Essays

Long-form writing from leading scholars and commentators on history, statecraft, warfare, philosophy and culture.

A visitor walks in a formely secret air raid tunnel called Third Avenue in London. The once secret tunnels were built 100 feet under central London in 1940 as fully equipped air raid shelters and could accommodate 8000 people. They have since been used by MI6 and the Public Records Office to hold 400 tonnes of secret documents. Credit: Peter Macdiarmid

essays

The Spy and the State

The technological sophistication of the modern state is no substitute for human intelligence gathering.

Gill Bennett December 17, 2020

Harold ('Kim') Philby, a former British official in Washington, is shown at a press conference in London, at which he refuted charges of having been the mysterious Third Man in the Burgess-Maclean spy case. Credit: Bettmann

essays

On betrayal

Espionage feeds off betrayal. And yet we find it difficult to love those who betray their country even in a just cause.

Christopher Coker December 15, 2020

A photojournalist watches as Palestinians protest in the West Bank. Credit: Nidal Alwaheidi/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images.

essays

The indispensable foreign correspondent

The communications revolution has transformed the context of war reporting. And yet the traditional role of the foreign correspondent is still essential.

Isabel Hilton December 11, 2020

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Challenging the ‘Great Reset’ theory of pandemics

Thucydides saw plague as a disease of the ‘body politic’ – and an opportunity to improve the health of society. History shows that pandemics have a way of disrupting our assumption..

Mark Honigsbaum December 10, 2020

This map of Russia and surrounding countries highlights Hitler's campaign in Russia and how it went wrong.

essays

In search of Lebensraum

Hitler's conviction that a new Eurasian order should be constructed with Germany at its zenith had its ideological roots in the early science of geopolitics.

Richard Overy December 4, 2020

Chinese soldiers march for the 70th anniversary of victory in World War Two

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China rethinking its role

With China positioning itself as a leader on the world stage, its government is drawing on memories of the role the country played in shaping the post-War order. This raises tough..

Rana Mitter December 4, 2020

Lisbon: The Age of Discoveries Monument celebrates the Golden Age of Portuguese maritime history

essays

The world that Vasco da Gama built

Portugal’s commercial dominance of large swathes of the world lasted little more than a century but the images, transmissions, and trades that it engendered left a significant and ..

Roger Crowley November 27, 2020