History
The Reformation began as a religious dispute, but it quickly behaved like a political earthquake wearing a monk’s robe. At its centre stood Martin…
7 min read
Culture
The history of Hinduism begins with a slightly awkward problem. Hinduism does not behave like a religion that wants a neat birth certificate. It…
8 min read
Food
Yoghurt sounds like the sort of food invented by someone with excellent kitchen discipline, a thermometer, and a label maker. It probably began as…
6 min read
Interessia
Tri Hita Karana sounds like something you might hear whispered beside a rice terrace at sunrise, preferably while someone hands you a cup of…
7 min read
Britain
The House of Commons likes to present itself as a place of argument, scrutiny and democratic will. Yet before all that serious business can…
7 min read
People
Niccolò Machiavelli has suffered one of history’s strangest public relations disasters. Most people know his name before they know anything about him, which is…
7 min read
History
The Huguenots were French Protestants, mainly Calvinists. They became one of the most important minority groups in early modern Europe. This was impressive, because…
7 min read
History
Renaissance art might get all the glory, but the Renaissance itself? A cocktail of contradictions, caffeine, and catastrophic inventions. The term “Renaissance” means “rebirth,”…
5 min read
History
Catherine de’ Medici arrived in France as a teenage Florentine bride with a famous surname, a political marriage, and absolutely no guarantee that anyone…
7 min read
Culture
Ballet began in the noisy courts of Renaissance Italy, where nobles tried to outshine each other with lavish spectacles involving dance, poetry, and enough…
6 min read
