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Healing with Poisons: Potent Medicines in Medieval China
Book Review ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ by Chang Xu

Healing with Poisons: Potent Medicines in Medieval China

Healing with Poisons: Potent Medicines in Medieval China is a groundbreaking work delving into the realm of du, meaning toxic or poison, within Chinese pharmacy. Taking readers to China during the 3rd to 10th centuries, a crucial period for...
The Reception of Cleopatra in the Age of Mass Media
Book Review ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ by Arienne King

The Reception of Cleopatra in the Age of Mass Media

The first chapter acknowledges the impact that Roman literature had on European portrayals of Cleopatra as an immoral outsider. In the Renaissance and early modern period, writers and painters associated Cleopatra with foreignness, murderous...
Institutionalizing Gender: Madness, the Family, and Psychiatric Power in Nineteenth-Century France
Book Review ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ by Megan Holtkamp

Institutionalizing Gender: Madness, the Family, and Psychiatric Power in Nineteenth-Century France

Jessie Hewitt’s Institutionalizing Gender: Madness, the Family, and Psychiatric Power in Nineteenth-Century France ties together themes of French society, psychiatry, the family, and gender analysis into one seminal text. Hewitt works to...
The Van Buren Sisters vs. the Pants Police (Head-to-Head History)
Book Review ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ by Joshua J. Mark

The Van Buren Sisters vs. the Pants Police (Head-to-Head History)

The Van Buren Sisters vs. The Pants Police, by J. F. Fox, illustrated by Anna Kwan, is an informative, entertaining, and historically accurate children’s book that is sure to be a hit with history afficionados but also engaging for anyone...
Napoleon vs. the Bunnies (Head-to-Head History)
Book Review ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ by Joshua J. Mark

Napoleon vs. the Bunnies (Head-to-Head History)

Napoleon vs. The Bunnies, by J.F. Fox and illustrated by Anna Kwan, is an absolute delight. The book is intended for young readers and addresses a little-known event in the life of Napoleon Bonaparte: the time he was frightened by an enormous...
The Donkey and the Boat: Reinterpreting the Mediterranean Economy, 950-1180
Book Review ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ by Richard Tuttle

The Donkey and the Boat: Reinterpreting the Mediterranean Economy, 950-1180

Primarily aimed towards scholars who have an interest in the economies of the Mediterranean region during the Middle Ages, Chris Wickham’s newest publication, The Donkey and the Boat: Reinterpreting the Mediterranean Economy, 950-1180, is...
Australianama: The South Asian Odyssey in Australia
Book Review ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ by Gazi Mizanur Rahman

Australianama: The South Asian Odyssey in Australia

Australianama: The South Asian Odyssey in Australia is a research monograph that tells the history of South Asian migration and the "aboriginal" community during the British colonisation of Australia. Concerning Australian social and cultural...
The Anarchy: The Relentless Rise of the East India Company
Book Review ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ by Shankar Chaudhuri

The Anarchy: The Relentless Rise of the East India Company

According to Dalrymple, corporate greed drove EIC’s ambitions in India. With little accountability, company officials such as Robert Clive accumulated enormous wealth through graft, extortion, plunder, and other means. Meanwhile, EIC's ill-fated...
My Name Is Henry Bibb: A Story of Slavery and Freedom
Book Review ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ by Manushree A

My Name Is Henry Bibb: A Story of Slavery and Freedom

The deeply poignant children's novel My Name Is Henry Bibb takes readers on an engrossing journey through the unique life of Henry Bibb, an African American man born into slavery in the early 19th century. This novel, based on Bibb's true...
Obeah, Race and Racism: Caribbean Witchcraft in the English Imagination
Book Review ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ by Ashleigh C. Onfroy

Obeah, Race and Racism: Caribbean Witchcraft in the English Imagination

Obeah, Race and Racism: Caribbean Witchcraft in the English Imagination is a historical account of how the practices of Obeah by enslaved Africans came to be perceived, feared, recognised, and even utilised by European captors. This book...
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