Volume 71 Issue 3 March 2021

Protest, Power, Play

Not since the Middle Ages have the ancient traditions of fancy dress been so potent.

George III and Charles III of Spain ‘negotiate’ over the Falkland Islands. English engraving, 1770.

1771: The Year Britain Lost America?

Having achieved success in the Seven Years War, the following decade would be a chastening experience for Britain, culminating in the loss of its American colonies.

On the Road Again

Electric cars seem to offer a solution to the problem of the internal combustion engine. But technological advances have other consequences.

Interior with Woman Reading, by Carl Holsøe, Danish, early 20th century.

All By Myself

Solitude was treated with suspicion in the Middle Ages. For most people it has only been a possibility in recent times.

Royal troops fight Venner’s rebels. Woodcut, 17th century © British Museum Images.

The Venner Rebellion

An armed uprising by a handful of religious extremists in Restoration London led to serious consequences for British and, ultimately, world history.

Rosina Storchio in the first production of Madam Butterfly at La Scala, Milan, 1904.

Madam Butterfly and the Forging of Japanese Identity

Puccini’s opera revealed misunderstandings and stereotypes on both sides of the East-West divide.

Man attacking a woman in a field of aubergines, Tacuinum Sanitatis, 14th century © Bridgeman Images.

The resort to law was an integral and regular part of everyday life in medieval Britain – and not just for men. Town court records offer glimpses into the lives of hundreds of ordinary women, through the lawsuits they were involved in.