Collecting fields often have holy grails, and in medieval illuminated manuscripts one is the Roman d’Alexandre or Romance of Alexander. The 20cm-tall book, written in Old French and illustrated with 1

Brutalist memorials, Roman ruins and French cafe culture — for a captivating weekend break with year-round sunshine, look to the Algerian capital

The author Alex Preston spent his childhood dreaming of Greece, but it wasn’t until he visited Corfu that he found what he was looking for – along with the inspiration for his latest novel

Your indispensable guide to the capital

The history of Mexico is epic. There are the Maya and the Aztecs; the meeting of two continents, with Moctezuma and Cortés; a cry for independence led by a priest-turned-general; the loss of more than

Alice Loxton EleanorA 200-mile walk in search of England’slost queen352pp. Pan Macmillan. £22. Many are commemorated in stone, but few so grandly as Eleanor of Castile (d. 1290). Following her unexpec