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How the Islamic world influenced Western art: British Museum
At university, I loved medieval art and architecture, but it was 100% Christian in patronage and in iconography. There had to be more! It wasn't until my first trips to Israel, Jordan, Egypt and Turkey...
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First registered nurse in the world. Yay New Zealand!
In 1893, New Zealand became the first nation on earth to enfranchise its female citizens. Now for another New Zealand first.New Zealander Ellen Dougherty was born at Cutters Bay, Marlborough in 1844....
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A very surreal Salvador Dali and a very dodgy Belgian art dealer
With his trademark wax moustache and pleasure from giving lectures in bizarre settings, Salvador Dali (1904–89) thrived on courting controversy and enjoyed a wildly eccentric lifestyle. Throughout...
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Ocean Liners exhibition: great speed and stunning style
I am passionate about two aspects of early C20th history: ocean liners and Art Deco. In 2018, a V&A exhibition Ocean Liners: Speed & Style had my name all over it. It rekindled the era’s...
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St Basil Cathedral in Moscow and Tsar Ivan the Terrible
Ivan IV the Terrible (1530–84) was Grand Prince of Moscow and Tsar of Russia from 1547. His reign saw the completion of a centrally administered Russian state and the creation of an empire that...
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The first Metropolitan Police Force: Sir Robert Peel, London, 1829
In June 1780, Londoners saw rioting when the Protestant Association protested a minor easing of the then anti-Catholic laws. The suppression of these riots required soldiers, and soon after there was...
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Jesse James, the American Civil War and Billy the Kid
Frank James (1843–1915) and his brother Jesse James (1847-1882) were born on a Missouri farmhouse. Their father Rev Robert James was a Baptist preacher who had earlier moved from Kentucky; now he...
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Anti Vaxxers caused the death of children by measles in 2019 Guest post
Smallpox was a dangerous, scarring and often fatal disease and before the C18th, treatments were painful and hopeless. Then Lady Mary Montagu, wife of the British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire,...
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Hoarding endangers physical, mental and family health
Collyer’s syndromeaka hoarding was named in honour of Homer and Langley Collyer, brothers who buried themselves in their family mansion in Harlem, filling it with rubbish between WW1 until they both...
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The brilliant Shubert brothers - Lee, Samuel and Jacob
The three Shubert brothers were Lee (1873-1953), Samuel (1875-1905) and Jacob (1879-1963). They were born in Lithuania before their Szemanski parents brought the family to Syracuse New York in 1882....
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Art Deco architecture in Napier, New Zealand
Far from the northern hemisphere cities where C20th design evolved, there is a small city that is uniquely New Zealand. In the heart of the Hawke’s Bay wine region on the north island, Napier suffered...
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Highland and Lowland Clearances - shame, Scotland, shame
I assumed that the clearances were some of the most tragic, infamous bits of Scottish history, where heartless landowners forced suffering people from their lands and homes. The Highland Clearances...
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Stunning C19th hotel in Sorrento Italy - Grand Hotel Excelsior Vittoria
The Romans, lovers of great beauty, valued the spectacular scenery and temperate climate of Surrentum, hovering over the cliffs of the Sorrento Peninsula. Romantic Sorrento stands on the grey rock on...
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American Prohibition: well intentioned but doomed to fail
A wave of C19th religious revivalism swept the USA, leading to increased calls for temperance. In 1838 Massachusetts passed a temperance law; it failed but a number of other states followed suit...
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History of Mensa - from Britain to the world
Soon after WW2 in Oxford (1946), two men met on a train and started talking. One was Roland Berrill (1897–1962), an Australian ex-pat barrister who never practised at the Bar but lived on the...
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Was Lucrezia Borgia a political pawn or Machiavellian villain?
Rodrigo de Borja (1431-1503) was born into a Spanish noble family in Aragon. He moved to Italy where the Borgia family enjoyed great success - Rodrigo's uncle was made bishop of Valencia. Uncle...
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Brilliant dogs rescue some koalas from Australian bush fires.
I love dogs, especially those trained as service animals, and I love koala bears. As bushfires ravaged Australia this summer, there were many human heroes that stepped up to defend their...
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the amazing Anna Pavlova in Australia - 1926 and 1929
The Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova (1881–1931) was initially believed to be too tall and not athletic enough to succeed at ballet, yet still graduated from the Imperial Theatre School in St Petersburg...
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The Black Plague of 1348. Any connection to SARS and Coronavirus?
Prior to 1347, there had been plague in Europe, but its effects were geographically limited. Peasants worked for noble landlords in exchange for protection and use of land i.e a feudalist system....
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The Czech city of Zlin, Bata shoes and Tom Stoppard's literature
Zlin was a small town in the Moravia region of Czechoslovakia with a population of only 3,000 at the end of the C19th. Bata Shoes’ first factory was opened in Zlin in 1894 by Tomas Bata, (1876–1932)...
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