Today’s featured articles
In the early 19th century ‘filthy rags’ – or banknotes – became a common form of currency. A surge in forgery followed, accompanied by a surge in harsh prosecutions. How did we get from gold to paper?
Eager to create goodwill towards Britain in its former colonies, the postwar government encouraged students from across the Empire to study in London. Housing them was a problem, as events in the summer of 1951 revealed.
We remember the Dutch Golden Age for its paintings – which may be why so few realise that it was Europe’s publishing powerhouse.
Most recent
The British Bombs Down Under
The legacy of a decade of British weapons testing in its vast central deserts has forced Australia into an uncomfortable reckoning with its nuclear past.
Immoral Panic: Antisemitism in Georgian England
In 1753 the journey of a minor Jewish naturalisation Act through Parliament prompted an outsized furore.
Beginning of the Spanish Civil War
On 17 July 1936 colonial troops rose against the republican government in Madrid. The Spanish Civil War had started.
‘The China Question’ by Ho-fung Hung review
In The China Question: Eight Centuries of Fantasy and Fear Ho-fung Hung watches the West swing from Sinophilia to Sinophobia and back again.
The Legend of the Gibbet
Did live gibbeting ever take place in Britain? For the Victorians, the macabre question was a pressing one.
On the Spot: Alec Ryrie
‘Who is the most overrated person in history? Henry VIII. Nasty piece of work and not as clever as he thought he was.’
Human Canaries: Remembering the Munitionettes
The women who served as munitions workers during the First World War endured dismal conditions and a plethora of dangers: illness, injury, and death. Why are they barely remembered?
‘Capitalism: A Global History’ by Sven Beckert review
Capitalism: A Global History by Sven Beckert looks beyond the cities to the coffee and cotton that fuelled a global market.
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In the July 2026 issue:
The Declaration of Independence, Black Loyalists, how England learned Old English, sacrifice and early Christianity, and the Hans Crescent strike.
Plus: reviews, opinion, crossword, debate, and much more!
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