After experiencing a ‘golden age’ in the ’90s and early 2000s, the study of Roman baths somehow lagged in the last decade or so. For instance, baths surprisingly played a marginal role in the debate about the process of cultural change promoted by Rome in her provinces, especially in the northern regions of the empire.Continue reading “Bathing at the Edge of the Roman Empire: Baths and Bathing Habits in the North-Western Corner of Continental Europe”
Period Archives
Milk
Charlie Taverner reviews a ‘thorough and stimulating’ major exhibition exploring our relationship with milk and its place in global politics, society, and culture.
AI Narratives: A History of Imaginative Thinking about Intelligent Machines
Leah Henrickson reviews an edited work that ‘triumphantly paves the way for future work in AI humanities’, exploring how we imagine intelligent machines, from The Odyssey’s self-sailing ships to cutting-edge AI.
What’s the point of history?
Why do we study the past, why should we, and how do we best go about it? Daniel Woolf takes us through ‘Why History?’,
“full of gems of insight”, and its more philosophical companion, ‘History and Morality’.
War: An Enquiry
In his review of this penetrating and provocative book, James Cronin focuses on its assertion that war is synonymous with the ascent of civilisation.
The Witch: A History of Fear From Ancient Times to the Present
Willem de Blécourt and Ronald Hutton debate a book which is the culmination of the latter’s last 15 years of work.
The Classical Debt: Greek Antiquity in an Era of Austerity
Helen Roche praises a triumph of popularisation which should provide a fruitful starting-point for more detailed surveys.
Civil Wars: A History in Ideas
John Collins speculates that this new book might cause a revolution within the discipline, possibly preceded by civil war!
Twilight of History
Beverley Southgate praises an eminently readable book of clear importance for both politics and education.
Magic in Western Culture: From Antiquity to the Enlightenment
Francis Young hails a towering achievement in the field of intellectual history.