Confess! Confess! Confess! Hell, the Spanish Inquisition would have a far easier time of it today; back in the fifteenth century, they had to torture in order to grind out confessions; these days, people are queuing up

Mayfair – a cosseted corner of England preserved in Edwardian amber, national exposure to which is guaranteed to bring out the worst inverted snobbery and chip-on-the-shoulder socialism of anyone from a working-class background. Who cares about these

In ‘All You Need is Cash’, Eric Idle’s 1978 spoof documentary on his spoof Beatles, The Rutles, there’s a scene in which Idle as an inept interviewer grills a veteran bluesman called Ruttling Orange Peel; Mr Peel claims

In the past few weeks, a proposal has been aired by several prominent public figures to ‘begin a discussion about pardoning all the men, alive or deceased, who like Alan Turing were convicted under the UK’s Gross

It may sometimes seem like we are living through an age of finger-pointing paranoia unprecedented since the Taliban-esque era of the post-Civil War Puritans; but we have been here more recently, and a couple of centuries closer

Everyone reading this will have at some time been guilty of an occasional ‘unnatural sexual proclivity’. Don’t try and deny it, you dirty sods. You got away with it, as well. How do you sleep at night,

A Victorian man denied his conjugal rights by his Victorian wife finally snaps and takes possession of his property in a manner the law tells him he is perfectly entitled to. From her perspective, it is not

It could easily be dismissed as a cinematic myth, but I’m pretty damn sure it’s true that early Hollywood westerns simplified the distinction between hero and villain by cladding the good guys in light colours and the bad

Many might think the complete and definitive history of the Victorian age has already been written; after all, there have been plenty of books and television documentaries filling the shelves and schedules since the old Queen died

Who can forget it? I certainly can’t. It was one of those unique moments that only happen once in a lifetime, moments in which time stands still and collective jaws hit the floor. The year was

I was reminded of these devastating descriptions of the attributes that constitute a killer whilst

Whilst some of you reading this will probably be nursing and cursing a bit of a hangover tomorrow, those amongst us who harbour a curiosity about political history tend to find the most anticipated aspect of a New Year to

Doctor Samuel Johnson once provided a characteristically vivid description of some of the rather more…erm…slapdash construction work in London, painting a portrait of streets where ‘falling houses thunder on your head’, reflecting the fact that it was not

Clair Tiltman was a 16-year-old schoolgirl who had a close encounter with an older man over twenty years ago, one that resulted in a conviction for that man yesterday. If you think you know where I’m

My name is Petunia Winegum and I’ve never had a debt in my life. One of those statements is true, and as this essay is not about nom-de-plumes, I take it you can guess which one.