Today’s featured articles
‘The most common misconception about my field? That the Arabs are unusually prone to conspiracy theories to explain political developments.’
The Specter of the Archive: Political Practice and the Information State in Early Modern Britain by Nicholas Popper explores the Elizabethan revolution in record keeping.
In his pursuit of Anne Boleyn, Thomas Cromwell was guided by a prophecy foretelling treason.
Most recent
‘The Specter of the Archive’ by Nicholas Popper review
The Specter of the Archive: Political Practice and the Information State in Early Modern Britain by Nicholas Popper explores the Elizabethan revolution in record keeping.
On the Spot: Eugene Rogan
‘The most common misconception about my field? That the Arabs are unusually prone to conspiracy theories to explain political developments.’
How the CCP is Closing China
Forty years of opening and reform persuaded a lot of people that the Chinese are not really communists. But modern China was modelled on the USSR, and its leaders want to revert to their Leninist roots.
Deeds Not Words: Slashing the Rokeby Venus
On 10 May 2024 the National Gallery reaches its 200th anniversary. From the suffragettes to Just Stop Oil, the gallery – specifically Diego Velásquez’s Rokeby Venus – has been a magnet for activists. Why?
‘Churchill’s American Network’ and ‘Mirrors of Greatness’ review
Cita Stelzer’s Churchill’s American Network and David Reynolds’ Mirrors of Greatness seek to bring Churchill’s contemporaries and adversaries out of his shadow.
Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin and the Making of Stars
What are stars made of? When a young astronomer upset standard explanations for the formation of the solar system, the establishment told her she was wrong – then stole her findings.
Petticoat Alley: London’s Forgotten Women’s Clubs
Despite their reputation, London’s private members’ clubs have never been entirely for men.
When Did Britain’s Age of Deference End – and Why?
An old-fashioned feature of a fusty, inegalitarian past, when did the British stop knowing their place?
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In the April issue: the prophecies of Merlin, Britons in the French Revolution, Orkney between Scandinavia and Scotland, Jewish collaborators on trial, and rehabilitating the East India Company’s nabobs.
Plus: reviews, opinion, crossword and much more!
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