Thailand proudly proclaims that it is the only state in south-east Asia that wasn't conquered during the European colonial period, as the reforming King Chulalongkorn played off the British in Burma and Malaya (later Malaysia) to the south and the French in what would become Vietnam and Laos to the …

The capital of Thailand, Bangkok is known locally as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon for short (there are actually 42 syllables in total, for those with large lungs). Sometimes called "the Venice of the East" for its canals – it is built around the majestic Chao Phraya River. But today it …

Nietzsche said: "“An artist has no home in Europe except in Paris.” The French capital, the "City of Light," has been known for centuries as a highly cultured, civilized place where a simple cup of coffee on the footpath can be turned into an art form. Bloggers writing about Paris …

If you want to feel like you've got a decent grasp of the Revolution, you certainly can't leave out women's place in it.

India is the world's largest democracy, and the planet's most populous country after China. The modern state was created in 1948, when the British colonisers left the region, which was split between India, Pakistan, and what later became Bangladesh. It is a country that still suffers from high levels of …

Shakespeare, the Bard, who lived from 1564 to 1616, through the reigns of Elizabeth I and James I of England, was, arguably, the greatest European dramatist. You can find his complete works on the web, follow his life, and debate what he looked like. Bloggers may be writing about modern …

London, the capital of Great Britain, was founded by the Romans as Londinium in AD 50, then abandoned when they left Britain, but the Saxons set up Ludenwic just north of the old site, and the city has been an important centre continuously since then. At the centre of the …

There is great concern about the current condition of the world's soils, on which the human race depends for most of its food, to filter its water, and to support its very foundations. Soil is often thought of as an inert collection of degraded rock, which does indeed form its …

Australia is a continent and also a country, governed by a bicameral parliament much like its mother in Westminster. The continent was populated by hundreds of Aboriginal groups whose ancestors arrived, the latest research suggests, more than 60,000 years ago, and they fundamentally altered the environment with fire stick farming, …

Congo is the name applied to two states, the much larger Democratic Republic of Congo (also known as Congo-Kinshasa, after its capital, and formerly known as Zaire) and the Republic of Congo, whose capital is Brazzaville. They are in Central Africa, on either side of the Congo River, with their …