Victorian

Matthew Arnold’s School Inspections, Part II

Arnold spent some thirty-five years as an inspector of schools, in Europe as well as in England. David Hopkinson describes how the Victorian poet hoped education would humanize pupils and weaken the prejudices of nation and class.

Bismarck and Gladstone Beyond Caricature

Though they are often seen as polar opposites,the architect of modern Germany and the great British Liberal statesman shared more in common than one might think. Roland Quinault draws comparisons.

John Cam Hobhouse

Gerald Morgan introduces Byron’s friend and executor; a radical Whig and head of the East India Company during the Afghan troubles of 1835-43.

Henry Salt, Esq.

As Consul General for Great Britain in Egypt, Henry Salt established a friendly understanding with the free Albanian Viceroy Mohamed Ali. John Brinton describes how, through their relationship, Salt was able to rescue many treasures of ancient Egyptian art.

Henry Crabb Robinson: 1775-1867

‘Unwearied in the office of friendship’, all his life Crabb Robinson was devoted to men of genius and faithfully recorded their behaviour, as Joanna Richardson here discusses.

Cavagnari of Kabul

J.M. Brereton introduces Pierre Louis Napolean Cavagnari, a soldier of French-Italian and Irish descent, who played a distinguished part in British relations with Afghanistan, eventually costing him his life.