French History
Singers have a voice, too
Study of the Western canon is often reduced to a politicised debate: power and patronage versus individual genius. The truth is far more complex
J’accuse: the case that never closes
France was putting itself on trial, for its actions during the war
Liberty, fraternity, animosity
The right-wing turn in France
A magisterial study of war and strategy
Jeremy Black deals a fatal blow to Napoleon’s reputation as a military genius
France’s unspoken, unfinished civil war
France’s cycle of social unrest and politically polarised elections has its roots in the Algerian conflict and the ensuing unresolved struggle for the soul of the nation
Failed state
How history makes rioters of the French
Napoleon Bonaparte: The man behind the myth
Olivia Hartley and Dr Arabella Byrne talk about Napoleon’s legacy and why the French love anniversaries
Napoleon Bonaparte: A PR nightmare
On the bicentenary of his death, Napoleon Bonaparte remains a curiously stubborn rampart of cultural history in France and beyond
France since De Gaulle: a radical or conservative republic?
Jeremy Black talks to Graham Stewart about French reforms and continuities from Georges Pompidou to Francois Hollande.
Did Gaullism save France?
Jeremy Black talks to Graham Stewart about the French experience from the liberation of 1944 through to the student unrest of 1968
The fallacy of soft power
The world runs on cold national self interest, not cultural capital
The war on noticing in modern Britain
How DEI initiatives and the worldview behind them dull people’s natural perceptiveness
The elusive Seiji Ozawa was Japan’s greatest peacemaker
Farewell not just to a conductor but to a generous man
The royals needs better PR
We have seen too many royal disasters
For whom the road tolls
Did turnpike roads transform travel in the 18th century? Or were they a means for rent-seeking?
The great immigration data disaster
Officials are deleting the data we need for a more sensible debate
The untalented Mx. Ripley
In a story of a fiendishly successful performance, Eliot Sumner proved an extremely unconvincing man
Women in prisons deserve better
Classifying male criminals as women adds insult to injury
Diversity is not our strength
The Khan Review reveals a society needlessly splintered along ethno-religious lines
Laid-back Bach
Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach: Württemburg sonatas (ECM)
Fine art versus luxury goods
The auction houses’ love expensive brands
