Stephen Bates

Stephen Bates is a former senior correspondent for The Guardian, and has reported for the BBC, Daily Telegraph and Daily Mail. He is the author of non-fiction books including The Poisonous Solicitor: The True Story of a 1920s Murder Mystery, Royalty Inc.: Britain's Best-Known Brand, Penny Loaves and Butter Cheap: Britian in 1846, The Poisoner: The Life and Crimes of Victorian Britain's Most Notorious Doctor, 1815: Regency Britain in the Year of Waterloo, God's Own Country: Religion and Politics in the US, and Asquith: Biography of the Edwardian Prime Minister.

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Herbert Rowse ArmstrongInnocent solicitor or guilty murderer?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip mark the diamond jubilee in 2012 by watching the Jubilee River Pageant, where a seven-mile flotilla sails past them (Photo by Eddie Mullholland - WPA Pool/Getty Images)

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From silver to platinum: a history of Queen Elizabeth II's jubilees. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Illustration by Luke Waller

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The Pentrich Rising: England's forgotten armed revolution. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson. When Edward became king in January 1936, he was the darling of the nation. Yet when he abdicated in December 1936, few believed he was making the wrong decision. (Photo by Getty Images)

20th Century

Love before duty: the story of Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson

Irish people starving during the Potato Famine

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The Corn Laws crisis. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Harvest time in Surrey in the mid-19th century. Powerful Tory landowners had agitated for the introduction of the Corn Laws to protect the income from their farms. (Photo by Christie's Images via Bridgman)

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The Corn Law crisis: the bitter political war that threatened thousands with starvation. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The Cato Street conspiracy

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Georgian terrorists: the Cato Street Conspiracy. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Cavalry charge into a crowd of protesters at St Peter's Field, Manchester, as depicted in an 1819 engraving. What followed was the worst violence ever to occur at a political meeting in Britain. (Picture by Alamy)

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The Peterloo Massacre: what did it achieve?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.