Empire

Hugh Kearney reconsiders the models for and motives of Charles I's most controversial minister in 'John Bull's other island'.

Denis Judd reviews a title covering the period from the Battle of Yorktown to the handover of Hong Kong.

Mark Juddery introduces The Story of the Kelly Gang, possibly the first-ever feature film, now largely lost, that was made a hundred years ago in Australia about the notorious outlaw with the unusual body-armour. Hugely popular when it was first released in 1906, it spawned a genre of bushranger movies and epitomized the significance of the Kelly legend in Australian cultural identity.

Richard Cavendish remembers how France took Calais, the last continental possession of England, on January 7th, 1558.

Michael Willis focuses on the origins of the Boer War in a way that could make for a stimulating role-play.

Matthew MacLachlan asks how far Napoleon defeated himself.

The story of the British anti-slavery and abolitionist movements has been dominated by the figures of Clarkson and Wilberforce. Yet, the success of the Slave Trade Act of 1807 and the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 benefited from the votes of Irish MPs.

The Spanish government managed by the Duke of Lerma was forced to declare a moratorium on its debts on November 19th, 1607.

Bernard Porter says that today’s advocates of humanitarian intervention would do well to ponder what J. A. Hobson and Ramsay MacDonald had to say a century ago about the dangers of liberal imperialism.

Piers Brendon asks how we can arrive at a fair judgement of the benefits of the Empire for those who enjoyed – or endured – its rule.