Cultural

Patricia Cleveland-Peck finds out how family historians can research the lives of their ancestors in the fast-changing city of Shanghai.

Jeremy Goldberg examines three stories of disputed marriages and discusses definitions of consent and how they impinged on a medieval woman’s right to marry when and whom she chose.

John Styles considers whether the fashion for wearing pocket-watches flourished among working men in the eighteenth century because it was stylish, because they needed to know the time accurately, or for some other reason.

Mark Juddery introduces The Story of the Kelly Gang, possibly the first-ever feature film, now largely lost, that was made a hundred years ago in Australia about the notorious outlaw with the unusual body-armour. Hugely popular when it was first released in 1906, it spawned a genre of bushranger movies and epitomized the significance of the Kelly legend in Australian cultural identity.

Gervase Phillips examines the extent and significance of an often misunderstood phenomenon.

A century ago international anarchists were causing public outrage and panic with their terror tactics. Matt Carr considers the parallels with al-Qaeda today.

Alison Barnes explains our special fondness for the Christmas legend.

Martin Kemp explores the complex and ambiguous relationships between humans and animals in their depictions by artists, and investigates the ways in which animal characteristics have been used to mirror human foibles.

Richard Cavendish remembers the life of Louis B. Mayer, who died on October 29th, 1957.

Laurence Rees, whose work as a TV historian has brought him face to face with many people involved in mass killings, discusses the opportunities and dangers of oral history.