the English Civil War

Charles I at his absolutist worst

12 July 2025 9:00 am

The months preceding the outbreak of civil war saw distrust of the King become widespread and a ‘new temper’ take hold

The French scapegoat

20 August 2022 9:00 am

On 15 June 1645, as Thomas Fairfax’s soldiers picked over the scattered debris on the Naseby battlefield, they made a…

Brother against brother

28 May 2022 9:00 am

‘The Wars of the Three Kingdoms’ is the best description of the devastating conflict that erupted in England, Ireland and…

Man behind bars: John Lilburne spent more than 12 years of his short life in prison or exile - THE BRIDGEMAN ART LIBRARY

John Lilburne: champion of liberty and born belligerent

1 September 2018 9:00 am

John Lilburne was only 43 when he died in 1657, an early death even for the time. But in many…

Henry VIII, Edward VI, Charles I, George VI and George V

Of cabbages and kings

3 January 2015 9:00 am

Nigel Jones reviews the first five titles to appear in a new series on British monarchs

Brave, drunken, violent and law-abiding

13 December 2014 9:00 am

Here is a stupendous achievement: a narrative history of England which is both thorough and arresting. Very few writers could…

… and history in the Welsh Marches

7 June 2014 9:00 am

The Welsh Marches, gloriously unvisited amid their wooded hills and swift-flowing streams, have remained mysteriously off-limits to the sort of…