‘The China Question’ by Ho-fung Hung review
In The China Question: Eight Centuries of Fantasy and Fear Ho-fung Hung watches the West swing from Sinophilia to Sinophobia and back again.
Social
Human Canaries: Remembering the Munitionettes
The women who served as munitions workers during the First World War endured dismal conditions and a plethora of dangers: illness, injury, and death. Why are they barely remembered?
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.
The Meadows of Medieval Summer
Chaucer’s meadows are romantic landscapes of leisurely frolicking. But for medieval haymakers July meant a month of hard graft.
End of the Gin Craze
The Gin Act of 25 June 1751 finally succeeded where previous legislation had failed and banished ‘Madam Genever’ from Georgian London.
‘The Log Books’ by Tash Walker and Adam Zmith review
The Log Books: Voices of Queer Britain and the Helpline That Listened by Tash Walker and Adam Zmith reveals unsung – but not unheard – LGBTQ+ heroes of Switchboard.
Beating the Bounds
May is a month for praying for a good harvest, enjoying the natural world – and reaffirming ancient boundaries.
‘Infanta’ by Magdalena S. Sánchez review
In Infanta: The Short, Remarkable Life of Catalina Micaela, Magdalena S. Sánchez discovers a 16th-century marriage documented in remarkable detail.
How Can We Write the History of Emotions?
We know that people in the past felt, but not what, how, or why. Is emotional history recoverable?
The ‘Scandal’ of Scotland’s Unmarried Mothers
The high incidence of illegitimate births in rural Scotland was front-page news in the early 1950s. Within two decades, what had once seemed an aberration was increasingly becoming the norm.