Essays

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

British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher's political career of 11 years ends emotionally on the steps of 10 Downing Street after being deposed in a leadership challenge, on 28th November 1990 in London, England.
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Margaret Thatcher – the fall, thirty years on

On 22 November 1990 the Tory leader resigned. What forces brought about the end of her extraordinary premiership?

Bruce Anderson November 20, 2020
british empire drawing
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Late Beauties of the British Empire

From the Archive - first published in Empire and the Future World Order (2005) after the Engelsberg Seminar. The late beauties of empire represented all that was best in the Britis..

Jan Morris November 20, 2020
Parallel visionaries – Hilla Rebay and Hilma af Klint
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Parallel visionaries – Hilla Rebay and Hilma af Klint

Rebay and af Klint, both strong-willed artists, were dedicated to their beliefs in the potential of art to hold spiritual value.

Tracey Bashkoff November 20, 2020
Cicero Denounces Catiline, an 1888 painting by Italian artist Cesare Maccari.
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Machiavelli and the benefits of civil strife

Niccolo Machiavelli, Renaissance statesman and political theorist, saw factional politics as essential to the prosperity of the Roman Empire and his native Florence. Are today's pa..

Alexander Lee November 10, 2020
President Lincoln statue
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A government of laws

The constitutional order is changing as citizens become alienated and demand more say. Americans must take care that their habits of law – the ethos that makes the US exceptional –..

Philip Bobbitt November 7, 2020
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How the British made the NHS their religion

Britain's reverence for its National Health Service was developing long before the post-war promise of a New Jerusalem.

Bruce Anderson October 30, 2020
humans
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Being human: we were born to cooperate

The human ability to cooperate is what elevates us above apes and monkeys.

Katrin Redfern October 22, 2020
LOS ANGELES - JUNE 11: The movie "Ferris Bueller's Day Off", written and directed by John Hughes. Seen here from left, Mia Sara as Sloane Peterson, Alan Ruck as Cameron Frye and Matthew Broderick as Ferris Bueller. Initial theatrical release June 11, 1986. Screen capture. Paramount Pictures. (Photo by CBS via Getty Images)
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John Hughes and the making and unmaking of the American dream

John Hughes's films re-established and updated the American dream for a new generation. His complex legacy helps us understand what went so wrong.

Johan Hakelius October 16, 2020
'Diptych: Philip the Handsome and Margaret of Austria', c1493. Philip the Handsome (1478-1506) became Philip I of Castile. Margaret of Austria (1480-1530) became Regent of the Netherlands. Painting housed at The National Gallery, London.
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Margaret of Austria, Duchess of Savoy – true to her own self

No matter how perilous her situation, Margaret of Austria lost neither her calm nor her composure, nor even her sense of fun.

Leonie Frieda October 12, 2020

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