REGULARS 34 A Y e a r i n P i c t u r e s : 1894
by Richard Overy 42 Extraordinary People: Gudrid
Thorbjarnardóttir by Eleanor Rosamund Barraclough 98 Museum of the World: Swahili ngoma
kuu (drum) by Gus Casely-Hayford THEBRIEFING 6 Viewpoints: Elizabeth Gillespie McRae
on US white supremacy, Kathleen Burk on the ‘special relationship’ J, Hazel Smith on North Korean diplomacy, and Robert Bickers on China’s ‘anti-history charter’ 14 History Headlines: Discoveries and
developments in the world of history CULTURE 72 The Conversation: Ed Husain and
Tom Holland discuss the former’s book on the history of Islam J
80 Agenda: The latest events and exhibitions JOURNEYS 84 In the footsteps of… a fateful expedition
across Australia by Peter FitzSimons J
92 Global City: Arles, France
by Bijan Omrani 94 Wonders of the World: Bagan,
Myanmar by Paul Bloomfield
24 S u b s c r i b e to
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Gus Casely-Hayford The broadcaster, author and director of Washington DC’s Smithsonian National Museum of African Art introduces a powerful symbol of Swahili independence on page 98 – a 17th-century ngoma kuu (big drum). “These drums embody Swahili concepts of statehood and sovereignty,” he explains.
Peter FitzSimons The historian and writer traces the 19th-century trans-Australia expedition of Robert O’Hara Burke and William Wills on page 84. “Their wagons were laden with 600lb of salt pork, 400lb of bacon, 60lb of potted mutton, 150lb of sperm-whale-wax candles, a dining-room table, oak chairs and a Chinese gong,” he reveals.
Ed Husain “What does being modern and Muslim mean today?” That key question is addressed by the author of The House of Islam in our interview on page 72. “Within Muslim tradition is a strong precedent for empiricist thought, for being critical of history, and of looking to the future and not necessarily imagining a perfect past.”
Maria Margaronis On page 62, the writer and presenter of a new BBC Radio documentary explains why the brutal lynching of a 14-year-old boy in Mississippi proved so pivotal. “Through that charmed coincidence of history, politics and brave personalities, Emmett Till became the protomartyr of the civil rights movement,” she says.
Marlou Schrover Migration has impacted on societies through human history – but so has the movement of ideas, says the professor of migration history at Leiden University on page 23: “Dutch students organise American-style baby showers, but this is less to do with American migration and more with watching American sitcoms.”
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