To those not of a squeamish nature and who don’t mind the occasional beheading or people being eaten by their own dogs, this Sunday sees the start of the eighth and final series of the epic fantasy Game of Thrones. Based on George RR Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire book series, it has

Prince Louis shares his name with a controversial king

This month a Christian army in Iraq achieved a spectacular victory when it drove ISIS out of the northern village of Badanah. As is fitting for a war that is also being waged on social media, the Nineveh Plain Protection Units (NPU) announced the triumph of its “warriors” on Facebook. Badanah was one of many

At around 9pm on Saturday September 1, 1666, London baker Thomas Farriner went to bed after a day making dry biscuits for the Royal Navy. Farriner, who lived with his daughter, maid and manservant in Pudding Lane, had something of a chequered history. As a 10-year-old he had spent time at Bridewell, a sort of

Review: Athelstan by Tom Holland

Athelstan by Tom Holland, Penguin, £9.99 Of all the kings and queens covered in Penguin’s new Monarchs of England series, perhaps the least known is also one of the most important. Athelstan, the grandson of Alfred the Great, was raised by his aunt Ethelfleda after his father Edward the Elder discarded his mother Ecgwynn to

Series like Vikings portray Christians as joyless and pillagers as fun-loving

It seems odd that the Holy Father should so openly take one side in the controversy over European integration

One of the curious trends of recent years has been the rise of “the Radical Rich” – billionaires devoted to progressive social movements, whether it’s same-sex marriage or open borders. A recent example is the effort to punish North Carolina for passing a law saying that anatomically male people who identify as female cannot use

Right-on politics has become the prestige faith for the rich

Pope francis’s in-flight press conferences have become the stuff of legend, a source of delight for journalists, confusion for the faithful and headaches for Vatican spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi. The Pope’s remarks last week on his return from Mexico did not let us down, in that sense. As well as wading into the US presidential

When I joined the Catholic Herald in September 2007, the American media were starting to talk up a junior senator from Illinois with a confusingly foreign name. This Barack Obama was going to heal America’s wounds and bring us a post-racial future, or at least that’s what I recall Radio 4 telling me. Now, in