Political

J.H.M. Salmon profiles an important - but largely forgotten - historian of the ancien régime, whose main theme was expansion in Asia and in the New World.

Henry Kamen profiles a natural son of Philip IV who had hopes of succeeding to the crown and for two years led the Spanish government.

W. Bruce Lincoln analyses the artwork that helped bridge the gap seperating revolutionary intellectuals in Russia, from the nation at large.

George Grey was governor in succession of South Australia, New Zealand, Cape Colony and New Zealand again. Cyril Hamshere charts a most remarkable career in the Victorian Colonial service.

Prudence Hannay profiles a sporting magnate in the midland shires; Viscont Althorp was also a Radical Whig who piloted through the House of Commons the Reform Bill of 1832.

Len Ortzen describes the Coup d’etat in Paris which prepared the way for the Second Empire.

A classic example of the pre-Reform Act ‘pocket borough’, L.W. Cowie describes how the uninhabited Salisbury town of Old Sarum did not lose its Parliamentary privileges until 1832.

Thomas More and his family moved into his ‘Great House’ in Chelsea in 1518. L.W. Cowie describes their life there, until More's arrest in 1534.

M.L. Clarke profiles an enterprising governor in the education of Louis Philippe for eight years, until 1790.

The royal splendour of Versailles, writes Andrew Trout, was matched by the parades and fireworks of the capital.