Natural History: A Reading List
This annotated bibliography samples scholarship on the rich—and difficult—history of natural history.
A Mother Superior’s Demons
What does it mean when an entire convent of Urusline nuns appears to be possessed by demons? Many things, as it turns out.
The Bawdy House Riots of 1668
Though so-called bawdy house riots were common in seventeenth-century London, the disorder of 1668 revealed the city’s deep political and religious resentments.
The History of Peer Review Is More Interesting Than You Think
The term “peer review” was coined in the 1970s, but the referee principle is usually assumed to be as old as the scientific enterprise itself. (It isn’t.)
Poland’s Colonial Dreams
With the resurrection of a Polish state in the aftermath of World War I, Poland seriously flirted with colonialism—in Liberia.
Consuming Hawai‘i’s Golden People
With statehood in 1959 came “Aloha Spirit” tourism, turning Hawai‘i’s ethnic diversity into a commodity that benefited both business and US foreign policy.
Look Both Ways
With the arrival of the automobile, governments had to scramble to find ways to protect and control pedestrian use of the road.
The Partisans of Modena
The legacy of anti-Mussolini resistance in the northern Italian city endures as fascist impulses once again loom.
Building a Fairy Kingdom in Britain
Around the fourteenth century, folk and literary traditions concerning elves, demons, and other creatures coalesced into a unified fairy kingdom.
Catherine of Aragon: Europe’s First Female Ambassador
Remembered as the wife Henry VIII brushed aside for Anne Boleyn, Catherine of Aragon was viewed as a strong leader and diplomat in her own lifetime.