On 11 April 1919 Maria Feodorovna, Dowager Empress of the fallen Russian Empire, turned and looked one last time on her adopted country. She had given it more than fifty years of her life. It in turn had given her a fiancé, only to take him away, and a husband, only to make her…

In 1942 a young Persian boy sold an orphaned bear cub to some Polish soldiers, evacuating from Russia, for a few tins of canned meat.

The soldiers named the cub Wojtek, an old Slavic name meaning “he who enjoys war”. Whether he enjoyed it we’ll never know, but Wojtek certainly participated.

As he…

You have no doubt at some time seen Marie Antoinette portrayed as a naïve noblewoman who, when faced with peasants starving from lack of bread, could not understand why they would not just eat cake.

But, that is an unfair portrayal of the queen who may indeed have had a more…

I don’t know if a picture is really worth a thousand words. But, a picture and a catchy slogan certainly are! They’re worth a thousand words of social and historical commentary.

With that in mind, I have assembled this collection of posters from the Second World War that particularly speak to me. I…

When I was studying modern history I used to say that early 20th century Europe was like a dysfunctional family. That wasn’t simply me being cheeky; they were in fact family and I would consider going to war on your family quite dysfunctional.

Take George V of Britain and