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When Oliver Cromwell visited the studio of the man who painted his portrait, Samuel Cooper, and saw how the artist had ‘enhanced’ his sitter...

Last week, spent with the grandkids, was as much of an eye-opener as my time with them always is. I enjoyed watching Elliott, now soon to tu...

There’s a story about three outstanding figures from the past, Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar and Napoleon, visiting Russia. Putin’s cro...

Let’s start with a bit of a quiz. See if you can work out which statesman told a journalist from the Economist : ‘Relations with China are e...

It’s been a year! Eleven months ago, on 2 April 2024, I wrote to celebrate what I called the first Mensivary of the day that Max came to li...

Back in 2011, I travelled to the city of Kharkiv in Ukraine, to work with colleagues based there. My main memory was of the people I met the...

Matilda, my five-year-old granddaughter, has developed an ability to come up with startling statements. To be fair, and just to maintain the...