Volume 74 Issue 11 November 2024

Picture of a man thought to be Doc Holliday, 1882. GRANGER - Historical Picture Archive/Alamy Stock Photo.

Doc Holliday: The Perennial Sidekick

Misfit, Old West villain or tragic hero of the O.K. Corral: who was the real Doc Holliday?

A bronze head of Ptolemy II or III, c. 246-222 BC. Metropolitan Museum of Art. Public Domain.

‘The Last Dynasty’ and ‘The Fall of Egypt and the Rise of Rome’ review

Can The Last Dynasty: Ancient Egypt from Alexander the Great to Cleopatra and The Fall of Egypt and the Rise of Rome: A History of the Ptolemies fashion a finale for the pharaohs?

Silver denarius of Cassius Longinus, depicting a citizen casting a ballot, 63 BC. CNG coins.

How to Win an Election in Ancient Rome

Ancient Roman election advice suggested some uncomfortable campaign strategies. Evidence from Pompeii suggests many candidates followed it enthusiastically.

Edward Heath, newly elected leader of the Conservative Party, outside his home, London, 27 July 1965. PRISMA ARCHIVO/Alamy Stock Photo.

The Conservative Party Popularity Contest

How the first Conservative leadership election modernised the party in the 1960s.

Woodcut illustration from the Roxburghe Ballads showing a man pleading before a lawyer or magistrate, early 17th century. Bridgeman Images.

The Tudor War on Libel

As rude rhymes and rumours threatened reputations, the Elizabethan government attempted to regulate barbed language.

People gather to read a special edition of the Nürnberger newspaper reporting the sentences handed down by the International Military Tribunal, 1 October 1946. US Holocaust Memorial Museum, courtesy of Gerald Schwab.

‘The Writers’ Castle’ by Uwe Neumahr review

In The Writers’ Castle: Reporting History at Nuremberg, Uwe Neumahr discovers that it wasn’t just the men in the dock who had scandalous social lives and hidden agendas.

North Korean leader Kim Il Sung arrives at Schönefeld airport in East Berlin, welcomed by Otto Grotewohl, prime minister of the GDR, 6 June 1956. Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images.

The Road from East Germany to North Korea

The Cold War forged new international relationships in which physical distance seemed overcome by ideological proximity. In North Korea, East Germany found a fellow traveller – and a fellow victim.

Reason, Righteousness and Sincerity teaching some women, c. 1425-50. KB, National Library of the Netherlands. Public Domain.

‘Poet, Mystic, Widow, Wife’ and ‘God’s Own Gentlewoman’ review

Poet, Mystic, Widow, Wife: The Extraordinary Lives of Medieval Women and God’s Own Gentlewoman bring the real world of medieval women out of the margins.

Carthusian monks at the dining table, from an account of rules of the Carthusian Order, the Netherlands, 15th century. British Library/Bridgeman Images.

The Violent Life of the Medieval Monks

Meant to live a life of perfect peacefulness and contemplation, in reality monks were human and fallible. How violent could life in the medieval cloister be?

Former-president Baltasar Brum prepares to face minister of war Alberto Riverós, 1924. On the signal, he chose to shoot at the ground while Riverós fired into the air. Archivo Fotografico de El Pais, Montevideo.

Why Uruguay Legalised Duelling

Uruguay was the only nation where fighting a duel in defence of honour was perfectly legal for most of the 20th century. Why?