Lead book review
A pioneer at heart
Richard Davenport-Hines on the tomboy from Red Cloud whose evocation of the vast, unforgiving landscape of the prairies is unrivalled
History’s great success story
The Tudors, England’s most glamorous ruling dynasty, were self-invented parvenus, with ‘vile and barbarous’ origins, Anne Somerset reminds us
Tales of the Wild East
The brutality and folly of Russia’s bid to conquer America has the makings of grand tragicomedy says Sam Leith
Conspicuous consumption
Margaret MacMillan says that the ostentation of the Edwardian Age focuses the mind painfully on the horror that was so quickly to follow
Victorian values
Philip Hensher says that Churchill’s engagement with the empire does not reveal him at his finest hour
For the greater glory of Benjamin Disraeli
Sam Leith finds shades of Jeffrey Archer and Boris Johnson in the 19th-century prime minister
Behind the masque
Music has always been integral to the image and power of monarchy. Our present Royal family should take note, says Jonathan Keate
