The politics of grain found new relevance at the beginning of this year when Putin’s war with Ukraine sparked fears of a ‘global food crisis’. Ukraine is a significant exporter of grain, and so the
The twentieth-century philosopher and historian Michel Foucault has exerted an enormous influence on contemporary philosophy and countless other fields, from ethics and politics to the histories of ideas, of sexuality, and of medicine. As political
On a trip to Bologna in 1594, Italian collector, physician and scientist Ulisse Aldrovandi inspected Antonietta Gonzales, a young girl with an unusual condition and brought to him by the Marchesa of Soragna. After studying
During my research into some of the oldest churches in Yorkshire, I came across a small inscription in the church tower of Aston-cum-Aughton. It begs the reader: ‘do not forget the year of our Lord 1536.’ This
In an interview with the ABC news network, U.S. President Donald Trump recently defended the use of waterboarding, stating the view that it “absolutely works” and indicating his wish to see the practise of this
I’m a sucker for a vaguely historical TV show. While channel hopping a few weeks ago, I caught an episode of Phil Spencer’s Stately Homes. It focused on Woburn Abbey, Bedfordshire and included some detail