Charles Darwin and His Correspondents: A Lifetime of Letters
An epistolary network was critical for Darwin’s work, allowing him to obtain new information while sparking fresh ideas in his correspondents’ minds.
Culinary Fusion in the Ancient World
People from eastern Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, South Asia, and Southeast Asia have been sharing food plants across the Indian Ocean for millennia.
Ayahs Abroad: Colonial Nannies Cross The Empire
South Asian maids and nannies journeyed to Britain by the thousands in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century with returning colonials.
The Taj Mahal Today
In parallel with the recent shift in political attitudes toward Islamic heritage, India’s most famous monument may need to find a new place in history.
Beryl Markham, Warrior of the Skies
The first person to fly solo, non-stop from Europe to North America, Markham lived life by her own rules.
Eurasianism: A Primer
Anti-Western and pro-expansionist, Eurasianists believed every country had a right to its own existence...as part of the Russian civilization.
Saffron: The Story of the World’s Most Expensive Spice
Appearing in the written record as early as 2300 BCE, saffron can be traced in foodways around the globe, despite the finicky nature of its harvest.
The Fencing Moral Panic of Elizabethan London
In Elizabethan England, it seemed like everyone was carrying a sharpened object with the intent to inflict damage.
Reporting Atrocity—Or Not—In Postwar Britain
Or, what metropolitan Britons could know about the colonies.
Nice Guy Spinoza Finishes…First?
The Dutch Jewish philosopher Spinoza died in 1677, which is when the battle to define his life—and work—began.