This 18th-century history of piracy mixes fanciful invention with accurate accounts taken from contemporary newspapers and court records.
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Articles on 18th century
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Early writers on probability had explained how the ‘house advantage’ didn’t need to be large for a gambling enterprise to profit enormously. But gamblers and gambling operators were slow to catch on.
The founders saw a need for government to intervene in markets.
A marketplace argument led to the emergence of a key eyewitness account of a Viking burial on the Volga river
Collecting shells was a common past time in Enlightenment Britain, when elite women were becoming increasingly interested in science.
Their novels feature defiant heroines, who resist the tyranny of forced marriages and seek moral, intellectual and economic liberation.
When parliament blocked a radical MP from taking his seat in parliament, Burke warned that ignoring the people’s democratic will could have disastrous consequences.
In the 18th century, managing public perceptions of the king’s fitness were as much about the health of the monarchy as they were about the health of monarch.
In the Charitable Corporation Scandal, a group of politically connected directors leveraged the company’s altruistic image to attract investors – before raiding the funds to prop up other ventures.
A scholar of 18th-century America and the founders analyzes the Supreme Court opinion overturning the constitutional right to abortion, which he says relies on an incomplete version of US history.
From editors looking to ‘expose the false art of life’ to others taking up the cause of the marginalised, writers went anonymous to share their uncomfortable truths.
Royal satire has softened over the last 300 years, but audiences are more sensitive to barbs against the institution.
The 2,000-line poem by Scottish physician John Armstrong was written during a time of pandemic, war and increasing public disinformation. What can readers learn from it today?
Go back to 17th- and 18th-century England and France and you’ll see the same sort of handwringing over birthrates that we’re seeing today.
The written word has guided us through distance from our loved ones for centuries. Here’s how it can bring us closer
A queen with a reputation for scandal, Marie Antoinette enjoyed her private spaces with a small circle of friends. A mirrored room kept the judgments of the outside world at bay.
Channel 4 dating show Flirty Dancing is a reminder of the 18th century men who endured endless abuse to get Britain moving.
Top contributors
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Professor of History, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
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Associate Professor in 18th-century Literature, York St John University
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Lecturer in History of Art and Liberal Arts, University of Bristol
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Senior Lecturer in Music, Northumbria University, Newcastle
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Senior Lecturer in English Literature, York St John University
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Assistant Professor, Northumbria University, Newcastle
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Professor of American History, Università di Torino
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Past and Present Research Fellow, Institute of Historical Research, School of Advanced Study, University of London
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Lecturer in Design (Historical and Critical Studies) and PhD Researcher, Cardiff University
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Associate Professor of English, College of the Holy Cross
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Senior Lecturer in History, University of Essex
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Reader in Modern European History, Leeds Beckett University
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Assistant Professor of Political Science , Dublin City University
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Frank U. Fletcher Chair in Law, Wake Forest University
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Professor of Law, University of Cincinnati
