Often the recipients of this aristocratic and governmental largesse were the idle younger brothers of the peers who sat in the Lords and dominated the cabinet. Horace Walpole, the youngest 'artistic' son of the prime minister Robert Walpole was a...

And yet behind these figures lies a deeply troubling modern malaise. A report last week by the Commons All-Party Group on History found that, more and more, history is concentrated in private schools and grammar schools, while comprehensives opt for...

Shocking: Recent polls show that one in four believes that Hadrian's Wall was built to keep out the French Of course, historical ignorance is as old as history itself: even the Victorians used to berate their children for not knowing the difference...

Horace or Horatio, 4th earl of Orford, 1717–97, English author; youngest son of Sir Robert Walpole. Educated at Eton and Cambridge, he toured the Continent with his friend Thomas Gray from 1739 to 1741, when the two quarreled and parted. He was elected...