The Mysterious Origins of Antonio Vivaldi's Four Seasons
Vivaldi's 'The Four Seasons' is one of the most recognisable and beloved of all pieces of classical music. The author Hannah French investigates its origins
18th Century
A collection of 14 Posts
The Hapsburgs and the French Revolution
Upon the outbreak of the French Revolution, Europe's first family, the Hapsburg, were propelled into a crisis that they struggled to contain
The Killing Age with Clifton Crais
One of the great terrors of the Enlightenment lay in the way it justified death as the cost of progress. Clifton Crais explains his view of 'the Killing Age'
You Are Elizabeth Bennet with Emma Campbell Webster
The author Emma Campbell Webster invites you to step into a Jane Austen novel
Jane Austen The Magical Novelist With John Mullan
250 years after she was born, Jane Austen continues to outwit her readers, as John Mullan explains
A Very Private Life – Nikolai Tolstoy Remembers Patrick O’Brian
We look back at the life of the 'greatest historical novelist of all time'
Samuel Johnson and the Perils of Hope
On the anniversary of Johnson's birth, Peter Moore considers a subject that deeply engaged the great writer.
The Most Famous Actress in the Georgian World
On her retirement the television producer Jo Willett set out to write a biography of Sarah Siddons
Bennelong and Phillip at Sydney Cove with Kate Fullagar
Kate Fullagar on two of Australia’s foundational figures
Fire at the Guildhall
Leonora Nattrass takes us back to 18th century Cornwall and a brewing political scandal
