In ancient Greece the ‘least dangerous’ branch of government – the courts – wielded serious political power. | Continue reading
How a vision led Edmund of Abingdon to elevate the role of Medieval teacher to saintly levels. | Continue reading
The Revolutionary Temper: Paris, 1748-1789 by Robert Darnton is a sweeping account of events from the Parisian perspective, from disastrous wars to fights for religious toleration. | Continue reading
On 13 November 1854, the Victorians combined their love of heavy industry and heavy mourning, with the opening of the London Necropolis Railway. | Continue reading
Eli and the Octopus: The CEO Who Tried to Reform One of the World’s Most Notorious Corporations by Matt García is a human story amid mergers, sales, profits and losses. | Continue reading
When England’s search for a Northwest Passage via sea failed, an audacious plan to forge a land route was hatched by the Muscovy Company. | Continue reading
The Weimar Years: Rise and Fall 1918-1933 by Frank McDonough is a lucid overview of Germany’s tumultuous interwar years. | Continue reading
Solving the Riddle of Reproduction j.hoare Thu, 11/02/2023 - 10:55 | Continue reading
The curious case of an apparent amnesiac in Collegno paved the way for forensic science to become one of the pillars of Italian law. | Continue reading
The Bone Chests: Unlocking the Secrets of the Anglo-Saxons by Cat Jarman is an enthusiastic guide through England’s early medieval past. | Continue reading
Concern for animal welfare can be precarious, as the history of Britain’s pit ponies shows. | Continue reading
On 26 October 1881, three men were shot dead in Tombstone, Arizona. A survivor, Wyatt Earp, turned it into a legend. | Continue reading
The question asked by Werner Sombart in 1906 grew in relevance as the 20th century progressed. Why are leftist politics anathema to Washington – both at home and abroad? | Continue reading
Hunting the Falcon: Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn and the Marriage That Shook Europe by John Guy and Julia Fox is a well-told account that shies away from debate. | Continue reading
Members of the House of Lords are traditionally prohibited from giving up their seats. What if a move to the Commons becomes a political necessity? | Continue reading
Colonial schools eroded national identity and pride; in Sierra Leone a new way of teaching had to be found. | Continue reading
Seen to be less capable because of their deafness, deaf artists in the Renaissance used their art as a powerful means of expression. | Continue reading
Was it the mob? A coup? Cuban dissidents? War hawks? 60 years after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, the theories are still debated. Do any of them hold up? | Continue reading
Christianity’s Bloody History in Japan j.hoare Wed, 10/18/2023 - 11:29 | Continue reading
Confinement: The Hidden History of Maternal Bodies in Nineteenth-Century Britain by Jessica Cox looks at the engine of the Victorian population boom: motherhood. | Continue reading
The Flies, Fleas and Rotting Flesh of Medieval Monks j.hoare Tue, 10/17/2023 - 09:59 | Continue reading
The Beer Hall Putsch: What Hitler Learnt j.hoare Mon, 10/16/2023 - 11:06 | Continue reading
There are ghosts in the archives. Floating nuns, joy-riding cyclists and things that go bump in the night. Four historical ghost stories and their meanings. | Continue reading
Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf was an unexpected bestseller, whose success rose and fell with its author. | Continue reading
‘Europe and the Roma’ by Klaus-Michael Bogdal review j.hoare Wed, 10/11/2023 - 09:46 | Continue reading
Fool: In Search of Henry VIII’s Closest Man by Peter K. Andersson is the first full length study of William Somer’s life and posthumous mythos. | Continue reading
On the Spot: Janina Ramirez j.hoare Sun, 10/08/2023 - 00:00 | Continue reading
Empires of the Steppes: The Nomadic Tribes Who Shaped Civilisation by Kenneth W. Harl is a rollercoaster of historical narration. | Continue reading
Why Egypt Went to War in 1973 j.hoare Thu, 10/05/2023 - 00:00 | Continue reading
St Francis of Assisi died on 4 October 1226, leaving behind the question of how we venerate a saint who resisted veneration. | Continue reading
How did Sun Tzu and The Art of War become synonymous with strategy in the West? | Continue reading
The Medieval University Experience j.hoare Thu, 09/28/2023 - 09:11 | Continue reading
‘Backbone of the Nation’ by Robert Gildea review j.hoare Wed, 09/27/2023 - 09:43 | Continue reading
Vladimir Putin the Historian j.hoare Tue, 09/26/2023 - 09:44 | Continue reading
On 22 September 1598, Elizabethan actor Gabriel Spencer settled his creative differences with playwright Ben Jonson with a duel. | Continue reading
As new crimes are committed, new laws must be written to punish them. When it comes to crimes committed by states like Putin’s Russia, who decides? | Continue reading
How Henry II Survived the Great Rebellion j.hoare Thu, 09/21/2023 - 09:22 | Continue reading
Diamonds and the Holocaust j.hoare Wed, 09/20/2023 - 09:37 | Continue reading
A Northern Wind: Britain 1962-65 by David Kynaston is a hypereal account of Britain on the cusp of modernity. | Continue reading
When Inca Mummies Came to Europe j.hoare Tue, 09/19/2023 - 09:55 | Continue reading
Turkey and the End of the Ottoman Empire j.hoare Mon, 09/18/2023 - 10:54 | Continue reading
What historical topic have I changed my mind on? Colonialism. I now know that it had no redeeming features. | Continue reading
How ‘lore’, a largely neglected medieval word, has found a new lease of life in pop-culture fandom. | Continue reading
On 11 September 1841, John Goffe Rand patented the ‘metal rolls for paint’, sparking a revolution in oil painting. | Continue reading
Signs of the Zodiac: The Dendera Dating Controversy j.hoare Thu, 09/07/2023 - 00:00 | Continue reading
When it arrived on the Victorian stage, Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre had a cast of new characters and a new social order. | Continue reading
‘Bismarck’s War’ by Rachel Chrastil review j.hoare Mon, 09/04/2023 - 10:43 | Continue reading
‘Psychonauts’ by Mike Jay review j.hoare Fri, 09/01/2023 - 09:40 | Continue reading