History Matters

Thoughts, opinions and commentary on all things historical.

Get Miscellanies, our free weekly long read, in your inbox every week

The Invention of Time

A now commonplace device, Joseph Priestley’s timeline revolutionised how we view history. 

Writing Wrongs

The anti-Russian poetry of Frances Browne, the ‘Blind Poetess of Ulster’.

Pulp Fiction

Marketed as the taste of French summer, Orangina’s origins are complicated.

Crowning Triumph

Westminster Abbey was the focus of the world during the recent coronation. How and why was it built?

The Life Aquatic

Hong Kong in the 1950s had a nomadic floating population that needed to be counted in the census – but how?

Forging Ties

A Shanghai bookshop played a pivotal role in promoting Sino-Japanese friendship. 

Many Happy Returns

James Stuart, Jacobite pretender to the throne, campaigned for the Jacobite cause with dancing and parties.