Shampoo Empire
Shampooing was brought to Britain by a Bengali immigrant who knew his craft – and how to sell it.
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Britain’s Gardening Revolution
Stately homes surrounded by extravagant gardens are a staple of the English countryside, but how were they funded?
Slaves and Indians
Europeans did not introduce slavery to North America – although they did change the way it was practised.
That Terrible Thing Called Jealousy
Love and possession during the Italian economic miracle.
Solving a Renaissance Murder Mystery
The most powerful family of Florence and the most powerful man in the world offer a new solution to one of the most notorious crimes of the age.
Removing That Little Knot
A Victorian doctor offering to cure female ‘lunacy’ came under fire for his scandalous new operation: female genital mutilation.
1933: Death of a Democracy
On 1 January 1933, Germany was a democracy with a range of political parties. By the end of the year its parliament was a rubber stamp for Adolf Hitler’s will.
A Portrait of Empire
Three lives from Britain’s 18th-century global empire speak of collaboration, resistance and ambivalence.
Fake News and the End of the World
Science and superstition collided when an apocalypse was predicted to strike the United States in December 1919.
The Inca’s Last Stand
An Indigenous rebellion in colonial Argentina foreshadowed later risings – and resonates to this day.