Black Conquistadors and Black Maroons
Some formerly enslaved Blacks and freedmen accompanied the Spanish invaders; others formed their own communities.
Girls and Dolls in the Roman Empire
Analyzing the dolls of elite girls shows that playthings reinforced gendered expectations but also allowed for imaginative play.
Why Suicide Was a Sin in Medieval Europe
Although there were historical and scriptural precedents for honorable suicide, Christian theology saw it much differently.
Was “Khaki Fever” a Moral Panic over Women’s Sexuality?
At the start of World War I, young working-class women swooned for men in uniform, leading middle-class women to form patrols to police public morals.
What Was the Zanj Rebellion?
A remarkable episode of Medieval Islamic history that often goes untold.
How Rock against Racism Fought the Right
A rising tide of violence and bigotry in the 1970s infected the British music scene. A group of musicians organized to resist.
Plant of the Month: Agarwood
Agarwood has long been prized for its olfactory splendor. Its essential oil is even known as liquid gold today.
A German Klan in the Weimar Republic
The little-known story of how the vicious American hate group spawned a counterpart in 1920s Germany.
Jacobin Hating, American Style
The most radical faction of the French Revolution was hated by everyone in the United States from reactionaries to abolitionists.
How the Fascists Rewrote Spanish National History
National origin stories can be the stuff of fancy. Francoist Spain also showed how quickly those stories could be rewritten.