Political

Alderman Boydell: Printseller

Thomas Balston profiles John Boydell, Lord Mayor of London in 1790, who created the first great printselling business in Britain, and could count Reynolds, Romney, Fuseli, Benjamin West, and Wright of Derby among the artists who worked for him.

British Prime Ministers: Lord North

An acceptable minister in peace-time, Lord North’s misfortune was to hold office at the time of the American Revolution and War, as Eric Robson here shows.

Two British Embassies to China: 1793 and 1816

Chinese Governments are notoriously difficult in their relations with Europe. G.H.L. LeMay gives a chastening account of two early British attempts to get into diplomatic touch with Pekin.

British Prime Ministers: Arthur Balfour

A.P. Ryan introduces the life and career of The Earl of Balfour: Conservative Prime Minister, 1902-5; Foreign Secretary, 1916-19; President of the Council 1919-22, 1925-9.

Imperial Visit, 1901

J.D. Hargreaves on the turn-of-the-century visit of Russia's Nicholas II to France and its wider diplomatic ramifications.