Party in the USA: The 1976 Bicentennial in Boston
In 1976 Boston saw the bicentennial celebrations of the United States as an opportunity to revitalise the city.
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‘Liberal Worlds’ by H.S. Jones review
Liberal Worlds: James Bryce and the Democratic Intellect by H.S. Jones explores the lost world and writing of a formerly eminent Victorian.
Disputing the Declaration of Independence
That the United States declared its independence in July 1776 is well known; that the British state commissioned, but never published, a counter-declaration is not.
H.P. Lovecraft: Haunted by History
H.P. Lovecraft asked us to imagine a much deeper past than modern comforts and science allow us to perceive — and the monsters that might dwell there.
The Rise and Fall of Snake Oil
Over the course of the 19th century snake oil transformed from folk remedy, to industrial medicine, to notorious fake.
The End of USAID
In the postwar era bounteous US foreign aid reshaped the world, for better or worse. With the culling of USAID those days are over.
Donald Trump’s Melian Dialogue
Ancient Greek reflections on imperial power have unsettling resonance in the geopolitics of Donald Trump.
St Patrick’s Day Protests
St Patrick’s Day is a global celebration of Irish culture, but in the US its parades have always been political.
Peace Talks: Letter from America 80 Years On
Eighty years ago the BBC tried to remedy postwar Anglo-American friction with Alistair Cooke’s Letter from America.
Black Voices from the Archive
The testimonies of formerly enslaved people, collected in the 1930s by the Federal Writers’ Project, provide a unique archive for historians.