Today’s featured articles
In the 1950s Mills & Boon’s medical romances helped make the NHS and a career in nursing more appealing to an ambivalent British public.
In the 1970s private investigators in the UK came under attack for their distasteful methods and dubious legality. What did it mean to have a right to privacy?
Byron’s love affair with bare-knuckle boxing was shared by many of his fellow Romantics, who celebrated this most brutal of sports in verse.
Most recent
The Persecution of Finland’s Russian Peddlers
In the 19th century Russian peddlers became a scapegoat in Finland’s resistance against the tsar’s empire.
‘The Log Books’ by Tash Walker and Adam Zmith review
The Log Books: Voices of Queer Britain and the Helpline That Listened by Tash Walker and Adam Zmith reveals unsung – but not unheard – LGBTQ+ heroes of Switchboard.
The Rise and Fall of Snake Oil
Over the course of the 19th century snake oil transformed from folk remedy, to industrial medicine, to notorious fake.
Beating the Bounds
May is a month for praying for a good harvest, enjoying the natural world – and reaffirming ancient boundaries.
‘Infanta’ by Magdalena S. Sánchez review
In Infanta: The Short, Remarkable Life of Catalina Micaela, Magdalena S. Sánchez discovers a 16th-century marriage documented in remarkable detail.
‘Centrists of the World Unite!’ by Adrian Wooldridge review
Whig is beautiful? Centrists of the World Unite! The Lost Genius of Liberalism by Adrian Wooldridge looks for signs of life in the liberal movement.
The End of USAID
In the postwar era bounteous US foreign aid reshaped the world, for better or worse. With the culling of USAID those days are over.
The Discovery of Petroglyphs
Norwegian doctor Peder Alfsön died on 3 May 1663, having discovered – but misinterepreted – the prehistoric rock carvings at Backa Brastad.
Current issue
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In the May 2026 issue:
How the General Strike changed Britain, the Rif War, James II and the Exclusion Crisis, private investigators on trial, 15th-century Iceland, and more.
Plus: reviews, opinion, crossword and much more!
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