The Birth of Spiritualism
On 14 November 1848 the Fox sisters conjured up a movement when they made contact with the dead – or so they claimed.
Victorian
‘The Heretic of Cacheu’ and ‘Worlds of Unfreedom’ review
The Heretic of Cacheu by Toby Green and Worlds of Unfreedom by Roquinaldo Ferreira, painstakingly recreate the worlds at the beginning and end of Portugal’s slave trade.
Border Control: How States Get Recognised
What makes a state? Is it its people, its borders, its government, or does it rest on recognition from international powers? Across the 19th and 20th centuries, the process by which states have been created and recognised has taken many forms.
‘The Indefatigable Asa Briggs’ by Adam Sisman review
The Indefatigable Asa Briggs: A Biography by Adam Sisman is a detailed portrait of that voluminous chronicler of Victorian things.
‘Fenwomen’ by Mary Chamberlain review
Mary Chamberlain’s groundbreaking oral history turns 50. This new edition of Fenwomen: A Portrait of Women in an English Village invites reflection on half a century of change.
Victorian Science’s Duck-Billed Enigma
By the 19th century, standard classification systems were struggling with new species. Then the platypus arrived.
Basque Identity and French Unity
Fearing the loss of regional identity, at the end of the 19th century, the French Basques invented a cultural tradition – but did that make them a threat to national unity?
When Summer Meant Sea Serpents
For the Victorians and Edwardians, the late British summer was a time of sun, sand – and sea serpents.
What Birmingham Taught Muslim India
Industrial Birmingham was an important stop on the grand tours of various Muslim rulers, all eager to learn from the city of a thousand trades.
Cowboy Diplomacy in the Spanish-American War
A routine Native American cattle round-up at the US-Mexico border in 1898 became an international incident.