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Unseen Histories

@unseenhistories.com

6K followers 2.6K following 139 posts

The Past, Fully Present. Find out about the very best new history books, read author interviews and long-form pieces by the world’s leading historians. Editor – Peter Moore Creative Director – @jordanacosta.co www.unseenhistories.com

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Unseen Histories @unseenhistories.com · 04/09/2026

From Thomas Cochrane to the Cold War Spies, Doomsday to the Sixties, here’s our pick of new history books for September with entries from @lucyworsley.bsky.social @edconway.bsky.social @profdarryljones.bsky.social and more👇

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New History Books for September 2026 - Unseen Histories

Our pick of new history books for September. From Thomas Cochrane to the Cold War Spies, Doomsday to the Sixties

Unseen Histories @unseenhistories.com · 07/08/2026

In her Wolfson History Prize-winning book, Survivors, Dr Hannah Durkin brings to light the extraordinary lives of the last survivors of the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Durkin sought to tell the story from the survivors' perspective, using their voices whenever she could find them.👇

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Survivors: The Lost Stories of the Last Captives of the Atlantic Slave Trade, Hannah Durkin

A decade ago Hannah Durkin began to search for the last survivors of the transatlantic slave trade. Here she tells us about Wolfson prize-winning book that emerged.

Unseen Histories @unseenhistories.com · 24/07/2026

By the mid-twentieth century youth clubs had spread across the length and breadth of Britain. Traditionally founded in old Victorian ideals, author Emma Warren explains how a new generation of young Britons embraced a new kind of daring, liberating culture in the run up to the Sixties👇

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Teddy Boys and Teenage Dreams: The 1950s Youth Club

Emma Warren explains how the British youth club became an exciting and revolutionary place in the years after the Second World War.

Unseen Histories @unseenhistories.com · 20/07/2026

Our pick of new history books for Summer 2026. From the Bayeux Tapestry to Napoleon III, Elizabeth Barton to Benito Mussolini. With new books from @djmusgrove.bsky.social, @edwardshawcross.bsky.social, @wiredale.bsky.social and many more👇

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New History Books for Summer 2026 - Unseen Histories

Our pick of new history books for Summer 2026. From the Battle of Hastings to Napoleon III, Anne Boleyn to Mussolini.

Unseen Histories @unseenhistories.com · 18/06/2026

Until the 1920s there was no cure for the disease we call 'Type 1 Diabetes'. Then, one night in 1920, Frederick Banting was struck by an idea that would save millions of lives. Dr Saira Hameed, author of Signals (@faberbooks.bsky.social) tells the story of Banting and his pioneering work on insulin👇

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Frederick Banting and the Discovery of Insulin

Dr Saira Hameed tells the story of Frederick Banting's transformative work on insulin that saved the lives of tens of millions of diabetics

Unseen Histories @unseenhistories.com · 17/06/2026

From Alexander the Great to the Great Exhibition, the South Seas to Iran, here are our picks for June, with books from @andreawulf.bsky.social, @yjtorbati.bsky.social, @laurenworking.bsky.social and many more👇 (with apologies for the late posting!)

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New History Books for June 2026 - Unseen Histories

Our pick of new history books for June. From Alexander the Great to the Great Exhibition, the South Seas to Iran

Unseen Histories @unseenhistories.com · 09/05/2026

Why not start the weekend with our pick of new history books for May? From the Vikings to the Weimar Republic, the Georgian Dining Room to Winston Churchill. With new books by @murrayp.bsky.social @rorycormac.bsky.social @rentravailer.bsky.social and many more👇

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New History Books for May 2026 - Unseen Histories

Our pick of new history books for May. From the Vikings to the Weimar Republic, the Georgian Dining Room to Winston Churchill.

Unseen Histories @unseenhistories.com · 07/05/2026

Few parties in history can match the Georgian ‘Masquerade’, and one in London in 1768 was particularly enchanting. It brought those of the greatest means and highest rank together, filled with artful costumes and glittering jewels. Dr Meghan Kobza tells us all about the Georgian masquerade👇

Meghan Kobza: The Magnificent Masquerade (1768)

YouTube video by Travels Through Time

Unseen Histories @unseenhistories.com · 05/05/2026

UPDATE: we’re very nearly sold out for our first Travels Through Time LIVE recording at @drjohnsonshouse.bsky.social's this Thursday! If you don’t want to miss out, tickets are on sale below!👇

Unseen Histories @unseenhistories.com · 05/05/2026

ICYMI: We’re hosting our very first Travels Through Time podcast episode this Thursday at @drjohnsonshouse.bsky.social in London. Join us as Paul O’Keeffe and Peter Moore discuss one of our most famous naval engagements in history. Ticket link in the original post comments👇

