Byzantine Bishops at War with Women j.hoare Fri, 12/22/2023 - 00:00 | Continue reading
Medieval Icelandic Feasts j.hoare Thu, 12/21/2023 - 06:00 | Continue reading
An Uyghur Chieftain in China’s Civil War j.hoare Thu, 12/21/2023 - 00:00 | Continue reading
Preston’s Banana Boat Stowaways j.hoare Wed, 12/20/2023 - 07:00 | Continue reading
A Widow’s Vengeance in the Wars of Religion j.hoare Wed, 12/20/2023 - 00:00 | Continue reading
‘The End of Enlightenment’ by Richard Whatmore review j.hoare Tue, 12/19/2023 - 10:39 | Continue reading
Syphilis and Scurvy: Diagnosing Henry VIII j.hoare Tue, 12/19/2023 - 00:00 | Continue reading
‘In postwar Britain I was prejudiced against Germany. Then I studied German history, met German people and changed my mind.’ | Continue reading
The KGB After Stalin j.hoare Mon, 12/18/2023 - 10:36 | Continue reading
Caspar Hauser died on 17 December 1833, but was it murder or a self-inflicted wound? Hauser’s mysterious death raised as many questions as his mysterious life. | Continue reading
The proper pastime for a young lady in the 19th century was the pursuit of marriage – the magical methods she used might be less proper. | Continue reading
The Oracle at Delphi influenced Greek politics for a millennium. She continues to speak to us today. | Continue reading
Jane Austen’s Wardrobe by Hilary Davidson seeks to provide the context that more than two centuries of changes in fashion have obscured. | Continue reading
How the British Council Made a Soft Power Superpower j.hoare Mon, 12/11/2023 - 11:26 | Continue reading
How Did Christianity Change the Roman Empire? j.hoare Thu, 12/07/2023 - 09:29 | Continue reading
Saint Nicholas Becomes a Myth j.hoare Wed, 12/06/2023 - 10:52 | Continue reading
One Fine Day: Britain’s Empire on the Brink by Matthew Parker and Imperial Island: A History of Empire in Modern Britain by Charlotte Lydia Riley are both full of ambition, but do they deliver? | Continue reading
In 1926 an American university went to sea and caused an international scandal. Could it still be considered a success? | Continue reading
In 1983 the March for Equality and Against Racism from Marseille to Paris marked the coming of age of a new French generation. | Continue reading
Did Jesus have a difficult childhood? Was his youth spent in Egypt or England, India or Japan? The four canonical gospels are quiet on his early life, leading some to speculate. | Continue reading
The Hundred Years War Vol 5: Triumph and Illusion by Jonathan Sumption charts the English downfall and France’s triumph to bring the epic five-volume history to its conclusion. | Continue reading
The Yellow Trade in Counterfeit Coins j.hoare Mon, 11/27/2023 - 12:04 | Continue reading
In the age of enlightenment, the public developed a taste for sheer spectacle. Suitably awe-inspiring, dazzling versions of the world’s most famous volcano, Vesuvius, could soon be found across Europe and North America. | Continue reading
In the late 19th century a new trend captured the Czech people –gymnastics. But sokol was more than just exercise: a healthy body was a healthy nation and the Czechs wanted independence. | Continue reading
Revolutions and rubles, godlings and fascist symbols, Shakespeare and silk: ten historians choose their favourite new history books of 2023. | Continue reading
Soldiers on the front line in France and Flanders saw their fight as the only legitimate one. But in Britain, the mobilisation of the domestic workforce was integral to winning the First World War. | Continue reading
As Anglo-Saxon England faced conquests and apocalypse, Archbishop Wulfstan saw hope for the kingdom in a radical restructuring of society. | Continue reading
Fifty years separate the Boston Tea Party and the Monroe Doctrine. How did a group of British colonies become a self-proclaimed protector of continents within half a century? | Continue reading
On 20 November 1695, Zambi of Palmares – ruler of an ‘invincible’ community of former slaves in the Brazilian jungle – was killed by the Portuguese. | Continue reading
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
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
Colonial schools eroded national identity and pride; in Sierra Leone a new way of teaching had to be found. | 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