Images

The Empress Mother Cixi (1835 - 1908) photographed in 1903 with the wives of the diplomatic corps having a tea in the Forbidden City, the Chinese imperial palace. After the death of her husband, the Chinese emperor Xianfeng (1831-1861), Cixi...

Paul French (born 1966) is a British author and journalist specialised in China, where he worked for many years. His books include Midnight in Peking: How the Murder of a Young Englishwoman Haunted the Last Days of Old China (2011), City...

Portrait of Henry Clay by John Neagle, 1843. Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

Death of Henry Clay Jr., son of the 'Great Compromiser', at the Battle of Buena Vista. By N. Currier, 1847. Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library at Yale University.

The signing of the Treaty of Ghent, Christmas Eve, 1814, ending the War of 1812 between the US and UK, oil on canvas painting by Amédée Forestier, 1914. Smithsonian American Art Museum.

Portrait of a young Henry Clay, oil on canvas by Charles Bird King, 1821. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Tragic Prelude, depicting abolitionist John Brown at the center of the "Bleeding Kansas" controversy, 1854-1859, a "tragic prelude" to the American Civil War, mural by John Steuart Curry, 1938. Kansas State Capitol.

Southern Chivalry: The Caning of Charles Sumner, depicting the attack on abolitionist Senator Charles Sumner by pro-slavery Senator Preston Brooks in the US Senate, lithograph by John L. Magee, 1856. Boston Public Library.

Ruins of the Free State Hotel after the 1856 sacking of the Free State City of Lawrence, Kansas by pro-slavery advocates. State Historical Society of Missouri.

Two unidentified border ruffians with swords, Clinton, Iowa, photograph by Blackall, Clinton, Iowa, c. 1854-60. The so-called "Border Ruffians" played a major role in the hostilities of "Bleeding Kansas" circa 1854-1865. Liljenquist Family...