Thomas Carlyle’s writings are an important conduit for thetransmission of French and German ideas into England duringthe nineteenth century – and Carlyle’s antagonistic relationshipwith the French Enlightenment would have a significant anddurable effect upon Victorian attitudes to French...

Sir Francis Bacon explored as a medical question the issue of how human life spans might be returned to the near-thousand years enjoyed by Adam and the Patriarchs. Extended old age seemed feasible: reports told of people living well into their centenary. Meanwhile, New World natives were said to...

Europe is a continent of cities with a remarkable history of cultural inspiration, wealth creation, social andpolitical dynamism. But in the late-20th century, many former industrial cities entered a period of steep decline,losing most of their manufacturing jobs and many of their economic...