Today’s featured articles
As music became an art for all the people of Europe, Ludwig van Beethoven became the hero and the symbol of an aspiring German nation.
What are stars made of? When a young astronomer upset standard explanations for the formation of the solar system, the establishment told her she was wrong – then stole her findings.
What was the nature of the clandestine correspondence between the future Catherine the Great and the British ambassador to St Petersburg?
Most recent
Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin and the Making of Stars
What are stars made of? When a young astronomer upset standard explanations for the formation of the solar system, the establishment told her she was wrong – then stole her findings.
Petticoat Alley: London’s Forgotten Women’s Clubs
Despite their reputation, London’s private members’ clubs have never been entirely for men.
When Did Britain’s Age of Deference End – and Why?
An old-fashioned feature of a fusty, inegalitarian past, when did the British stop knowing their place?
The Death of a Mnemonist
Solomon Shereshevsky died on 1 May 1958. He dreamt of being a hero but achieved greatness of another kind.
‘The Emperor and the Elephant’ by Sam Ottewill-Soulsby review
The Emperor and the Elephant: Christians and Muslims in the Age of Charlemagne by Sam Ottewill-Soulsby surfaces Umayyad and Abbasid perspectives on their Frankish frenemies.
Nottinghamshire’s Bitter 1593 Election
A Nottinghamshire election in 1593 descended into farce, violence and, ultimately, futility.
Rehabilitating the East India Company’s Nabobs
The nabobs of the East India Company were considered violent, greedy and – worst of all in a time of Enlightenment – uneducated. Could their reputation as philistines be laundered?
Was Portugal’s Carnation Revolution Inevitable?
So called because it passed without a shot being fired, the Carnation Revolution of 25 April 1974 brought Portugal’s authoritarian Estado Novo to an end. Could the state have survived?
Current issue
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In the April issue: the prophecies of Merlin, Britons in the French Revolution, Orkney between Scandinavia and Scotland, Jewish collaborators on trial, and rehabilitating the East India Company’s nabobs.
Plus: reviews, opinion, crossword and much more!
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