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The meeting of 1884–85 is blamed for the borders of a continent. The record shows something more interesting, and more uncomfortable.

Nov 15, 2026 · 3 min read

It is one of history’s most uncomfortable debates: who sold, who bought, and who made the trade possible.

Nov 14, 2026 · 2 min read

It is one of history’s favourite jokes about the past. It is also one of the most carefully manufactured myths of the nineteenth century.

Nov 14, 2026 · 3 min read

Coal, colonies, culture or cheap labour: historians still disagree about why the machine age began where it did.

Nov 13, 2026 · 2 min read

In 1897 a British force burned Benin City and carried away thousands of works. The question of who should keep them is still being argued.

Nov 11, 2026 · 2 min read

It was among the worst defeats the British Army suffered in the colonial era. Within six months the Zulu kingdom was broken.

Nov 10, 2026 · 2 min read

A thousand years of European history got a bad name from people who wanted to look bright by comparison.

Nov 9, 2026 · 2 min read

The largest stone ruins in sub-Saharan Africa were credited to the Queen of Sheba, Phoenicians and anyone but the Africans who built them.

Nov 8, 2026 · 2 min read

Half of Europe’s labour force vanished. For some who survived, that created a bargaining power they had never had.

Nov 3, 2026 · 2 min read

No witches were burned. Nineteen people were hanged, one was crushed, and the causes were closer to politics than to superstition.

Nov 2, 2026 · 2 min read

The tyrant with the complex is one of history’s most durable jokes. It begins with a conversion error and a very good propaganda campaign.

Nov 1, 2026 · 2 min read