‘Journeys, like artists, are born and not made ’, Lawrence Durrell begins his encomium to Cyprus, Bitter Lemons. For millennia, this Mediterranean island was a staging post to the Middle East; then, in British imperial times, it was close to…
REVIEW BY JONATHAN EATON In recent years, historians have increasingly sought to understand major conflicts from a genuinely global perspective. While this approach has perhaps always been synonymous with the Second World War, where the shape of the conflict was…
REVIEW BY PATRICK MERCER If, as a youngster, you enjoyed those wonderful films Khartoum, The Four Feathers and Young Winston, you were not alone. I sat as transfixed as the spear that skewered General Gordon, as the bayonets that shimmered…
In our special feature for this issue, Stephen Roberts first traces the life of this highly effective but undeniably divisive commander, then looks in more detail at the Battle of Plassey, the key victory that helped launch Britain’s empire in the subcontinent.
Infographics: Calum Henderson / Images: Wikimedia Commons
The use of ‘native levies’ has long been a feature of foreign wars – but their employment and their sacrifice reached a peak during the British colonial era. Stephen Roberts uncovers a forgotten story.
Any novelist approaching a publisher with an idea for a series of stories centred around a cowardly, bullying racist, who is also a serial philanderer, would nowadays be very quickly shown the door. Yet George MacDonald Fraser achieved celebrity and surprising academic respect for just such a series, which consisted of 12 books published between 1969 and 2005.
Reviewing the best military history exhibitions with Calum Henderson
REVIEW BY ANDRÉ VAN LOON The subject of The Coalitions Against Napoleon is fascinating and rich in potential. Moving beyond the well-trodden path of personality-based writing (such as Napoleon versus Wellington, biographies of Napoleon’s marshals, or the career of Horatio…
REVIEW BY ANDREW MULHOLLAND This is a provocative book which will ruffle feathers, perhaps among some MHM readers. But it is also an important one. While the heart of The Great Defiance is historic, presenting an alternative narrative of what…
Review by CH This entertaining and adeptly written account traces the story of London’s private members’ clubs from the 18th century to the present day. Dr Seth Alexander Thévoz – historian, investigative journalist, and (since 2013) Librarian of the National…
The award, presented annually since 1999, focuses on non-fiction writing, ‘bringing the best in intelligent reflection on the world to its new readers’
William V Wenger offers a forensic analysis of the American victory, apparently against the odds, in the war of 1775-1783.
It signalled a new age of empire – an age of armed intervention by industrialised European armies. The Scramble for Africa had begun. In this extended extract from his new book, MHM Editor Neil Faulkner analyses the battle in which Victorian Britain destroyed an Egyptian nationalist movement and took possession of the country.
Britain’s involvement in the Transatlantic slave trade and the historical injustices of colonialism and the British Empire have been much in the news in recent months. In Britain and the Ocean Road, maritime historian Ian Friel asks how Britain got caught up in these nefarious activities. Chris Catling reports on what the new book reveals.
Stephen Roberts reports on the extraordinary career of Jan Smuts, who went from Boer commander to Commonwealth statesman.
Chris Bambery takes issue with Churchill’s claim that 1940 was ‘the finest hour’, arguing that the true moment of imperial greatness was 1815.
Taylor Downing reviews the classic war film Zulu.