History

Vincent Hanna: Master William Pitt, the Even Younger, are you disappointed? Pitt the Even Younger: Yes I’m horrified. I smeared my opponents, bribed the press to be on my side, and threatened to torture the electorate if we lost. I fail to see what a more decent politician would have done. Blackadder the Third, Dish and Dishonesty What was Britain’s most famous rotten borough? Old Sarum? […]

The rotten part of the constitution

Amongst the seemingly essential accoutrement for a dictator is the acquisition of a short and snappy title. The trend was set by Adolf Hitler becoming der Führer – a term that literally translates as leader but which also has an almost mystic sense of being a guide. Plenty of other dictators had similar names, but few were as effective as this Germanic invention and some sound […]

Leading by example

Fordlandia! Where civilisation conquers the wild and untamed heart of the great Amazon rainforest. A city forged in adversity, the triumph of will and the product of the daring imagination of Henry Ford. This is America’s new frontier; a wilderness transformed by technology, labour and innovation into the prosperous hub of the world’s rubber production. To some it was a daring vision, a glimpse of the […]

Fordlandia

The Declaration of Independence of the United States was drafted by Thomas Jefferson. His original draft was, however, reviewed and edited by the Second Continental Congress before it was approved, printed and signed. What changed between the final draft by Jefferson and the approved version provide a fascinating insight in to American society and politics at the time of the War of Independence. As a rousing […]

All men are created equal

John Adams, a key Founding Father and the second President of the United States, was also responsible for drafting the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. In doing so, he devised the oldest functioning written constitution in continuous effect in the world. John Adams had spent decades languishing as one history’s most overlooked Founding Father. Overshadowed by George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, the second […]

John Adams and the world’s oldest constitution

In the middle ages, heraldry was a potent and respected form of state propaganda and individual projection of power. A man (and it was almost invariably a man) could proclaim his status, his wealth, influence and pedigree in a seemingly simple blend of colours, shapes, beasts and designs. Heraldry was taken so seriously that it could signal a claim to a kingdom, the start of a […]

The shield that started the Hundred Years’ War

Christian pilgrimage was a well-established part of medieval life. Chaucer’s ‘Pilgrim’s Tales’ attest to the popularity of such a journey and the hugely differing backgrounds and social statuses of pilgrims. With the Ottomans in the ascendancy in the Holy Land and with travel in Europe arduous and, at times, dangerous, what options were available for English pilgrims? In the middle ages, travel abroad was not to […]

Half a trip to Rome, a third the trip to Jerusalem

One of the greatest fears of the Founding Fathers of the United States was the emergence of a new tyranny of a monarchy or oligarchy. A strong independent and republican strain rebelled against the idea of power being concentrated in the hands of the few. They were even more repelled by the idea of nepotistic families dominating politics in the fledgling nation. But America has never […]

America’s White House dynasties

Part 2: Central London’s lost department stores (a walking tour in two halves) The first post in this series focused on the stately and grand former heart of the Debenhams department store empire on Wigmore Street. It is not the only central London department store to have disappeared. Today, we look at the history and demise of some iconic names from across the heart of the […]

Dearly departed department stores

Few things were more powerful than a Victorian-era duke. They shaped empires, armies, estates and cities and had a particular interest in the development of the railway network. For some, this was manifested in vehement opposition. For others, it was a promise of further riches and easier access to pleasures in both the capital and countryside. Few peers have influenced the development of a railway quite […]

The Duke of Sutherland’s Railway

Part 1: Debenhams of Wigmore Street Every year, millions of shoppers converge on London’s major department store. Selfridges, Harrods, Harvey Nichols and Liberty feature amongst the capital’s most visited tourist attractions. They are also serious commercial operations – Harrods turned over £651 million in 2012 alone. With the department store enjoying a new millennium renaissance, it is easy to forget that London has, over the past […]

Dearly departed department stores

The Campden Tunnel, two miles south of Mickleton, has been called the site of the ‘last pitched battle between two private armies on UK soil’. The ‘battle’ was between rival railway contractors and demonstrated both the fierce, belligerent loyalty of the navvies and their taste for fighting. Navies played a vital, if not critical role in the development of Britain’s roads, canals and railways. Navvies were […]

The Battle of Mickleton

Power and prestige in early modern Europe could turn with a rapidity that almost required belief in the divine for it all to make any sense. Titles, fortunes and crowns could be won or lost on the outcome of a single day’s fighting. The right marriage, the untimely death of an heir or the election of a new Pope could shift the balance of European power […]

This Day Came the King of Castile

The Prime Minister is the political leader of the country and at the apex of Britain’s power pyramid. Whilst in office, they benefit from the perks of the position – accommodation at Number 10 Downing Street and Chequers, a weekly audience with the Queen, chauffeur driven cars and close security protection. But what happens when they are turfed out of power? How are they rewarded for […]

Premier rewards

In the mid-nineteenth century the electrical telegraph revolutionised communication. Information that had previously taken days, weeks or even months to reach its destination could be received within minutes. It was the first form of electrical communication, the precursor to the telephone, fax and internet. But it was neither the first system of long-distance message transmission nor the first method of communication to be called a telegraph. […]

A revolutionary method of communication

In a long and spectacular military and political career, Napoleon dominated most of Europe. Of all his enemies, only one remained permanently out of his grip – Britain. Napoleon couldn’t conquer England and was ultimately vanquished by a coalition of allies led by the British. This didn’t stop the defeated Emperor finally seeing the country that had beaten him with his own eyes. For two weeks […]

Napoleon’s English adventure

In the summer of 1550, Princess Mary and her continental supporters, the Imperial Habsburgs, hatched a plan to spirit the recusant princess out of an increasingly Protestant and intolerant state. Ships from the Imperial navy were kept at anchor off the coast of Maldon whilst sloops made their way up the Blackwater estuary to the Essex market town to rendezvous with Henry VIII’s eldest daughter. Had […]

The near escape of Princess Mary Tudor

The City of St Davids lies in the south-west corner of St Davids Peninsula surrounded by some of the most stunning Pembrokeshire coastlines and countryside. It is easily the UK’s smallest city by population: home to 1,797 in the 2001 census. The next smallest, St Asaph, is also a Welsh cathedral city but has nearly twice as many residents. Over the border, Wells is a bustling […]