How Important was the French Revolution?
Best of times or worst of times, how did the ‘greatest event that has happened in the history of man’ – as per Benjamin Disraeli – change the course of what followed?
History Today
What’s in a Pope’s Name?
Pope Leo XIV’s choice of name reveals much about the direction of the Church.
The Islamic Ethics of the Wine Tax
The wine trade in medieval Tunis was lucrative, but it caused a moral quandary for the ruling Hafsids.
‘The Colonialist’ by William Kelleher Storey review
Though his relics are reviled, his impact is more keenly felt than ever. Can The Colonialist: The Vision of Cecil Rhodes by William Kelleher Storey find the man for our time?
Mental Health and the 17th-Century Ship’s Doctor
Life at sea was hard. An early modern ship’s surgeon had to treat not just broken bones but distress and trauma.
Charles de Gaulle is Sentenced to Death
Court-martialled in absentia on 2 August 1940, the Vichy regime confiscated de Gaulle’s property and condemned him to death.
Reduce and Seduce at the Teenage Beauty Farm
Malibu’s 1960s Beauty Farm aimed to get a new generation of teenagers marriage-ready
‘José Martí Reader: Writings on the Americas’ review
José Martí Reader: Writings on the Americas, edited by Deborah Shnookal and Mirta Muñiz, collects the works of Cuba's ‘Apostle of Independence’.
‘Saving’ South Africa’s San Peoples
By the early 20th century the indigenous San peoples of South Africa were deemed to be almost extinct. The arguments for their protection drew on colonial methods of wildlife preservation and reduced them to the status of an endangered species.
Shakespeare’s Lost Years
‘What’s past is prologue’ Shakespeare wrote – but so little is known of his own. There are plenty of theories, each as implausible as the next.