BORN on May 26, 1907, Marion Robert Morrison weighed in at an impressive 13lb and spent his childhood in Southern California. He received his nickname “Duke” thanks to a pet dog. They were together so

The troubled history of US-China relations

I ’m not a poker player, but I’ve ...

When General Francisco Franco died on 20 November 1975 – 39 years after the start of the brutal civil war that brought him to power – the prospect of a bloodless transition to democracy in Spain appea

The jungle warfare in the Far East was both a tactical and political challenge for British forces in WWII

Over a long career, John Hardman has specialised to great effect in teasing out, from speeches, decrees, minutes, memoranda, letters, diaries and unsent drafts, the varied moods of French political de