England

The Book of Becket

The true nature of the relationship between Henry II and his ‘turbulent priest’ Thomas Becket.

Mary Tudor: Queen of Hearts

Mary Rose was the younger sister of Henry VIII. David Loades describes how this forgotten Tudor was something of a wild card.

History's Heroic Age

Blair Worden revisits Hugh Trevor-Roper’s essay on the radicalism of the Puritan gentry, a typically stylish and ambitious contribution to a fierce controversy.

Give the Union its Due

The historical debate over the United Kingdom has been led by those who wish to bring the Union to an end. David Torrance believes the public deserves a more balanced discussion.

Johan Zoffany and the King’s New Clothes

Kate Retford explains how the artist Johan Zoffany found ways to promote a fresh image of royalty that endeared him to George III and Queen Charlotte – a relationship he subsequently destroyed.

After Agincourt: Women and Pain

Christopher Allmand examines Alain Chartier’s Le Livre des Quatre Dames, a poem written in response to the English victory at Agincourt, and asks what it can tell us about the lives of women during this chapter in the Hundred Years War.

Jane Austen Through the Ages

Today Jane Austen is regarded as one of the greats of English literature. But it was not always so. Amanda Vickery describes the changing nature of Austen’s reception in the two centuries since her birth.

'Never Again the Bosche'

King George V and Kaiser Wilhelm II pose together in 1912. However, the Kaiser had mixed feelings towards Britain and the First World War broke out two years later.