Napoleon: Hero or Tyrant?
The French still cannot agree on whether Napoleon was a hero or a tyrant. In a 2010 opinion poll, French people were …
Georgian-Era
If Only the Dead Could Talk—the Ghost of the Red Barn Murder
It was the year 1828. In the little English village of Polstead in Suffolk, Mrs. Marten was having a bad dream. A …
Francois Flameng: Interpreter of Beauty
Beautiful places, beautiful people, beautiful clothes—Francois Flameng loved to paint them all. Born in an art studio in …
Lafayette—the Hero of Two Worlds
Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, was a French aristocrat and military officer. To many of us, he is simply the …
Boston's 17th-Century Burying Grounds
The Grim Reaper made frequent visits to colonial Boston. Disease and the difficulties of childbirth sent many men, …
Versailles: the Grandest Palace of Them All
King Louis XIV was so proud of Versailles that he would often give tours to visiting dignitaries himself and even wrote …
20 Exquisite Paintings of 18th-Century Ladies by Joshua Reynolds
Sir Joshua Reynolds Sir Joshua Reynolds RA FRS FRSA (1723 – 1792) was an influential eighteenth-century English portrait …
British Hero Admiral Lord Nelson: Victor at the Battle of Trafalgar, 1805
Born a small sickly baby, the son of a Rector in Norfolk, England, Nelson would go on to become the greatest British …
The Other Lady Diana Spencer: the tragic story of the princess that never was
We all know, love, and remember the Lady Diana Spencer whose wedding in 1981 was watched by an estimated 750 million …
The Tragic Story of a Beautiful Countess Who Became a "Victim of Cosmetics"
Born in Cambridgeshire in 1733 to Irish parents, Maria Gunning was the eldest of seven children. Her father, John …
16 Stunning Sofas from the 18th and 19th Centuries
Today, furniture fills our living and working spaces. It makes a statement about our taste for practicality and …
The Beautiful French Porcelain of Sèvres
Despite a turbulent century of changing taste and technology, Sèvres Manufatory in the suburbs of Paris remained at the …