Volume 74 Issue 12 December 2024

Iran illustration © Ben Jones/Heart Agency.

How Iran Won the West

What explains the Iranian state’s remarkable soft power? The answer lies in its rich – and often romanticised – history.

The extended Taft family with US president William H. Taft, 18 June 1918. Library of Congress. Public Domain.

‘The Tafts’ by George W. Liebmann review

In The Tafts, George W. Liebmann celebrates an American political dynasty dedicated to public service. Why are they often overlooked?

Poster from the ‘Careless Talk Costs Lives’ campaign, 1939-46. mauritius images GmbH/Alamy Stock Photo.

Fighting the Home Front’s ‘Enemy Within’

National security during the Second World War was threatened by the ‘enemy within’ – working-class women, suspected of betraying their country by taking in deserters and escapees.

A farmer gives milk from the holy cow to Hindus, Parsees and the British, by Ravi Varma, c. 1848-1908. Wellcome Collection. Public Domain.

Why Do Religions Decline?

The spiritual marketplace is crowded – is there something Darwinian about it?

The Ehemann organ in the Holy Trinity Church, Ulm, 1643. Kartensammlung Moll. Public Domain.

Why the Organ Split the Church

Indulgent symbol of papist excess or mouthpiece for God’s second greatest gift? What place was there for the organ in the Reformation church?

The Sick, the leprous, and the lame praying at Saint Hedwig's tomb, from the Vita beatae Hedwigis, 1353. The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, Ms. Ludwig XI 7, fol. 87v, 83.MN.126.87v. Public Domain.

The Pilgrim as a Historian

Pilgrimage is not meant to be easy, but it remains a popular pursuit – even for non-believers.

The policewoman of the future as imagined by Harry Furniss, Judy Magazine, 5 August 1885. Public Domain.

The Female Detectives of Victorian Britain

The real female Victorian detectives were every bit as bold as their fictional counterparts – and far more prevalent than we might assume.

Diogenes in the Book of Good Morals, by Jacques le Grant, 15th century. Musée Condé, Chantilly/Bridgeman Images.

‘The Green Ages’ by Annette Kehnel review

Can The Green Ages: Medieval Innovations in Sustainability by Annette Kehnel find anything worth recycling in medieval modes of living?

Porus surrenders to Alexander the Great, from History of the World, by Evert A. Duyckinck, 1870. Look and Learn/Bridgeman Images.

How Ancient Greece Shaped the British Raj

British agents of empire saw their actions in India through the texts of their classical educations. They looked for Alexander, cast themselves as Aeneas and hoped to emulate Augustus.

Manuel II Palaiologos meeting with Henry IV, from the St Albans Chronicle, late 15th century. Lambeth Palace Library/Bridgeman Images.

A Christmas to Save the Byzantine Empire

Henry IV had a special guest for Christmas in 1400: the Byzantine emperor Manuel II Palaiologos. United by their Christian faith, they were nonetheless on separate sides of the East-West schism. How did they celebrate?