The Islamic Ethics of the Wine Tax
Between 1288 and 1300 European merchants competed with one another to obtain the right to collect duties on wine shipments
‘The Colonialist’ by William Kelleher Storey review
He was a polarising figure, revered by his admirers as a patriotic hero yet reviled by others for his egotism
Mental Health and the 17th-Century Ship’s Doctor
In September 1649 ship’s surgeon John Conny was deeply relieved and praised God that ‘all our men [are] in reasonable
Charles de Gaulle is Sentenced to Death
On 17 June 1940, when Marshal Pétain surrendered France to the Nazis, 49-year-old General Charles de Gaulle was in London.
Reduce and Seduce at the Teenage Beauty Farm
When it opened in the Malibu mountains in 1962, the ‘Teen-Age Beauty Farm’ – a combination spa, charm school, weight-loss
‘José Martí Reader: Writings on the Americas’ review
José Martí (1853-95) is a singular figure in Latin American history. A writer and a revolutionary, Martí was the prophet
‘Saving’ South Africa’s San Peoples
In 1919 the South African Rand Daily Mail reported on a shocking killing: a farmer, Vermaak, had ‘crossed the scent
Ship Shape: British Naval Strategy After Napoleon
In the summer of 1858 the French emperor Louis Napoleon III decided the time was right to inaugurate the massive
Shakespeare’s Lost Years | History Today
On 20 September 1592 a strange, yet immensely important, pamphlet was entered in the Stationer’s Register in London. Cobbled together
What Will We?
Blog Post 79 Muharram, 27, 1447 – July 23, 2025 (While this blog post is mostly about the genocide in
