On the Spot: Ali Ansari
‘What is the most common misconception about my field? That it’s a sideshow of a sideshow.’
History Today
The Death of Little Jack the Boy Missionary
On 5 April 1889 John Hore died aged only seven years old. His adventures in East Africa saw him immortalised by Victorian evangelicals as ‘the boy missionary’.
In Defence of Boring Books
What is the most boring history book you have read, and why? Excruciating tedium can have intellectual value, says George Garnett.
The Vienna Secession is Founded
On 3 April 1897 a young Gustav Klimt led a group of artists in open revolt, seceding from Vienna’s cultural establishment.
‘Impossible Monsters’ by Michael Taylor review
Impossible Monsters: Dinosaurs, Darwin and the War between Science and Religion by Michael Taylor revels in the tangles of Victorian thought.
‘Deterring Armageddon’ by Peter Apps and ‘NATO’ by Sten Rynning review
As Deterring Armageddon: A Biography of NATO and NATO: From Cold War to Ukraine, a History of the World’s Most Powerful Alliance make clear, at almost every point in the last 75 years the alliance's future has looked uncertain.
Sabbatai Sevi: The Lost Messiah
In the 17th century news spread that the Jewish messiah had finally arrived. Within a year he had converted to Islam. Who was he, and what had happened?
The Birth of Ovid
Writing from exile, the Roman poet Ovid revealed his birth date as 24 March 43 BC. But on the cause of said exile, he was unusually reticent.
Challenging the ‘Ugliness’ of Anne of Cleves
Anne of Cleves became known to posterity as the ‘Flanders Mare’ and Henry VIII’s ‘ugly wife’, thanks to disparaging descriptions by ambassadors and diplomats. What motivated them?
William Adams: English Adviser to the Shogun
How an English navigator became one of the shogun’s most trusted advisers.