Volume 69 Issue 1 January 2019

The staple dish of the Middle East is as contested as the region, with different peoples claiming falafel’s origins as their own.

Birds in the Ancient World: Winged Words by Jeremy Mynott explores the role birds played in intellectual, practical, and emotional lives.

The world’s first filmmaker disappeared without trace. Are we watching his outtakes?

The Common Freedom of the People: John Lilburne & the English Revolution by Michael Braddick charts his remarkable rise.

A mythological creature of extraordinary resilience.

Can the collective endeavour of history still be our guide in the age of solipsism?

Many historical analogies have been drawn to explain the Trump phenomenon. Though few have compared him to Abraham Lincoln, both promised to shape an economy that benefited white working men. 

At the beginning of the 20th century, there were 16 empires of varying size and reach. At the end of the century, there was just one: the United States. How did this happen and what role did Britain play in smoothing America’s path to global hegemony?

The Conquest of Mexico was justified by the Spanish as an evil necessary to save a people who practised human sacrifice and worshipped false gods. 

In the first of a new series, we ask historians one of the burning questions of the day.