Treason of the Clerics
For 600 years Muslims held sway over the Indian subcontinent. Then democracy and a desultory leadership did them in.
History Today
Getting Away with Murder
Found guilty of the Temple Murders in 1733, Sarah Malcolm became the most notorious woman in Britain. Did she commit the crime alone? Did she commit it at all?
Save Your Ass
The US government was happy to support the assassination of foreign officials – but not to be seen doing so.
On the Spot: Rodric Braithwaite
‘Great leaders are much less in control of events than people imagine.’
Dead Letters
Correspondence from the members of the doomed expedition to find the Northwest Passage.
Vile Verse and Desperate Doggerel
Was the worst poet in history a hidden visionary?
What is a ‘Just War’?
On the 20th anniversary of the worldwide protest against the Iraq War in February 2003, we ask: is there such a thing as ‘just war’ or is there just war?
Charles Darwin’s Rocks of Ages
On his early travels across the world it was geology that struck Charles Darwin’s interest, not biology.
A Dynasty is Founded
On 8 February 1644, Li Zicheng, a rebel warlord, proclaimed the foundation of his own Shun dynasty.
‘Guru to the World’ by Ruth Harris review
Guru to the World: The Life and Legacy of Vivekananda by Ruth Harris uncovers the Hindu guru’s life of epiphanies and contradictions.