What is a Blockade – and Do They Work?
As President Trump announces his blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, we glance back at the history of this military tactic
Politics
A collection of 22 Posts
October 1989: Proclamation of the Republic of Hungary
This photograph shows the US ambassador among the crowds as the Republic of Hungary was proclaimed by Mátyás Szűrös in 1989
The General Strike of 1926 with Jonathan Schneer
The General Strike of 1926 marked a precarious moment in British political and social history, as Jonathan Schneer explains
Adolf Hitler's Strange Death with Caroline Sharples
On 30 April 1945 Adolf Hitler committed suicide in Berlin. But the story of the Führer's death is more complicated than these bare facts suggest, explains the historian Caroline Sharples
How I Discovered Kathleen Harriman's Wartime Letters
Geoffrey Roberts weighs the historical significance of the letters written by Kathleen Harriman during the Second World War.
Gabriele Tadino Goes to Rhodes
Edoardo Albert pinpoints a critical moment in the contest between the Venetians, the Knights Hospitaller and the Ottomans.
Operation Stopgap: The First Shot in America’s War on Drugs
David Tuch pinpoints the beginning of the US war on narcoterrorism
Winston Churchill and Charles de Gaulle with Richard Vinen
Richard Vinen tells us about his biographical study of 'the last titans'
How the Victorians Defended Britain with Andrew Lambert
Andrew Lambert's new book explores an inspired century of statecraft
Victor Grayson and the Trauma of World War One with Stephen May
Stephen May engages with one of the great mysteries in British political history