The idea of a Silk Road, though it conjures up visions of exotic goods passing between Asia and Europe via ancient trade routes, is a thoroughly modern one.

The woman who revolutionized the fantasy genre is finally getting her due.

Forty years ago, Hollywood made gremlins loveable—portraying them as adorable, furry creatures. Their folkloric origins are far more sinister.

In classic British detective stories, villains might be atavistic monsters, foreign menaces, or conniving professionals—all tied to aristocrats’ anxieties.

Reeling from defeat in Vietnam, the US invaded a Cambodian island to rescue a US freighter—just before its crew members, who were elsewhere, were released.

Well-researched stories from Black Perspectives, Mongabay, and other great publications that bridge the gap between news and scholarship.

Travel writing as a genre has arguably been around for centuries, but it didn’t emerge as a distinct field of academic study until the 1980s.

John Flamsteed’s vision of an astronomer's skill set clashed with existing ideas about observing, paving the way for a new mindset based on mechanical objectivity.

Louis Hémon’s Maria Chapdelaine grew from his views as a French immigrant writer on the rural life of early twentieth-century Quebec.

In the years between the world wars, the League of Nations attempted to change how history was taught to emphasize commonalities across national lines.