British History

What makes victorian history books so endlessly fascinating to modern British readers? Perhaps it’s because we’re still living in the world the Victorians built. From our railway networks to our social welfare systems, from industrial capitalism to our peculiar relationship with afternoon tea, the Victorian age history casts a remarkably long shadow over contemporary British … Read more

Elizabeth I remains one of Britain’s most captivating monarchs, and five centuries after her reign, we’re still piecing together the extraordinary puzzle of her life. According to Historic Royal Palaces, the woman who ruled England for 45 years faced challenges no previous female monarch had encountered. She deserves more than the sanitised portrait that hangs … Read more

What is it about the Tudors that keeps us utterly transfixed, five centuries after their dynasty ended? Perhaps it’s Henry VIII’s spectacular matrimonial carnage, or Elizabeth I’s refusal to marry despite every crowned head in Europe queuing up. More likely, it’s because the Tudor period represents one of those rare historical moments when individual personality … Read more