The genocidal ghouls of Isis are tearing down a precious piece of our civilisation. This is the price we pay for not standing up to barbarism

Five British writers were in Russia in 1917. Each one had his own story, but all were overwhelmed by the powerful tide of history

The newly-published diaries of Ivan Maisky are an extraordinarily important 21st-century contribution to our understanding of the Second World War

The artists and writers who pursued the muse in fin-de-siècle London and Paris