White Gold
How Chinese porcelain became a worldwide sensation, changing tastes and the global economy.
History Matters
Thoughts, opinions and commentary on all things historical.
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Why a Circle Has 360 Degrees
The long and complicated history of why there are 360 degrees in a circle.
Making Medieval Ireland English
An audacious plan to install an English saint as the patron saint of Ireland.
Liverpool’s Slave Trade Legacy
Once the slave-trading capital of Britain, the memory of Britain’s empire of enslavement remains visible in Liverpool’s public buildings and streets.
Rough Roads for Travellers and Gypsies
Recent government proposals are merely the latest in a long history of hostility.
A Cure Worse than Disease
Quarantine is intended to protect, but it can also punish.
Here Be Monsters
In Anglo-Saxon England a hill could be a dragon’s lair and a ditch the home of gods.
Resetting the Clock
What does it mean to rebuild Notre-Dame?
The Pilgrim Settlers Before the Mayflower
23 years before the Mayflower, the first pilgrim settlers to America tried, and failed, to settle in Newfoundland.
Pause and Effect
The past and future of punctuation marks.