The Weed Scientist Who Brought Down the Wrath of Stalin
Nikolai Ivanovich Vavilov's hypothesis on the evolution of rye is now accepted. But in the 1930s, his research got him arrested.
Everyone in Pompeii Got Takeout, Too
Archaeologists have found that snack bars called tabernae fed much of the city in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius.
Dean Mahomet: Travel Writer, Border Crosser
The author of what is considered the first English-language book by an Indian writer was neither a rebel nor an accommodationist.
Was Russia Destined to Be an Autocracy?
The most important factors that steered Russia away from democracy, says one scholar, weren't inevitable.
How to Memorialize a Plague
Vienna's baroque Plague Column, completed in 1693, gave thanks for the survival of a city.
European Colonization and Epidemics Among Native Peoples
What you learned about the diseases that decimated Native communities is probably wrong.
The Defense of Ethiopia from Fascism
For black activists in the 1930s, defending Ethiopia from Mussolini’s invasion created unprecedented unity.
Cracking the Malaria Mystery—from Marshes to Mosquirix
It took science centuries to understand malaria. Now we’re waiting to see how the 2019 vaccine pilot works.
Britain’s World Police in Mandate Palestine
As colonized peoples challenged the imperial powers after World War I, British veterans were tapped to become a ruthless police force.
Pompeii Mania in the Era of Romanticism
Nothing appealed more perfectly to the Romantic sensibility than the mix of horror and awe evoked by a volcano erupting.