19th C Archives - Aspects of History

Introducing the New Aspects of History Substack – We’re Revamping!

Pairing a free midweek editorial newsletter with exclusive subscriber-only magazine features, author interviews and other benefits on a Saturday, we are offering history lovers a richer and more rewarding reading experience while supporting independent historical writing.

Aspects of History

Over the last six years, Aspects of History has brought you the best historical writing from established and new authors alike, whether non-fiction or fiction. So we are now excited to outline a new chapter for the Aspects of History Substack. Our website has grown...

Napoleon III: Europe’s First Populist

Often dismissed as inept, the Emperor of the French transformed the nation through economic modernisation and urban renewal, before defeat in the Franco-Prussian War brought his reign to a dramatic end.

Edward Shawcross

For Karl Marx, Napoleon III was a “grotesque mediocrity”; Victor Hugo lambasted him as “Napoleon the little”; Alexis de Tocqueville, in what was not the famed political theorist’s most sophisticated analysis, dismissed him as a “dwarf”. Yet these men underestimated...

Writing Woodspring

A multi-generational novel attests to the disruptions of war, social change and 21st-century Britain, each witnessed in the lot of a country house and the characters bound to it.

Elizabeth Buchan

Hitler believed in the Darwinian struggle for existence. Life did not, could not, exist without conflict. All too soon after his ascent into power, and initially, Europe got to experience the consequences of his grim and aggressive political beliefs. In Great Britain,...

Jim Loughran on Syracuse Will Burn

The author discusses his journey from human rights advocacy to historical fiction, the inspiration behind his new novel and the challenges of recreating ancient Greece with Peter Tonkin..

Jim Loughran

Welcome back to Aspects of History, Jim. You wrote your first novel, The Bratinsky Affair, late in life after a long and successful career. What prompted you to do so? I am originally from Northern Ireland and studied French and Spanish at Queen’s University Belfast....

Monarchs Anonymous at The Other Palace Theatre

A review of the historical comedy show which forces famous historical figures into a group therapy session.

Richard Foreman

Monarchs Anonymous is a fun, frenetic show that should appeal to a variety of ages. The premise is a therapy session involving multiple monarchs. The figures taking part are Marie Antionette, Mansa Musa, Charles II, Henry VIII and Princess Sophia Duleep Singh....

2026 Summer Reads from Aspects of History

Our authors and contributors recommend books to take on your summer holidays.

Aspects of History

Summer Reads from Aspects of HistoryZeb Baker-Smith Editor at Aspects of HistoryPaul Knox’s Lost London offers a captivating itinerary of 25 buildings which are no longer, but whose lifespan shaped the capital’s architectural story, revealing how the perennial cycle...

Episode 274

‘A Man of Paradoxes’: Antony Beevor on Rasputin

To mark the release of Rasputin: And the Downfall of the Romanovs, Roger Moorhouse sat down with the author to discuss the truth behind the “mad monk” and his role in the collapse of the Russian Empire.

Roger Moorhouse

Antony, thank you so much for joining me. I very much enjoyed the book. I read it over the weekend, absolutely raced through it, as always. My first question, I suppose, is why Rasputin? What took you to that? I appreciate it's very much related to your previous book...

Episode 273

The Coming of the Railway: A New Global History, 1750-1850, by David Gwyn

A wide-ranging account of how innovation, economic conditions and ambition transformed early railways into a global revolution that reshaped the modern world.

Michael Mccomb

When Britain’s history is told, the railway is usually suddenly introduced in the early to mid-19th century. Yet long before this, it was quietly developing, shaping the future of transport. This early period of rail development is the subject of David Gwyn’s latest...