Social & Cultural History

Polari is a language that was used chiefly by gay men in the first half of the twentieth century. At a time when being gay could result in criminal...

From ancient riddles to modern Sudoku, people have been fascinated by puzzles. Whether they are seen as a glorious waste of time, a harmless way to...

Despite the all-pervading influence of television ninety per cent of people in Britain still listen to the radio, clocking up over a billion hours ...

'More than 70 years ago I was a "gift" for Adolf Hitler. I was stolen as a baby to be part of one of the most terrible of all Nazi experiments: Leb...

This is the story of a man who went from Yorkshire mill worker to Monte Carlo millionaire. Amongst the men ‘who broke the bank at Monte Carlo’, Jos...

By the end of the nineteenth century, the general Western conception of work had been reduced to simply gainful employment. But this limited perspe...

Sir Your name is down amongst the Black hearts in the Black Book and this is to advise you and the like of you, who are Parson Justasses, t...

It is impossible to think of Russia today without thinking of Vladimir Putin. More than any other major national leader, he personifies his country...

From the author of the bestselling Motherfoclóir, Non-fiction Irish Book of the Year. A TLS BOOK OF THE YEAR. What do we talk about when we talk...

A lonely ruined church, mysterious bumps in a field, or stone walls visible on the shoreline of a reservoir in high summer: all these are signs of ...

Each working day 500 million people across the planet experience the miracle and misery of commuting. Whether undertaken by car, bus, train or bicy...

Oxford Botanic Garden is the oldest surviving botanic garden in Britain and has occupied its site in central Oxford since 1621. Conceived as a plac...

‘Ackroyd makes history accessible to the layman’ – Ian Thomson, IndependentInnovation brings Peter Ackroyd’s History of England to a triumphant clo...

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERAn Esquire Best Book of 2017Remember when presidents spoke in complete sentences instead of in unhinged tweets? Former O...

The Banat is a uniquely fascinating example of a European cross-border region, incorporating parts of western Romania, northeastern Serbia and a sm...