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King... magician... general... slave

King... magician... general... slave

Final straggler

Final straggler

In the cave of the witches

In the cave of the witches

The king of hard currency

The king of hard currency

Murder in the Potala

Murder in the Potala

The demonisation of Empress Wu

The demonisation of Empress Wu

Blonde cargoes

Blonde cargoes

The worst job there has ever been

The worst job there has ever been

The Old Man of the Lake

The Old Man of the Lake

The Breton Bluebeard

The Breton Bluebeard

Lost in the taiga

Lost in the taiga

A visit to the underworld

A visit to the underworld

The Monster of Glamis

The Monster of Glamis

The fairy coffins of Arthur's Seat

The fairy coffins of Arthur's Seat

Fishmonger's Hall

Fishmonger's Hall

Record prison sentences

Record prison sentences

Gavrilo Princip's Sandwich

Gavrilo Princip's Sandwich

The bodies in the bogs

The bodies in the bogs

Walking to Utopia

Walking to Utopia

Aqua Tofana

Aqua Tofana

Shakushain's revolt

Shakushain's revolt

Rescuing Napoleon by submarine

Rescuing Napoleon by submarine

America's first highjacking

America's first highjacking

Dreamtime voyagers

Dreamtime voyagers

Hitler and hot jazz

Hitler and hot jazz

The blood eagle

The blood eagle

Closing the pigeon gap

Closing the pigeon gap

On heroic self-sacrifice

On heroic self-sacrifice

Khrushchev in water wings

Khrushchev in water wings

Above the senior wrangler

Above the senior wrangler

Friedrich Engels' Irish muse

Friedrich Engels' Irish muse

Envoi

Envoi

The Swedish Meteor

The Swedish Meteor

Amazons

Amazons

Run out of town on an ass

Run out of town on an ass

The Villisca Axe Murders

The Villisca Axe Murders

The Cheapside Hoard

The Cheapside Hoard

The Blues versus the Greens

The Blues versus the Greens

How voodoo got its bad name

How voodoo got its bad name

The last of the Cornish packmen

The last of the Cornish packmen

One man against tyranny

One man against tyranny

The Fayum mummy portraits

The Fayum mummy portraits

The mysterious Mr ZedZed

The mysterious Mr ZedZed

An abandoned lifeboat at world's end

An abandoned lifeboat at world's end

Tamam shud

Tamam shud

Soul-stealers and sorcerers

Soul-stealers and sorcerers

Queen Victoria's £5

Queen Victoria's £5

Islam's medieval underworld

Islam's medieval underworld

A Blast From the Past

... is an irregular blog that features new essays on a ridiculously wide array of topics. Offbeat, revealing, and always carefully grounded in proper research.

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