How Sports Shaped Glacier Science
The heroic masculinity that governed early glacial science had its roots in nineteenth-century British sporting culture.
Policing the Holocaust in Paris
Unlike in the rest of Nazi-occupied Europe, the arrest of Jewish people was largely in the hands of ordinary policemen in France, especially in Paris.
When French Citrus Colonized Algeria
The citrus industry in Algeria honed French imperial apparatuses and provided a means for France to define and shape the behavior of its colonial subjects.
Women Warriors Make Great Propaganda
The presence of female fighters gives legitimacy to armed rebellions and increases the chances of support from international NGOS and other external actors.
Taiping: China’s Nineteenth-Century Civil War
Partially coinciding with the American Civil War, the Taiping “Rebellion” in China was one of the most destructive conflicts in history.
Becoming the British Virgin Islands
Grappling with a history shaped by colonialism, the British Virgin Islands have built a national identity that embraces change while distancing the neighbors.
Gonna Make You a (Bangsawan) Star
The bangsawan theater in early twentieth-century Malaya offered women a chance to build a public identity beyond marriage and motherhood.
The Deep Roots of Mughal Tolerance
Under Akbar, the Mughal Empire instituted a policy known as sulh-i kull, which called for amicable reconciliation and tolerance toward all religions.
Foreign Magic in Imperial Rome
Roman ideas about witchcraft were often associated with distant regions, including India and the Kush kingdom in northeast Africa.
Going Postal at the Qiaopiju
The Chinese Qiaopiju, or “overseas letter offices,” lasted for a century, ending only when the foreign governments implemented anti-communist banking controls.