‘The First King of England’ by David Woodman review
The First King of England: Æthelstan and the Birth of a Kingdom by David Woodman looks beyond the empty tomb to find perhaps the most consequential monarch of the Anglo-Saxon age.
History Today
Zoroastrians in the Great Game
In the early 1900s the small but influential Zoroastrian community in India contemplated establishing a colony in Iran. Could the Parsis rely on British support?
Get Out: Excommunicated in Medieval England
In 13th-century England excommunication was akin to spiritual leprosy. How did it work?
‘The Strange and Tragic Wounds of George Cole’s America’ review
In The Strange and Tragic Wounds of George Cole’s America: A Tale of Manhood, Sex, and Ambition in the Civil War Era, Michael deGruccio discovers a generation betrayed by the fight for freedom.
Wimpy vs McDonald’s: The Battle of the Burgers
In the 1970s and 1980s Wimpy faced off with McDonald’s in a battle over what it meant to eat British.
‘Zbig’ by Edward Luce and ‘Henry Kissinger’ by Jérémie Gallon review
Zbig: The Life of Zbigniew Brzezinski, America’s Cold War Prophet by Edward Luce and Henry Kissinger: An Intimate Portrait of the Master of Realpolitik by Jérémie Gallon reveal the parallel lives of the Cold War frenemies.
The Lin Biao Incident
On 13 September 1971 a plane carrying Mao’s anointed heir crashed in Eastern Mongolia. What really happened to Lin Biao?
Did It Matter That Elizabeth I Was a Woman?
Whether as ‘Gloriana’ or ‘Good Queen Bess’ Elizabeth I is one of England’s most iconic monarchs, but did her gender shape her reign?
Playing God: Mossad’s Murder of Achmed Bouchiki
European intelligence agencies assisted Mossad’s Wrath of God assassination campaign, while their governments condemned them.
Victorian Science’s Duck-Billed Enigma
By the 19th century, standard classification systems were struggling with new species. Then the platypus arrived.