Europe

Colonies at the 1900 World Fair

Mysterious, exotic, colourful.... this was the view of their colonies that the 1900 Paris Fair presented to the French. William Schneider argues that this image was to persist and hamper an understanding of colonial development.

The Myth of Santiago

James Marshall-Cornwall explores how, in the Middle Ages, devout pilgrims journeyed to Santiago de Compostela in the belief that they were paying homage at the tomb of Spain's patron saint.

Childhood Revisited: The Genesis of the Modern Toy

'A trifle... a thing of no value... a bauble' or an educational aid, the gift-wrapping of a social morality? Toys mirror a culture, argues John Brewer - for society's attitude towards play reflects its conception of the role of childhood.

Charles V and the Turks

The loss to the Turks of Constantinople, the ancient capital of the Eastern Empire, in 1453 had been a terrible blow to Christendom. It was the crusading dream of Charles V, argues Sinclair Atkins, to reconquer the Byzantine city.