People trafficking is a billion-dollar business with a history that spans centuries. A new study identifies the beginnings of the modern trafficker – the men and women who “sold souls” in 17th- and 18th-century Germany.
In the midst of current controversies over immigration law and policy, Professor Alison Bashford discusses why it's important to recall Britain’s unique place in the international history of modern border control, suggesting that Britain’s principled politico-legal past calls for cautious celebration, rather than the more common critique.
For much of the 20th century, health professionals were locked in debate about one possible cause of paralytic polio. Some argued that the viral infection could be provoked by medical interventions; others hotly contested this theory. Historian Dr Stephen Mawdsley looks at the unfolding story of polio provocation.
The makers of the beef extract called Bovril were pioneers in the dark arts of marketing. Speaking tomorrow at the Oxford Symposium on Food & Cookery, Cambridge University historian Lesley Steinitz will show how that famous black gloop won a cherished place in the heart of the nation.
Ahead of his talk at the Hay Festival, Jonathan Haslam discusses his forthcoming history of Soviet intelligence organisations, revealing, among other things, just how unprepared for Operation Barbarossa Stalin was in 1941.
Fashion conveys complex messages. The recreation of an outfit taken from one of an extraordinary series of Renaissance portraits reveals how one man made his mark on society.
As part of the Intelligence seminars run by the Faculty of History, Thomas J. Maguire examines how psychological warfare contributed to Britain's counter-insurgency campaign in Malaya from 1948 to 1960.
The notion of the Renaissance as a ‘secular age’ is to be challenged by three University of Cambridge researchers after securing €2.3m funding from the European Research Council.
Historians have long recognised that the family were the chief carers of the mentally ill. A new study will investigate the emotional and economic consequences of what care in the community meant to 18th-century families.
Allegations of torture by government officials are emerging daily from countries caught up in the struggle for democracy. Derek Elliott, a researcher in Cambridge's Faculty of History, is looking at governmental torture and violence in colonial India and has uncovered surprising links with modern states.
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