Cake News
A lack of historical knowledge is easily exploited in the fractious world of social media.
Volume 68 Issue 2 February 2018
Ulysses S. Grant: Great Soldier but Poor President?
A vast biography of General Grant questions received opinions, while a new edition of his memoirs confirms their historic status.
Georges Auguste Escoffier
The chef and restaurateur died on 12 February 1935.
In Pursuit of Tea and Taste
The British love for 'a nice cup of tea' was carefully manipulated to promote the British Empire.
Dedication Is What You Need
Seemingly inconsequential, dedicating books to royalty was a vital part of Tudor publishing.
The Mediterranean and the Atlantic
The relationship between the very different expanses of the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea began long before Columbus.
America’s ‘Lawrence of Arabia’
Wendell Phillips is not remembered fondly in Yemen.
Practical Philosophy and Benjamin Franklin
Long before he helped to draft the Declaration of Independence, Franklin was a printer, an inventor and a philosopher.
The Addis Ababa Massacre
Italy's conquest of Addis Ababa was hailed an imperial triumph by Mussolini, though most Ethiopians had only bows and arrows with which to defend themselves.
Sanitising the Suffragettes
Why is it so easy to forget an unsavoury aspect of Britain’s recent past?