Aerial view of Old Port of Marseille, France

Marseille: Independent, Industrial, and Mediterranean

From Caesar’s Commentaries to the modernism of Le Corbusier, the port city of Marseille has preserved a sense of individuality and industry.
An act to carry into further execution the provisions of an act passed in the third and fourth years of His present Majesty, for compensating owners of slaves upon the abolition of slavery

Imperfect Memories of British Slavery

British abolition in 1833 was accompanied by £20 million paid in compensation to slaveholders, many of whom subsequently "forgot" slavery ever existed.

From Oriental Riviera to Global Asia: Hong Kong in Travel Posters

A collection of travel posters shared via JSTOR by Hong Kong Baptist University highlights Hong Kong’s unique place in the global imagination over the decades.
The Canada Lumberman, 1882

French Canadians in the New England Woods

Immigrants from Quebec held a distinct position in an American labor landscape in which experts viewed different “races” as being suited to different kinds of work.
A set of dummies propped up in the Sahara Desert awaiting a third atomic bomb explosion during the French nuclear testing.

Nuclear France’s Empire of the Bomb

The first French nuclear bomb test took place in the Sahara in 1960 in the midst of the Algerian War, but French history doesn’t connect the two events.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, bottom left, speaks during the Opening Ceremony of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China at The Great Hall of People on October 16, 2022 in Beijing, China.

Autocratic Capitalism: An Introduction

Americans are taught that capitalism and democracy go together like motherhood and apple pie. It may be time to unlearn that lesson.
San Pier Maggiore altarpiece

When the Bishop Married the Abbess

When a new bishop was installed in the see of medieval Florence, he was also expected to marry—at least symbolically—the abbess of San Pier Maggiore.
A map of the world showing the extent of the British Empire in 1886

A Primer on Settler Colonialism

What is this “settler colonialism” that’s become all the rage? Let’s take a closer look.
Atlas Mountains

Modern Nomads in the Atlas Mountains

For pastoralists who live and work in the mountains of Morocco, the lifestyle is difficult but worthwhile. It’s also threatened by economic and climate change.