France

Defeated in the field, Germany sought peace. But, writes John Terraine, her proposals for a negotiated peace were rejected by the Allies.

Robert Gildea examines the enduring and divisive debate surrounding the reputation of the French emperor who anticipated the best and the worst of the 20th century.

From February until December 1916, Verdun was the scene of the longest and heaviest series of battles.

L.W. Cowie describes how, early in 1805, a series of strong points were built along the British coast-line, to defend against Napoleon’s army, then arrayed across the Channel.

Stephen Clissold uncovers a brutal crime with its roots deep in the rank soil of Balkan politics.

H.J.K. Jenkins profiles a dictator and liberator in the West Indies under the first French Republic.

John Terraine describes how the Allied offensive of spring 1917 promised victory but ended in failure and mutiny.

J.H.M. Salmon profiles an important - but largely forgotten - historian of the ancien régime, whose main theme was expansion in Asia and in the New World.

Joanna Richardson profiles a figure who carried her Republicanism to the edge, though not across the border, of Socialism.

Douglas Hilt introduces the scholar, innovator and agricultural reformer, Pablo de Olavide, who brought to Spain the ideas of the French Enlightenment.