*A holiday in a Napoleonic fortress* This Martello Tower was originally built by the British when they were threatened by the armies of Napoleon. It was part of a string of 29 fortresses that ran like a necklace around the British coast. Each was home to a garrison of 25 ...

*Former fort in a revamped hedonic calculus* As you arrive via helicopter, Spitbank Fort initially looks like a military outpost from a classic strategy game like Red Alert or Total Annihilation. Indeed, when it was built in the 1860s its purpose was military: to defend Britain’s Portsmouth Harbour which was ...

For thousands of years the most popular pastime in Europe was killing your neighbours. England and France win the prize for managing to have a war that lasted for 100 years. Because of a readiness for violence, castles began to sprout all through Europe’s green hills and many survive to ...

*Sea shanties and adventures* Built in the 19th Century to stop Napoleon invading England, La Crete Fort still ended up with a French name - which is sort of ironic if you think about it. When the Nazis captured Jersey in World War 2 they naturally used the large fortification ...

If you were a French Celt living in the 2nd Century AD under threat from the Romans you would want to in Les Baux-de-Provence. Set high in the Alpilles mountains on a rocky outcrop with a view of the surrounding plateau, the location has been inhabited for thousands of years. ...