Today’s featured articles
![Prizes from the 1567 English state lottery, from Humfrey Dyson’s A booke [of] proclamations , 1618. Folger Shakespeare Library. Public Domain.](/sites/default/files/styles/featured/public/2025-01/elizabeth_i_english_national_lottery_history_today_1.png?itok=vMGcayOi)
In 1567, permission for the holding of ‘a very rich Lottery General’ in England was granted by an increasingly cash-strapped Elizabeth I.
How can historians of Tibet – a region whose history is tightly controlled by the Chinese authorities – gain access to its recent past? Comparing newspapers from either side of the Himalayas might offer a way in.
From a cult’s rogue personalities to its foundational ideologies, how have fringe beliefs guided the direction of the American dream?
Most recent
‘Turncoat’ by Dennis Sewell review
In Turncoat: Roundhead to Royalist, the Double Life of Cromwell’s Spy, Dennis Sewell asks whether George Downing was the ‘biggest scoundrel in Stuart England’?
Tibet: History Across the Himalayas
How can historians of Tibet – a region whose history is tightly controlled by the Chinese authorities – gain access to its recent past? Comparing newspapers from either side of the Himalayas might offer a way in.
On the Spot: Justine Firnhaber-Baker
‘What is the most common misconception about my field? That medieval people were dumber than modern ones.’
Drinking to Australian Democracy
The colony of New South Wales did not have its own parliament until 1856, but it did have a tradition of public dinners and politically charged toasts.
‘The Maginot Line’ by Kevin Passmore review
The Maginot Line: A New History by Kevin Passmore confronts the myths surrounding the fall of France in 1940.
The Excommunication of Henry VIII
Henry VIII’s break with Rome was a watershed moment for England and for Christendom. Did the papacy have itself to blame?
Pilgrims and Poverty in Renaissance Rome
Rome welcomed and tended to the vast numbers of pilgrims who arrived in the 16th century, but its attitude to its own poor could be very different.
The Longest-Running Newspaper
The ancestor of the London Gazette was launched on 16 November 1665, surviving its bitter rival to become the oldest newspaper in the English-speaking world still in print.
Current issue
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In the November issue:
The Mongol khans of medieval Europe, the battle for Britain’s clean air, how states get recognised, the Tudor touring theatre, educated slaves in ancient Rome, and more.
Plus: reviews, opinion, crossword and much more!
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