England

Richard III

David Hipshon outlines the career of the most controversial king ever to have occupied the English throne.

The Astrologer's Tables

Lauren Kassell reveals how the casebooks, diaries and diagrams of the late-16th-century astrologer Simon Forman provide a unique perspective on a period when the study of the stars began to embrace modern science.

Giving Life To Æthelstan

In 15 years Æthelstan united the English for the first time. Yet many of the facts about the Anglo-Saxon king remain elusive.

Royal Ascot’s First Day

Queen Anne ordered a racecourse to be built on Ascot Heath in 1711. It was officially opened on August 11th.

Georgian Liverpool’s battle for the Big Society

In the late 18th century the merchants, manufacturers and traders of Liverpool founded one of the first chambers of commerce in Britain with the aim of promoting the local economy. Bob Bennett looks at early parallels with the Coalition government’s plans for local partnerships.

Burghley: The Power Behind the Throne

Stephen Alford admires a perceptive article on Lord Burghley, Elizabeth I’s ally and consummate political fixer, by the distinguished Tudor historian Joel Hurstfield, first published in the 1956 volume of History Today.