Political

John Adamson argues that the importance of the Celtic fringe in the events of the 1640s has been exaggerated.

Brian Catchpole remembers the sufferings and heroism of the Commonwealth Division in the first major conflict of the Cold War.

Many have dismissed the last Stuart monarch as a nonentity or a figure of fun. Yet according to Richard Wilkinson she does not deserve her tarnished reputation.

Mikhail Gorbachev's period as President of the Soviet Union, 1985-91, was truly revolutionary. But Steven Morewood argues that he failed to understand or control the forces he unleashed.

The 1867 Reform Act did not set the British electoral system in stone until the Third Reform Act of 1884-85. John Walton reveals that its effects were complex, varied and quite often unintended.

In this assessment of Tudor peers, Matthew Christmas argues that the nobility retained their importance as a class and are fundamental to an understanding of the Tudor period.

Graham Darby provides a timely reconsideration of why the conflict went on for so long and why the Central Powers lost.

To mark the quincentenary of Louis Xll's accession in 1498, Glenn Richardson examines the French king's reign and suggests significant points of comparison with Henry Vll of England.

Peter Monteach comments on German historian Christian Gerlach's study of Adolf Hitler's announcement of his "decision in principle" to murder all of Europe's Jews on Dec 12, 1941.

John W. Mason gives the historical background to this month's elections in Slovakia.