Empire

Ireland’s Path to Desolation

Tim Pat Coogan points the finger of blame for the Great Famine at ministers in Lord Russell’s government, which came to power in 1846, and sees echoes of the disaster in the Republic’s current economic plight.

Flowers and Men

The diffusion of wild flowers, thousands of miles from their native places, is a “vegetable record” Geoffrey Grigson suggests, of human migration and colonization.

The Foreign Legion

James Kinross tells the story of the French Foreign Legion, a force famous for fighting in Africa, Russia, Mexico, Indo-China and France itself, as well as across the world.

The Niger Quest

J.H. Plumb documents the repeated attempts by British explorers and abolitionists to open West Africa for the Empire.

The Defense of Minorca

T.H. McGuffe analyses the failure of Admiral Byng to relieve the besieged British forces against French onslaught.