Fanny and Stella, 1869

Trans-lating the Story of Fanny and Stella

The Victorian-era trial of Fanny and Stella has been variously interpreted over the years. But what if it was a trans narrative all along?
A prisoner under escort at the South Western Front during the Irish Civil War, 1922

Lessons for American Zionism from the “Free Ireland” Cause

In the early twentieth century, American Zionists were inspired by what they saw as parallels with the political objectives of Irish nationalists.
Arabs and Jews marching side by side as a Palestinian army for service with the British army as an Auxiliary Military Pioneer Corps.

Palestinians against Fascism

Thousands of Palestinian Arabs volunteered to fight against Germany and Italy during World War II, serving alongside Jewish volunteers from Mandate Palestine.
Dannemora mine, Sweden, before 1852

Humans for Voyage Iron: The Remaking of West Africa

Europeans used standardized bars of iron mined in northern Europe to purchase humans during the slave era, transforming the coastal landscape of West Africa.
Luanda, Angola

Luanda, Angola: The Paradox of Plenty

This vast Atlantic coast nation seems poised to become a tourist hot-spot, but uneven political and economic development may be standing in the way.
Republican troops of the International Brigades at the beginning of the Nationalist attack on the capital during the Spanish Civil War, Spain,1936

Growing Guerrilla Warfare

American resistance to the Nazis had its roots the skills of Spanish Civil War veterans, who were recruited by the OSS when they returned from Spain.
Sheep are seen while being transported in Fremantle Harbour on June 16, 2020 in Fremantle, Australia.

The Long History of Live Animal Export

The practice of live animal export from Australia is controversial and complex, and it has a longer history than you might realize.
Relief from a wall of the northern palace of Nineveh, Iraq. 645-635 BC

Haunted Soldiers in Mesopotamia

In ancient Mesopotamia, many medical disorders were attributed to ghosts, including mental problems faced by men who had spent years at war.

The British Empire’s Bid to Stamp Out “Chinese Slavery”

The mui tsai custom, which the British saw as a Chinese practice, relied on connections made across the multiracial landscape of colonial Malaya.
1936 map of The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

Tramping Across the USSR (On One Leg)

Historian Sheila Fitzpatrick explores the limits of the Stalinist system through the biography of a marginal figure, one Anastasia Emelianovna Egorova.