Britain

The 1930s are hugely underrated as a decade, says the historian. She tells us about the social and design revolutions that made the thirties much more than just a prelude to war

The 19th century opium war marked the clash of the world’s great empires of the age – Britain and China. Historian Julia Lovell says its legacy of Chinese humiliation is still felt keenly in Beijing.

History is not about understanding the past for the sake of it, it's about understanding human nature, says the historian and novelist Ian Mortimer.

William Wordsworth probably did not get his greatest creative impetus from solitude, but from his extremely close relationship with his sister, suggests Oxford scholar Lucy Newlyn

Historian David Cannadine tells us why it’s less interesting to argue about whether the British Empire was a force for good or ill, than to understand how it worked and why it fell apart. He suggests a reading list to get us started.

The journalist and Labour peer, formerly adviser to British Prime Minister James Callaghan, explains his selection of five books about British Politics. Touches on subjects from climate change to the British constitution

Freud said he owed them everything and even people who have never read a poem in their lives speak their language today. Gillen D'Arcy Wood, Professor of Environmental Humanities and English at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, explains who the Romantic poets were and recommends five of the greatest Romantic poems.

Hugo Vickers talks about what makes a good royal biography, and how he helped Helena Bonham Carter prepare for her film role as the Queen Mother

The editor of the Encyclopaedia of British Film talks about Britain's cinematic offerings. ‘I love Brief Encounter – I cry from the moment Celia Johnson speaks until the credits come up at the end.'

Current UK higher education policies, which treat students as consumers, are not only killing thinking but also likely to lead to a financial crisis. And yet, academia is a beautiful vocation, with the power to transform lives year in, year out. University of London professor, Les Back, picks the best books on academia.