Volume 75 Issue 7 July 2025

Italian-American emigrants returning to Italy, 1915. Fototeca Gilardi/akg-images.

Italian Emigrant Soldiers in the First World War

Italy’s entry into the Great War in 1915 prompted 300,000 men to return to their homeland to join the fight. Were they Italian enough for Italy?

’Inconveniences of a Crowded Drawing Room, May 6, 1818‘, a royal reception at Buckingham Palace by George Cruikshank. Minneapolis Institute of Art. Public Domain.

Does a Focus on Royalty Obscure British History?

‘Mary, Bessie, James you ken, then Charlie, Charlie, James again...’ Does the litany of kings and queens help or hinder an accurate understanding of Britain’s past?

The Little Courier, by Albrecht Dürer, c.1496. Metropolitan Museum of Art. Public Domain.

The Speed of Early Modern News

How did Western Europe learn of the fall of Constantinople, the loss of Negroponte, and the Ottoman defeat at Lepanto? In the early modern era all news was slow news.

Bonfire Celebrating Midsummer Night, by Nikolai Astrup, 1912-26. Nasjonalmuseet/Børre Høstland. Public Domain.

Gods at the Margins: How European Paganism Survived

By the 14th century Christianity had swept many of Europe’s indigenous religions aside, but not all. At the continent’s peripheries paganism survived and, in some cases, thrived.

Mein Kampf on sale, c.1938. Fotoarchiv für Zeitgeschichte/akg-images.

Did Germany Read Mein Kampf?

A huge bestseller and undisputed guide to the Nazi worldview, did Germans actually read Mein Kampf?

Javanese print of Prince Diponegoro, late 19th century. KITLV/University of Leiden. Public Domain.

Europe and the End of Old Java

In 1825 Java’s old order rose up against encroaching European colonialism. What – and who – were the Javanese rebels fighting for?