Political

Robin Studd shows how Henry III's acceptance after 1259 of vassal status for England's one remaining continental territory of Gascony gave enormous scope for interference by the French crown.

Was the Protestant Church of Elizabeth the catalyst for a new patriotism, based on a special sense of English destiny and divine guidance?

Ruthless militarists who extinguished a more thoughtful and sophisticated culture? Or synthesisers of genius who gave England a new lease of life in focusing its attention on Continental Europe? R. Allen Brown weighs profit and loss from the events of 1066.

Without their Welsh connections, the Tudors could never have made good their rags-to-riches ascent to the English throne, argues Peter R. Roberts.

Much Tudor art may not have been 'home-grown' but its form and subject matter tells us a great deal about England's 'natural rulers'.

A Satanic conspiracy designed from the beginning to eliminate European Jewry? Or ad hoc responses aimed at replenishing Nazi zeal and producing convenient scapegoats? A fresh look at one of the most hideous episodes in world history.

Franco's traditional image has been as a canny neutral in the struggle between the Allied and Axis powers. But in 1940 his aspirations for an African empire drew him to within an ace of war with Britain.

A ballot-box 'revolution' made Hitler Chancellor of Germany. But political violence was the stock-in-trade consolidating Nazi power piecemeal throughout 1933 against disorganised opponents.

Not all young Germans were enthusiasts for Hitler Youth ideas - and some actively opposed them.

Simon Adams explores works on the two dominant European political ministers.