Before the East India Company took hold, the dazzling Mughal courts received a raggle-taggle caravan of C16th and C17th merchants, priests and adventurers.
Ambassador for Henry VIII, Lord Protector of Edward VI, queen-maker and marriage broker for Mary, Paget continued to wield influence at Elizabeth I's court. He kept his head - by a whisker -... read more
An elegant exploration of how British Prime Ministers, from Eden to Blair and beyond, have engaged in the Middle East under the misconception that they could help solve disputes because they... read more
More ships were lost to shipwreck than in battle during the Napoleonic Wars. This is a valuable study of the Hydrographic Office and its intrepid sailors, who gathered the intelligence that ... read more
Borman's careful research shows that Anne's tragedy, intellect and family had a profound influence on Elizabeth throughout her life. A dazzling turn of the Tudor prism.
The dismantling of the welfare state in the UK was well under way before the Covid assault. Bunting has been researching this for five years, speaking to nurses, doctors, palliative care tea... read more
The 'special relationship' was dreamt up by Churchill to keep Britain afloat geopolitically when faced with the loss of empire. Buruma takes a shrewd look at Churchill and FDR, JFK and Macm... read more
Unjustly ejected from the Liberal government in 1915 as a 'German sympathiser', Haldane's influence on many of our institutions was great, and lasting.
By examining their individual backgrounds, Clark shows that Ramsay MacDonald's new cabinet represented a radical departure in its representation of Britain's social classes.
Portraits, tapestries, sculpture, armour, manuscripts and objects from this artistically cosmopolitan court: Flemish weavers, German painters, Florentine sculptors... all in the service of d... read more