The Battle of St Louis
Saint or sinner? Recent demonstrations in the American city of St. Louis are just the latest battle for the legacy of a medieval French king.
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A World Without Touch
The fear that advances in technology and comfort bring isolation and complacency is never far away.
The Crowd-Funded War
In the wake of the failure of the Spanish Armada, England sought retaliation by launching an invasion of its own. But how to finance such a venture?
In the Shadow of Angkor
The ruined temples of Cambodia’s medieval empire became symbols of a people who had forgotten their history. In reality, they demonstrate an inherent continuity.
To Frame a Painter
A society portraitist who emigrated to Britain from Hungary found himself embroiled in a drama of divided loyalties during the First World War.
The Invention of Chinese
Believing language would unify their struggling nation, Chinese officials began a project to create a national language and define what it meant to speak Chinese.
A Stand on the Streetcar
How an individual act of resistance in 1850s’ New York led to the desegregation of the city’s transit system.
Contested Legacy of the Conquistadors
If we are to better understand the actions of men such as Hernán Cortés, we must place them in the context of a medieval world view that predated the nation state.
The Culinary Enlightenment
The belief that you are what you eat emerged in 19th-century France, where the pleasures of the table were sautéed with philosophy and medicine.
Pilgrims Processed
Muslims from Asia who wished to travel to Mecca on the Hajj were exploited by a trade in human cargo that grew with the opening of the Suez Canal.