This is likely to be one of the best of the many books we will see about the context and impact of Covid, from the great social historian of postwar Britain. (The eponymous 'duty of care' is... read more
By looking at the surviving remains of eleven ships, from a prehistoeric prow to the propellor of an ocean liner, TM has written a fascinating maritme history of Britain.
Incredible though it seems, in the closing years of the GDR the Stasi trained operatives to become poets in order to infiltrate literary circles. Years of sleuthing has yielded this remarkab... read more
Argues that the abolition of the slave trade in Britain owed more to a deep cultural shift - one that valued the idea of individual freedom - than it did to the actions of particular indi... read more
We heard about Molotov's library in Rachel Polonsky's superb Molotov's Magic Lantern (£12.99). Now we have a portrait of Stalin through the books he read - and he was an avid reader all his... read more
What distinguished 'art' from 'Art' ? Types of display, collecting, certain kinds of knowledge becoming matters of profession, etc. A specialised and fascinating study that puts the subject ... read more