Garibaldi and the Popular Unification of Italy
Reading Time: 25 minutes In the early 1800s, Italy was not a country, but a collection of kingdoms, duchies, and provinces ruled by…
Reading Time: 25 minutes 
Reading Time: 25 minutes Combahee River Raid: The Civil War’s Boldest Rescue
Reading Time: 15 minutes The Combahee River Raid took place under the cover of predawn on June 2, 1863, when a fleet of…
A Throne on the Run: Portugal’s Atlantic Exodus
Reading Time: 12 minutes Europe was at war. Napoleon had his eyes set upon Portugal. The Napoleonic Wars had unleashed a rolling crisis…
Beavers, Blankets, and Bloodshed: Hudson’s Bay Company History
Reading Time: 16 minutes In 1670, a group of English investors received a royal charter to form the Hudson’s Bay Company. From this…
Ranavalona the Cruel: The Mad Queen of Madagascar
Reading Time: 17 minutes Ranavalona I is one of the most notorious monarchs of the 19th century, her name now a byword for…
Queen Victoria and the Making of the Victorian Age
Reading Time: 15 minutes Victoria: A Queen and an Era When the young and untested Queen Victoria inherited the throne of Great Britain…
How King Leopold Built an Empire of Cruelty
Reading Time: 15 minutes Belgian King Leopold II wanted to be remembered as an elegant, urbane European monarch. He is now widely recognized…
Why the St. Brice’s Day Massacre Still Haunts English History
Reading Time: 18 minutes The St. Brice’s Day Massacre of the Danes in 1002 was one of the most shocking moments in early…
Elite Units of Antiquity: The Forces That Built and Defended Empires
Reading Time: 37 minutes From Greece to China, from Rome to Persia, empires relied on a few thousand elite troops to fight and…
Remember, Remember: Guy Fawkes and the 1605 Gunpowder Plot
Reading Time: 16 minutes Guy Fawkes and the 1605 Gunpowder Plot opens with a cold November night and a dark cellar under the…
