Can Thucydides Teach Us Why We Go to War?
A contemporary scholar uses the ancient Greek historian to explain the 1968 Pueblo Crisis in North Korea.
Chivalric Romance, Meet Gunpowder Reality
The manly knight wouldn't have lasted a day in sixteenth-century combat. So why was he so popular as a literary figure at the time?
How Thomas Mann Turned against the German Right
The best-selling author supported the Kaiser during World War I. What made him change his mind about politics later?
Eighteenth-Century Spies in the European Silk Industry
Curious about the advancing wonders of the age, savants traveled abroad to gather trade secrets for their homeland.
How the LAPD Guarded California’s Borders in the 1930s
Working well outside their jurisdiction, the officers patrolled their state's borders against white migrants.
Ernest Hemingway and Gender Fluidity
Despite his reputation for hypermasculinity, the author was fascinated by different forms of gender expression.
When the CIA Was Everywhere—Except on Screen
Hollywood was just fine avoiding all portrayals of the Central Intelligence Agency for years after the agency's founding in 1947.
There Once Was a Poem Called a Limerick
Whose history, they say, isn't quick. It's all such a muddle, it can leave you befuddled, whether you like the clean or the sick.
Puerto Rican Domestic Workers and Citizenship in the 1940s
Recruited to work on the U.S. mainland for long hours at less than the prevailing rate, women migrants fought for dignity and recognition.
How Commonly Was Smallpox Used as a Biological Weapon?
Once introduced into the Americas, smallpox spread everywhere. Is it possible to know how often that was done intentionally to kill people?