The destruction of Medieval England’s Jews, British soldiers vs the wilderness in the American Revolutionary War, unreported murder in East Germany, ‘mad duchess’ Elizabeth Cavendish, and more.
Plus: reviews, opinion, crossword and much more!
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The first year of Edward I’s reign saw waves of strictures placed on a Jewish community in an already perilous situation. It set the path to their expulsion.
British soldiers fighting in the American Revolutionary War were unprepared for the terrain awaiting them across the Atlantic. Many thought that America was determined to destroy them; some felt it had succeeded.
The vagaries of palace politics are notoriously difficult to record. Historians should pay attention to rumour.
For the Portuguese empire to rise, an old world had to give way. Rivals in Europe’s lucrative spice trade, how much did they know about the powerful Mamluk sultanate?
Man-Devil: The Mind and Times of Bernard Mandeville, the Wickedest Man in Europe by John J. Callanan revels in the making of the controversial satirist and philosopher.
In 1981, a horrific murder case required police in East Germany to go door-to-door collecting handwriting samples. There was no public outrage, because they were not told about the crime.
The changing climate of the Little Ice Age forced radical thinkers to reconsider humanity’s place in the universe.
Written into history as the ‘Mad Duchess’ of Albemarle, what brought about the downfall of Elizabeth Cavendish?
The Grammar of Angels: A Search for the Magical Powers of Language by Edward Wilson-Lee finds in Giovanni Pico della Mirandola a case for the Rennaissance as a triumph not of individuality, but of universal experience.
According to some, written history began in the 14th century. It may seem ridiculous, but the Phantom Time conspiracy theory has serious implications.
Two rare textile discoveries connect 18th-century Barbadian schoolgirls to England.
Political reputations are forged by actions, but the long view of history can be hard to predict.
In Augustus the Strong: A Study in Artistic Greatness and Political Fiasco, Tim Blanning looks for a legacy for the ‘incorrigible Saxon’.
The Price of Victory: A Naval History of Britain: 1815-1945 by N.A.M. Rodger looks above decks for the story of the modern Royal Navy.
In 1920 the English writer Jerome K. Jerome set out the arguments in favour of Irish home rule.
Russia’s entry into the global economy was met with glee by international firms in the early 1990s. The exodus has been just as sudden.
The Brothers Grimm: A Biography by Ann Schmiesing brings folklore’s most famous double act out of the shadowy realm of legend.
‘What historical topic have I changed my mind on? I underestimated the role of women.’
A tool for tyrants... or their undoing? The Crowd in the Early Middle Ages by Shane Bobrycki crafts a history for the medieval mob.
Are beavers beasts or fish? For medieval philosophers, this was an important question with implications for the dining table.
