The First Men’s Cricket World Cup
International cricket’s big day became its payday on 21 June 1975 when Australia faced the West Indies in the final of the first Cricket World Cup.
Recently published
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.
‘Strike’ by Sarah E. Bond review
Strike: Labor, Unions, and Resistance in the Roman Empire by Sarah E. Bond assembles a case for the power of the worker in ancient Rome.
Did Germany Read Mein Kampf?
A huge bestseller and undisputed guide to the Nazi worldview, did Germans actually read Mein Kampf?
On the Spot: Imaobong Umoren
‘Who is the most underrated person in history? Mary Prince, an enslaved woman who played a critical role in the abolition of slavery.’
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?
A Royal Skeleton in the Chapel
Were the lost bones of medieval King Ethelbert hidden in Sherborne Abbey? A convenient discovery suggested they were.
‘Miracles and Wonder’ by Elaine Pagels review
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.
Renaissance Florence’s Missing Bronzes
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’ by Owen Hatherley review
The Alienation Effect: How Central European Émigrés Transformed the British Twentieth Century by Owen Hatherley follows in the footsteps of those who fled fascism.