Women’s History Month: Uncovering Women’s History
For Women’s History Month 2025, we are sharing 10 free chapters from books uncovering women’s contributions to history. These extracts look at how women…
social history
Six People Who Shaped Madrid
by Luke Stegemann, cultural historian and author of Madrid: A New Biography — Unsurprisingly given its 1200 years of settlement and its role in…
The Intellectual Life of the British Working Classes – 50 Years in 50 Books
The Intellectual Life of the British Working Classes draws on workers’ memoirs, social surveys, library registers, and more, to create an intellectual history of…
75 years of Our NHS: an excerpt from Andrew Seaton’s new book
Andrew Seaton’s Our NHS, a History of Britain’s Best-Loved Institution explores the full 75-year history of the NHS, from foundation and modernisation to crisis…
The Secret Poisoner: An Introduction
Linda Stratmann‘s latest book – and BBC Radio 2 Book Club’s recent choice – The Secret Poisoner: A Century of Murder is a dark and splendid…
The Social Lives of Medieval Books
‘A must for history lovers, but will be enjoyed by all who turn its glorious pages with some unforgettable illustrations.’ – Bill Spence Medieval…
Hard Times & Harder Choices
In 2008 the world was hit with a financial crisis so devastating it can only be compared to the Great Depression that was experienced in…
Hard Times (Part 3): Aftermath
The economic consequences of the financial downturn that started in 2008 are well familiar – they were immediately apparent in the high street shops…
Frank Browne: A Life Through the Lens
Father Francis Browne is a remarkable figure in the history of photography. Whilst he dedicated himself to life as an Irish Jesuit priest, he…
Family Politics: Joseph Goebbels
Paul Ginsborg’s Family Politics tells the story of the 20th-century through the lens of the family, examining key moments of revolution and dictatorship in…
The Great War for Peace: the social costs
In this extract from The Great War for Peace, William Mulligan looks at the connection between the outbreak of the First World War and…
Sign of the Times: Extract from ‘The Hollywood Sign’ by Leo Braudy
Published in paperback this month The Hollywood Sign by Leo Braudy (part of Yale’s Icons of America series) is a fascinating account of how a…