Recently published

Students on board the Floating University, from Walter Harris, Photographs of the First University World Cruise (1927). Courtesy of the author, Walter C. Harris, University Travel Association.

Was the 1926 Floating University a Failure?

In 1926 an American university went to sea and caused an international scandal. Could it still be considered a success?

The March for Equality and Against Racism in Mulhouse, Alsace, November 1983. Getty Images.

France’s Long March Against Racism

In 1983 the March for Equality and Against Racism from Marseille to Paris marked the coming of age of a new French generation.

Madonna of the Meadow (Madonna with the Christ Child and Saint John the Baptist), by Raphael, 1506. Art Library/Alamy Stock Photo.

Missing Pieces

The Lost Years of Jesus

Did Jesus have a difficult childhood? Was his youth spent in Egypt or England, India or Japan? The four canonical gospels are quiet on his early life, leading some to speculate.

The Battle of Verneuil from the Vigiles du roi Charles VII, c. 1484. Bibliothèque nationale de France. Public Domain.

Review

‘The Hundred Years War Vol 5’ by Jonathan Sumption review

The Hundred Years War Vol 5: Triumph and Illusion by Jonathan Sumption charts the English downfall and France’s triumph to bring the epic five-volume history to its conclusion.

A Charles I shilling, minted in 1644-45, showing signs of clipping as part of the Yellow Trade. The Portable Antiquities Scheme/ The Trustees of the British Museum (CC BY-SA 4.0).

History Matters

The Yellow Trade in Counterfeit Coins

How Yorkshire’s Yellow Trade of coin clippers and counterfeiters changed Britain’s economy in the 18th century.

The eruption of Vesuvius depicted in Giovanni Pacini’s opera, L’ultimo giorno di Pompei, 1827. The Getty Research Institute, via Wikipedia.

Feature

Volcanoes on Tour: Recreating Vesuvius

In the age of enlightenment, the public developed a taste for sheer spectacle. Suitably awe-inspiring, dazzling versions of the world’s most famous volcano, Vesuvius, could soon be found across Europe and North America.

Czech sokol participants at a slet at Strahov Stadium, Prague, 1948. CTK/Alamy Stock Photo.

Feature

Sokol: An Exercise in Czech Nation-Building

In the late 19th century a new trend captured the Czech people –gymnastics. But sokol was more than just exercise: a healthy body was a healthy nation and the Czechs wanted independence.

Review

Books of the Year 2023

Revolutions and rubles, godlings and fascist symbols, Shakespeare and silk: ten historians choose their favourite new history books of 2023.

First World War munitions workers amid rows of artillery shells at the National Filling Factory in Chilwell, Nottinghamshire, 1917. CBW/Alamy Stock Photo.

Feature

First World War: The Fight on the Home Front

Soldiers on the front line in France and Flanders saw their fight as the only legitimate one. But in Britain, the mobilisation of the domestic workforce was integral to winning the First World War.