The Newsletter Boom, 300 Years before Substack
Some journalists are turning to newsletters to get their work out. But they're not hand-copying them onto folded paper, like people did in the 1600s.
Under Victorian Microscopes, an Enchanted World
When it came time to describe what they saw under microscopes, Victorians couldn’t help but perceive a real-life fairyland.
The First Moral Panic: London, 1744
The late summer crime wave of 1744 London sparked an intense moral panic about crime that burnt itself out by the new year. But not before heads rolled.
How Highlanders Came to Wear Kilts
Kilts are traditional garb from Scotland, right? Well, that's not quite the whole story.
The Age of the Bed Changed the Way We Sleep
One historian reconstructs what nighttime was like in early modern Europe, and how the darkness affected people's sleep patterns.
The Unexpected Impact of James Garfield’s Assassination
On July 2, 1881, less than a year after President James Garfield was elected the 20th president of the United States, he was shot by Charles Guiteau.
P.G. Wodehouse, Great American Humorist?
Should P.G. Wodehouse, creator of the ditzy Wooster and inimitable Jeeves, be considered an American humorist as well as a master of British farce?
The Spy Novelist Who Was Actually a Spy
The author John le Carré, who real name is David Cornwall, is the subject of both a recent biography and his own brand new memoir, The Pigeon Tunnel.
Brexit What? On the Foundations of the European Union
The foundations of the European Union, which the UK is deciding to remain in or leave, are in coal and steel.
The Class Perceptions of Christmas Decorations in Great Britain
In the U.K., Christmas decorations are often associated with the lower-class, and such visibility has been scorned and criticized.