Class and Superstition in Britain
Believing in ghosts wasn’t a class marker until the 1820s, when suddenly the educated classes tried to convince the masses that these apparitions were delusions.
It’s Not as Good to Be the King as It Used to Be
The trial and execution of Charles I irrevocably sundered the tradition of a divine, anointed king.
Black Power on British TV
International television coverage of the American Civil Rights struggle was critical in the construction of racial identity and experience in postwar Britain.
The Treaty of Ghent: Annotated
The Treaty of Ghent ended the War of 1812, an oft overlooked conflict that continues to shape the politics and culture(s) of North America.
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.