History Matters

Thoughts, opinions and commentary on all things historical.

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China’s Communist Comic Books

How did the People’s Republic of China cope with a literary canon filled with un-communist ideas? Comics called lianhuanhua were the answer, at least for a while.

Brushing for Britain

The First World War revealed the bad state of Britain’s teeth. Intervention was required to keep the nation biting fit.

Solving the Victorian Housing Crisis

The acute housing crisis of mid-Victorian Britain generated stormy opinions about the nature of state intervention and the need for ‘wholesome despotism’.

The Roman Catholic War on Wigs

The Catholic Church’s ban on wigs in the 18th century was as revealing of attitudes towards disability as vanity and sanctity.