Feature

French Resistance and the Algerian War

During the 1950s the Algerian struggle against France and its white settlers for independence inflamed passions and hatreds in both countries – while a small number of French men and women helped the Algerian liberation movement in defiance of their government and the sentiments of the majority. What made them do it?

Vichy: Pétain’s Hollow Crown

In 1940, Marshal Philippe Pétain took the helm of a humiliated France. While Vichy endured, many took his silence as evidence of grand strategy – a view bolstered by the client press.

King John's Maundy

England's royal black sheep may well turn out to be the instigator of the ancient ceremony linking Church and Crown. Arnold Kellett explains how this came about.

Selling the Seaside

Sun, sea, sand and ... salesmanship. Nigel Yates describes the mixture served up by English coastal resorts to lure the visitor to a cornucopia of attractions before the days of the package holiday abroad.

Aurangzeb versus the East India Company

‘Trade follows the flag’ is a truism of imperial expansion but in the 1680s it was the other way round, as the East India Company attempted to challenge the might of the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb.

Quack Medicine in Georgian England

Roy Porter looks into medicine in Georgian England where sufferers from the 'Glimmering of the Gizzard' the 'Quavering of the Kidneys' and the 'Wambling Trot' could choose their cures from a cornucopia of remedies.