Florence — Wealth, Banking and Taste
A visitor to Rome is immediately struck by the juxtaposition of ancient and modern life. Traffic whizzes past the Colosseum, while Romans go about their daily business, apparently taking for granted a monument that has stood for nearly two thousand years. Ancient...
Portugal — The Atlantic Opens
In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue. We remember the rhyme. But why was he going at all? Why Bother? Columbus was looking for a sea route to Asia. What could possibly make such an expensive and dangerous journey worthwhile? The answer begins with things that...
The Peerage and The Gentry — England’s Governing Class
Westminster Hall has witnessed coronation feasts, royal courts, state trials and the evolution of Parliament. Yet England was never governed from this room alone. Beyond these walls, thousands of members of the peerage and gentry quietly carried out the work that kept...
The Highland Clearances — When the Old Ways No Longer Worked
Sheep, landlords, tenants, and the difficult business of adapting to change A Story Told on the Water Some years ago, Glenn and I travelled through Scotland aboard the Belmond Royal Scotsman, on its Clans and Castles itinerary. One excursion took us out on the water...
From Conquest to Kingdom — England’s High Medieval Ascent (1066–1300)
York offers a clue to one of the great stories of medieval England. Walk through the city on a busy Saturday morning and, after a while, something begins to feel oddly familiar. The market is bustling. Shops line narrow streets. The cathedral dominates the skyline....
Mesopotamia — The First Step was Counting
When we think about the beginnings of civilization, our minds often leap to pyramids, kings and great cities. The real story may have begun somewhere far less dramatic. It may have begun with someone trying to remember how many sheep, or sacks of grain, or jars of...
Babylon — When Civilization Learned to Be Reliable
Few ancient cities have accumulated as many meanings as Babylon. Its name conjures a tower reaching towards heaven, its builders suddenly unable to understand one another. It recalls Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian Captivity, the mysterious writing on the wall...
Egypt in Turin—An Accidental Highlight
Turin was not supposed to be the point. This was a Northern Italy trip with friends — Bill and Maura — the kind of people who have already seen most things, lived in most places, and are not easily impressed. Americans, but only technically so: twenty-three years...
Persia — Governing at a Distance
How do you govern people who speak different languages, worship different gods, and live thousands of kilometres apart? For much of human history, the answer was simple: you didn't. Kingdoms grew only as far as a ruler could reasonably communicate, collect taxes and...
Alexandria — A Harbour for Knowledge
To understand the world is itself a form of power. Long before a ship reached the harbour of Alexandria, sailors knew they were approaching something remarkable. By day, a gleaming white tower rose above the Mediterranean horizon. By night, a great fire burned from...
