Volume 75 Issue 6 June 2025

‘Who is the most underrated person in history? Mary Prince, an enslaved woman who played a critical role in the abolition of slavery.’

Were the lost bones of medieval King Ethelbert hidden in Sherborne Abbey? A convenient discovery suggested they were. 

Miracles and Wonder: The Historical Mystery of Jesus by Elaine Pagels finds that the son of God is more than the sum of his parts.

The controversial outcome of a sculpture competition between Filippo Brunelleschi and Lorenzo Ghiberti changed the urban fabric of Renaissance Florence – or so the story goes.

The Alienation Effect: How Central European Émigrés Transformed the British Twentieth Century by Owen Hatherley follows in the footsteps of those who fled fascism.

Reports from the First Crusade brought tales of victorious Christian soldiers eating dead bodies.

The Illegals: Russia’s Most Audacious Spies and the Plot to Infiltrate the West by Shaun Walker sheds light on the Soviet Union’s undercover intelligence gathering.

Margaret Thatcher struggled to write her own speeches. Who put the words in her mouth?

America, América: A New History of the New World by Greg Grandin finds a place for Latin America and its ideals in the story of the United States.

When it comes to the end of the Roman Empire three things are certain: death, taxes, and Goths. Were reports of its demise exaggerated?