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History of Europe
Archibald Ramsay, British MP and Bigot
The history of England’s flirtation with fascism before World War 2 is a fascinating one. The philosophy of absolute authority had a great draw for an aristocratic upper-class who had seen their grip on authority gradually loosen over the…
James MacPherson, Scottish Poet and Translator (or Fraud)
There’s a thin line between lying and creating, sometimes. Is the forger who creates new paintings in the style of the old masters any less of an artist than they were? His work is skillful, his subjects original, though he may match their…
Boniface VIII, The Man Who Would Be Pope
To paraphrace Carl von Clausewitz, violence is politics by other means. When debate and discussion just becomes too difficult, it can be very tempting for those involved to take "direct action" instead. History is littered with examples of…
Sophia Jex-Blake, Ground-Breaking Doctor and Teacher
It takes a lot of courage to do something nobody has ever done before. There’s a reason why we describe it as “ground-breaking”. Once the ground is broken, it becomes easier for those who follow after you. Sophia Jex-Blake wasn’t the best…
Augustus Hervey, the English Casanova
The English have a somewhat undeserved reputation for being "cold fish" romantically. Their general stereotype is of reserve and aloofness, with none of the fire and passion that their Continental cousins like to display. But one man gave…
Elizabeth Stuart, the Winter Queen of Bohemia
The murky world of international diplomacy is often overlooked by historians, not least because of the lack of definitive information. It’s much easier to see what a country or person actually did, rather than to speculate on why they did…
Catiline, Roman Conspirator
The further we go back into history, the thinner our window into the past becomes. Our sources dwindle, our material diminishes, and we’re forced to rely on less and less viewpoints to tell us how things actually happened. As a result, it’s…
Élisabeth Vigée Le Brun, Portrait Painter Extraordinaire
Art knows no boundaries, it is said. But before the mass media that arrived in the late 19th century, art in the main was a very upper class affair. And art itself became highly formalised in turn. The strictures that the early surrealists…
John Bodkin Adams, A Curious And Dubious Doctor
For the profession of doctor to work in society, people need to trust them. Most honour that trust but a few abuse it, some in horrific ways. One such scoundrel was John Bodkin Adams. Quite how deep his violation of that trust went is…
The Lady Vanishes: The Theft Of The Mona Lisa
Nowadays the Mona Lisa needs no introduction - it’s the most famous painting in the world, after all. Over six million people a year visit the Louvre in Paris to see La Gioconda - the Happy Woman. That name for the painting is actually a…