Reviews

Triptych panel with Saint Sebastian, c. 15th-16th century. Metropolitan Museum of Art. Public Domain.

‘Lower than the Angels’ by Diarmaid MacCulloch review

Lower than the Angels: A History of Sex and Christianity by Diarmaid MacCulloch reminds us that when it comes to sexuality and gender, scripture is often contradictory.

Books of the Year 2024: Part 2

Cook and Colombia, mathematics and motherhood, wealth and warfare: 13 more historians choose their favourite new history books of 2024.

‘Rest: Aldenham Church’, by Sir Hubert von Herkomer, 1876.Yale Center for British Art, Dr. Lee MacCormick Edwards Collection, Gift of Alison Edwards Curwen. Public Domain.

‘Church Going’ by Andrew Ziminski review

In Church Going: A Stonemason’s Guide to the Churches of the British Isles, Andrew Ziminski deconstructs the humble parish church.

Books of the Year 2024: Part 1

Imperialism and India, spies and seafarers, paganism and the polis: the first 12 of 25 historians choose their favourite new history books of 2024.

The extended Taft family with US president William H. Taft, 18 June 1918. Library of Congress. Public Domain.

‘The Tafts’ by George W. Liebmann review

In The Tafts, George W. Liebmann celebrates an American political dynasty dedicated to public service. Why are they often overlooked?

Diogenes in the Book of Good Morals, by Jacques le Grant, 15th century. Musée Condé, Chantilly/Bridgeman Images.

‘The Green Ages’ by Annette Kehnel review

Can The Green Ages: Medieval Innovations in Sustainability by Annette Kehnel find anything worth recycling in medieval modes of living?

Moses receiving the Ten Commandments, from the Regensburg Pentateuch, c.1300. Israel Museum, Jerusalem/The Ridgefield Foundation, New York, in memory of Henry J. and Erna D. Leir/Bridgeman Images.

‘Who Really Wrote the Bible’ by William M. Schniedewind review

Who Really Wrote the Bible: The Story of the Scribes by William M. Schniedewind asks what authorship meant to the hidden hands behind the Old Testament.

A folding screen showing an indigenous wedding in Mexico, c. 1660-90. Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Public Domain.

‘Patria’ by Laurence Blair review

In Patria: Lost Countries of South America, Laurence Blair explores nine nations, dissolved or imagined, and what they tell us about Latin America.

A bronze head of Ptolemy II or III, c. 246-222 BC. Metropolitan Museum of Art. Public Domain.

‘The Last Dynasty’ and ‘The Fall of Egypt and the Rise of Rome’ review

Can The Last Dynasty: Ancient Egypt from Alexander the Great to Cleopatra and The Fall of Egypt and the Rise of Rome: A History of the Ptolemies fashion a finale for the pharaohs?

People gather to read a special edition of the Nürnberger newspaper reporting the sentences handed down by the International Military Tribunal, 1 October 1946. US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Gerald Schwab.

‘The Writers’ Castle’ by Uwe Neumahr review

In The Writers’ Castle: Reporting History at Nuremberg, Uwe Neumahr discovers that it wasn’t just the men in the dock who had scandalous social lives and hidden agendas.