Volume 74 Issue 7 July 2024

Alternative Histories: London, 1386

A United Nations trooper observes Turkish ship movements near Karavas, Cyprus, 4 August 1974. Associated Press/Alamy Stock Photo.

50 Years of Cyprus Divided

Was the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974 inevitable?

Ballooning at the Paris Olympics, 1900. National Air & Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution. Public Domain.

National Spirit and the 1900 Olympics

The Paris Olympics of 1900 celebrated not just sporting excellence, but France’s might.

‘The Printer’, by Auguste Louis Lepère, c. 1900. Cleverland Museum of Art. Public Domain.

On the Spot: Joseph Hone

‘The most important lesson history has taught me? Destroy your drafts and personal papers, because one day a graduate student will comb through them looking for incriminating titbits.’

Paul Verlaine and Arthur Rimbaud, by Henri Fantin-Latour, 1872. Mondadori Portfolio/Getty Images.

Verlaine Shoots Rimbaud

On 10 July 1873, decadent duo Paul Verlaine and Arthur Rimbaud’s poetic frenzy ended with a gunshot.

Portrait of Juliette Récamier, by François Gérard, c. 1802-5. Musée Carnavalet, Histoire de Paris. Public Domain.

‘Liberty, Equality, Fashion’ by Anne Higonnet review

In Liberty, Equality, Fashion: The Women Who Styled the French Revolution, Anne Higonnet brings three dedicated followers of fashion to the fore.

Map of London from Civitates orbis terrarum, by Braun & Hogenberg, 1600-23. British Library/Bridgeman Images.

The Mystery of Thomas More’s Birthplace

Was Sir Thomas More born on Milk Street – and does it matter?

A minister presents Japan’s first constitution to the Meiji emperor, by Adachi Ginkō, 1889. Metropolitan Museum of Art. Public Domain.

Are Constitutions Necessary?

Does a state need a book of rules by which to operate? And who are those rules for, anyway?

Illustration of the constellation of the Dog Star Sirius, c.820-840. British Library/Bridgeman Images.

The Dog Days of Medieval Summer

For those learned in medieval medicine and astronomy, the dog days of July heralded dangerous times.

A painter at work on the 4,000-building Edison – City of Light diorama at the New York World’s Fair, 1940. New York Public Library. Public Domain.

‘Liberty’s Grid’ by Amir Alexander review

Liberty’s Grid: A Founding Father, a Mathematical Dreamland, and the Shaping of America by Amir Alexander explains how the grid system put the United States on the map.