AD-X2: When US Politicians Took on Science
The dismissal of a government scientist over the unproven battery additive AD-X2 galvanised the American scientific community in the 1950s.
Political
Lost in the Kennedy Files
The release of government documents related to the Kennedy assassination will keep scholars busy for years, but will we learn anything new?
‘The Rage of Party’ by George Owers review
They go low, we go lower. The Rage of Party: How Whig Versus Tory Made Modern Britain by George Owers offers up the origins of Britain’s fractious political culture.
‘The First King of England’ by David Woodman review
The First King of England: Æthelstan and the Birth of a Kingdom by David Woodman looks beyond the empty tomb to find perhaps the most consequential monarch of the Anglo-Saxon age.
‘The Strange and Tragic Wounds of George Cole’s America’ review
In The Strange and Tragic Wounds of George Cole’s America: A Tale of Manhood, Sex, and Ambition in the Civil War Era, Michael deGruccio discovers a generation betrayed by the fight for freedom.
‘Zbig’ by Edward Luce and ‘Henry Kissinger’ by Jérémie Gallon review
Zbig: The Life of Zbigniew Brzezinski, America’s Cold War Prophet by Edward Luce and Henry Kissinger: An Intimate Portrait of the Master of Realpolitik by Jérémie Gallon reveal the parallel lives of the Cold War frenemies.
The Lin Biao Incident
On 13 September 1971 a plane carrying Mao’s anointed heir crashed in Eastern Mongolia. What really happened to Lin Biao?
Did It Matter That Elizabeth I Was a Woman?
Whether as ‘Gloriana’ or ‘Good Queen Bess’ Elizabeth I is one of England’s most iconic monarchs, but did her gender shape her reign?
Ghana Against Corruption
A strong anti-graft sentiment runs throughout Ghana’s history, as its leaders have sometimes discovered the hard way.
After Hiroshima: The US Occupation of Japan
Following Japan’s unconditional surrender in September 1945, the US aimed to rebuild the nation in its own image – for better or worse.