Cold War Clem
Fiercely anti-Communist, Clement Attlee found Britain’s intelligence agencies to be invaluable tools.
Political
‘Crafty and Fawning’: Downing of Downing Street
In his lifetime George Downing was regarded as ‘ready to turn to every side that was uppermost’, but even Pepys was grudgingly forced to admit his qualities in eighteenth-century political life.
Kerensky in Hindsight
Alexander Kerensky, the last Russian premier before the Bolsheviks took power, decided to continue the war with Germany. He and his nascent democracy would pay the price.
Oaths of Strasbourg Sworn
The earliest surviving written evidence of a Romance language, the Oaths of Strasbourg were sworn on February 14th, 842.
Make America Great (Britain) Again!
When Joe Biden said ‘God save the Queen’, was he heralding the end of the republic?
Turkey’s First Coup: The 1926 Plot to Assassinate Atatürk
Turkey has a long history of coups, but the failed İzmir plot to assassinate Atatürk in 1926 had a lasting impact. One foreign journalist recorded the reprisals that followed with admiration – which soon turned to fear.
Vietnam Before The War
Vietnamese identity has been forged in opposition to imperialism. But the country has long been the conqueror as well as the conquered.
The World According to Churchill
Churchill’s vision of Britain’s role in the world may provide the key to Brexit.
The Changing Face of the Republican Party
The contrast between Abraham Lincoln and Donald Trump could hardly be more striking, but such is the continually evolving politics of the Grand Old Party.
Donald Trump and the ‘Unprincipled’ Aaron Burr
Donald Trump has often been likened to Aaron Burr, described as ‘one of the most unprincipled men in the United States’. His isolationism, however, owes more to Thomas Jefferson.