedness of a devoted artist, John Palmer revolutionized the transport system of the British Isles.

In 1862 a Japanese official mission visited England, nine years after the re-opening of their country to the world. Carmen Blacker describes how their strange attire and ‘inscrutable reticence’ surprised the mid-Victorian public.

A.P. Ryan describes how, each Easter, the Irish Republic commemorates the anniversary of the April Rising in Dublin when a short-lived Provisional Government of the Republic was proclaimed.

Though the Duke did not pretend to be a highly educated man, he had a real respect for books, and made resolute attempts to supervise the education of his son and heir. By Elizabeth Longford.

How a resounding British victory convinced the German military leaders that they had lost the First World War. 

In 1907, writes A.W. Palmer, two empires that had three times been on the verge of war in the preceding thirty years reached a hopeful accommodation.

Born on the banks of the Rhone, this enlightened French missionary was the first European to carry out a comprehensive survey of the manners and customs of the Hindus. Roderick Cameron describes how the book that he wrote, which he published with the encouragement of the British East India Company, remains a classic in its own field.