Social

‘Bedlam’ has become a by-word for a wild and crazy place, but what is the historical reality behind a distinguished London institution? 

The last years of Charles II saw London a hotbed of political and religious conflict, exploited by a 'hit squad' who brought a reign of terror to the city.

Richard Bellamy demonstrates the contemporary relevance of an eighteenth-century debate.  

Graham Darby argues that the Bolshevik success of 1917 was rooted in the failings of the Provisional Government and the aspiration of ordinary people.

Jean Alphonse Bernard considers the two key provinces and how they became touchstones and then powderkegs in the nationalist aspirations of both sides.

John Geipel on how the enforced diaspora of the slave trade shaped South America’s largest nation.

Joad Raymond on a previously unpublished insight into the personality and projection of 'Lord Oliver' during Britain's unique 1650s experience.

Sheila Rowbotham reviews two titles on aspects of social history

Sarah Foster offers a fascinating account of how Irish identity, with its sectarian implications, asserted itself in the manufacture and purchase of luxury goods.

Casting Islam and Muslims as the enemy was crucial in the Crusades, and the context of conflict has colored Christian-Islamic relations since.