Feature

Size Matters

In Georgian Britain, England’s ‘heaviest man’ became a celebrity, his likeness reproduced across an array of media.

Lynching the British

The actions of lynch mobs during the late 19th century damaged the United States’ relationship with Britain and threatened its self-appointed role as the world’s moral guardian.

Organisation Todt

‘Hitler’s architect’ Albert Speer denied all responsibility for the ruthless exploitation of millions of slave labourers. Yet he was head of a bureaucratic machine that did just that. 

Scotland’s Darien Scheme

Scotland’s short-lived, catastrophic Central American colony exposed its precarious relationship with England. Was closer union an inevitable result?

Devadatta in Hell

One of Buddhism’s most reviled villains was crucified in the Buddhist underworld. When French Christians arrived in Siam in the 17th century, venerating images of Christ on the cross, dialogue between the two religions reached an impasse.

The Death of the Library?

Throughout the centuries countless libraries and carefully curated book collections have been dispersed, destroyed or lost. 

The Sin King

The court of William Rufus, son of the Conqueror, was known as a ‘brothel of male prostitutes’.