The past is never dead, it isn’t even past
On 21 April 1945, the last VC of the Second World War in Europe was won by Guardsman Charlton in an astonishing act of bravery. The Irish Guards had been ordered to harass Wehrmacht positions at the towns of Elsdorf and Wistedt in northwestern Germany, around 50 miles...
Novels set during the Troubles have done well in recent years. Whether it’s the Booker Prize winning Milkman by Anna Burns or Michael Hughes’ re-interpretation of the Iliad with Country, writers have found new ways to deal with a hugely traumatic time in British and...
The music in my ears was Elgar’s Nimrod and Tallis’ Fantasia theme by Vaughan Williams. The sun was absent, hidden behind a cloudy sky as the giant 15 inch naval guns pointed towards the heavens and I arrived in the gardens of the Imperial War Museum. With a sense of...
The Imperial War Museum has started a series of events to coincide with the unveiling of the new Second World War Galleries at their London headquarters. Celebrities (and two experts) take visitors on a tour of how their families contributed to World War Two, and so...
As we reach the end of the year Aspects of History selects the title that stood out above the rest published during 2024. Past books that have won include The World by Simon Sebag-Montefiore, The White Ship by Charles Spencer, and last year's Conflict, by General...
