Volume 75 Issue 3 March 2025

The Nabataeans are Coming

Pre-Islamic history was once taboo in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Will the ‘rediscovery’ of an ancient people – the Nabataeans – encourage international tourism?

An Uneasy Propaganda Alliance

The doomed film collaboration between Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan resulted in two very different features serving the same fascist agenda: The Daughter of the Samurai and The New Earth. 

Curbing the Power of the Popes

The survival of the papacy has always been dependent on a precarious balancing act between the pope’s religious and secular powers.

Adolphe Sax’s Brass Wars

A battle of wills between Adolphe Sax and musical instrument makers in 19th-century France saw an unprecedented legal contest unfold.

The Firebombing of Tokyo

American air raids on Japan’s capital burned the city in March 1945, killing 80,000 people in one night alone. ‘Had to be done’, said the general who ordered it.