European History
Imaginary country
The land of Morbia was revealed to me in a dream
Where in the world
In the post-pandemic world, travel is all in the mind
Land and sea: the global reach of Britain’s armed forces in the nineteenth century
Professor Jeremy Black and Graham Stewart discuss the reach and organisation of Britain’s armed forces in protecting and expanding the British empire
How exceptional is Britain’s monarchy?
Graham Stewart and Jeremy Black discuss British and European conceptions of monarchy throughout history
Grand old warrior
Nigel Jones recalls the time he spent in the home of the legendary German writer Ernst Jünger
France between Belle Epoque and Blitzkrieg
Professor Jeremy Black talks to Graham Stewart about what made French politics and society distinctive in the decades before and after WWI
Vienna is becoming much like every other European capital
“Vienna is different” is the city’s proud motto, but sadly, Vienna is much like every other European city
How I discovered Germany
Daniel Johnson on how he found a lost love for the Germans
First impressions
The first Impressionist exhibition was no obscure bit of posturing, but artistic sedition
Giving noticing a bad name
Observing factual differences is not the same as leaping to conclusions
The Grand Migrant Hotel Rwanda
All are welcome at Kagame’s eccentric migrant hostelry, and don’t worry about the roving deathsquads: they’re harmless
The case for Christian converts
Don’t let allegedly bogus conversions cause you to forget that real ones exist
Grandmasters: a meeting of great minds
Napoleon and Goethe: Touchstone of Genius by Raymond Keene
The sentinel sleeps in Lothian
A new book is full of architectural treasures that the Scottish Government should do a better job of treasuring
A talented pianist and a battered piano
Bezhod Abduraimov: Shadows of my ancestors (Alpha-Classics)
Resistance is futile
Acceptance can be an act of protest. Not a submissive, passive surrender.
Scratches in the stonework of history
A new history of graffiti and rebellion is less light and bawdy than one may have expected
Playfulness and tedium
Stravinsky, Petrushka; Debussy, Jeux and Prelude (Decca)
The meaning of Navalny’s death
This tragic event illustrates the cruelty and fragility of the Kremlin
