Victorian

Dick Turpin encountering ‘the Brothers’ Gibbet’ at Gonerly, by Pickering, late 19th century. Yale Center for British Art, Yale University Art Gallery Collection. Public Domain.

The Legend of the Gibbet

Did live gibbeting ever take place in Britain? For the Victorians, the macabre question was a pressing one.

James Bryce with Arthur, Duke of Connaught, 1911. Library of Congress. Public Domain.

‘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.

Panic in the stock exchange, Honoré Daumier, 1845. National Gallery of Art. Public Domain.

‘1873’ by Liaquat Ahamed review

Never again – until next time. 1873: The First Great Depression and the Making of the Modern World by Liaquat Ahamed explores one financial panic amongst many.

First day of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy, outside Parliament House, Canberra, 27 January 1972. State Library of New South Wales. Public Domain.

What Factor Has Most Shaped Australian History?

All national histories are contentious and partial. What are the defining themes in Australia’s story?

Two Russian peddlers, 1917. Photo by Erik Hägglund/The Society of Swedish Literature in Finland.

The Persecution of Finland’s Russian Peddlers

In the 19th century Russian peddlers became a scapegoat in Finland’s resistance against the tsar’s empire.

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.

Slave Trade (Execrable Human Traffick, or The Affectionate Slaves), George Morland, c.1788. Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Public Domain.

Why Did Britain Abolish the Slave Trade?

The Slavery Abolition Act was passed by Parliament in 1833. What was really behind Britain’s moment of moral enlightenment?

Chinese embassy illustration © Ben Jones/Heart Agency.

Inside London’s Chinese Embassy

China plans to move its British embassy to a controversial new London site. It will carry 150 years of history with it.

The entrance to the Venice Biennale, from Isabella Gardner’s scrapbook, 1895. Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum/Bridgeman Images.

The First Venice Biennale

By the late 19th century the relationship between art and Italy felt consigned to history. On 30 April 1895 creativity and controversy returned with the first Venice Biennale.