Run out of town on an ass: how Queen Victoria (allegedly) struck Bolivia off the map
To be one of Queen Victoria’s ambassadors in the middle of the 19th century, when British power was at its height, was to be something close to a king—in parts…
The Villisca Axe Murders 100 years on
midnight on June 10, 1912—one hundred years ago this week—a stranger hefting an ax lifted the latch on the back door of a two-story timber house in the little Iowa…
The demonization of Empress Wu
Most nations of note have had at least one great female leader. Not the United States, of course, but one thinks readily enough of Hatshepsut of ancient Egypt, Russia’s astonishing…
The Swedish Meteor: the blazing career and mysterious death of Charles XII
Sweden has had her share of memorable monarchs. In the 16th and 17th centuries, it seemed that every other ruler crowned in Stockholm was astonishing in one way or another.…
A visit to the underworld: the unsolved mystery of the tunnels at Baia
There is nothing remotely Elysian about the Phlegræan Fields; nothing sylvan, nothing green. The Fields, which lie on the north shore of the Bay of Naples, are part of the…
Fishmonger’s Hall: how William Crockford beggared the British aristocracy
The redistribution of wealth, it seems safe to say, is vital to the smooth operation of any functioning economy. Historians can point to plenty of examples of the disasters that…
White gold: how salt made and unmade the Turks and Caicos Islands
Salt is so commonplace today, so cheap and readily available, that it is hard to remember how hard to come by it once was. The Roman forces who arrived in…
The crucifixion of Prince Klaas: Antigua’s disputed slave rebellion of 1736
Breaking on the wheel was the most horrific punishment ever visited on a convicted criminal. It was a form of crucifixion, but with several cruel refinements; in its evolved form,…
In the cave of the witches
There is a place in South America that was once the end of the earth. It lies close to the 35th parallel, where the Maule River empties into the Pacific…
The secret plot to rescue Napoleon by submarine
Tom Johnson was one of those extraordinary characters that history throws up in times of crisis. Born in 1772 to Irish parents, he made the most of the opportunities that…