Unseen Histories @unseenhistories.com · 28/04/2026

1/ We’re now home to the long running history podcast, Travels Through Time, hosted by our editor, Peter Moore. We’re still getting up and running as the new season gets underway, and we’re trying something new: a live recording of Travels Through Time!👇

Unseen Histories Presents
Travels Through Time & Dr Johnson’s House
Trafalgar: Battle & Aftermath

Live!
Paul O'Keeffe in conversation with Peter Moore

Dr Johnson’s House
7 Gough Square
London EC4A 3DE

7 May 2026. Doors open at 6pm. Talk begins at 6:30pm. Tickets from £25*

*Ticket includes a welcome drink, book signing and a chance to explore Dr Johnson's House. Listen to this and other episodes of Travels Through Time at unseenhistories.com

Unseen Histories @unseenhistories.com · 28/04/2026

Sabastian Sawe ran the first sub-two-hour marathon in London last weekend. His astonishing time, 1h59m30s, was an hour faster than the record first established by Johnny Haynes at the 1908 Olympic Games. Despite Sawe’s blistering speed, when it comes to heartbreak the 1908 race remains unmatched👇

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The Thrilling Finish of the 1908 Olympic Marathon

The marathon at the 1908 Olympic Games in London provided one of the most dramatic moments in the history of athletics

Unseen Histories @unseenhistories.com · 24/04/2026

Such was the terror of the 'bomber' that on the outbreak of war in 1939, the British were hesitant in their use of this new weapon. But as @richardstrachan.bsky.social explains, it wasn't long before caution was abandoned. He looks back at one of the longest and most controversial offensives of WW2👇

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The Royal Air Force's bombing offensive against the Nazis

Richard Strachan, author of the WW2 novel Night Fire, examines the history of the RAF's brutal bombing campaign against the Germans.

Unseen Histories @unseenhistories.com · 21/04/2026

The US Navy's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz has brought an old military tactic back into the news. For Britons in the early nineteenth century, during the wars against Napoleon, they were very familiar indeed👇

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What is a blockade – and do they work?

As President Trump announces his blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, we glance back at the history of this military tactic.

Unseen Histories @unseenhistories.com · 14/04/2026

🇭🇺 This photograph was taken on 23 October 1989 in Kossuth Lajos Square in Budapest. It shows the US Ambassador to Hungary, Mark Palmer, in a red bow tie, among the crowds as the acting head of state, Mátyás Szűrös, solemnly proclaimed the birth of a new republic👇

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October 1989: Proclamation of the Republic of Hungary

This photograph, taken on 23 October 1989, shows the US ambassador as the Republic of Hungary was proclaimed by Matyas Szuros in Budapest.

Unseen Histories @unseenhistories.com · 08/04/2026

From Pompeii to Kim Philby, Renoir to Offa of Mercia, here’s a selection of history books that will be released over the month ahead. With books from @mollycrabapple.bsky.social, @richardstrachan.bsky.social, @rorynaismith.bsky.social and more👇

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New History Books for April 2026 - Unseen Histories

From Pompeii to the Kim Philby, Renoir to Offa of Mercia

Unseen Histories @unseenhistories.com · 17/03/2026

1/2 Protecting their crown was a constant challenge for the Tudor monarchs. One of their most testing years came very shortly after King Henry VII seized the throne at the Battle of Bosworth. In 1497, confronted by threats on all sides, the first of the Tudors needed all his tenacity to survive.

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A Year of Great Peril for the Tudors

In 1497 Henry VII faced multiple threats to his throne. We talk to Sean Cunningham about Perkin Warbeck, James IV and the Cornish Uprising.

Unseen Histories @unseenhistories.com · 06/03/2026

From Silence to the Battle of Trafalgar, King Henry VII to Adolf Hitler, here is a selection of anticipated new history books that will be released over the month ahead. With new books from @seanc1509.bsky.social, @carolinesharples.bsky.social, @drfrancisyoung.bsky.social and many more👇

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New History Books for March 2026 - Unseen Histories

From Silence to the Battle of Trafalgar, Henry VII to Adolf Hitler

Unseen Histories @unseenhistories.com · 04/03/2026

In 1963, shortly after his death, Peter Rachman became infamous. The west London landlord was exposed as profiteering, amoral operator who had made his fortune dishonourably. Six decades on memories have faded. Now is the time, argues @neilrootwriter.bsky.social, to look at the whole story afresh👇

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The Murky World of Peter Rachman

Neil Root investigates the life and times of the notorious slum landlord.

Unseen Histories @unseenhistories.com · 25/02/2026

Geoffrey Roberts weighs the significance of letters written by Kathleen Harriman during WW2. As US Ambassador to the Soviet Union, W. Averell Harriman held one of the most crucial postings of the 20th C. While his story is well known, until now that of his daughter has never been fully investigated👇

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The Wartime Letters of Kathleen Harriman

Geoffrey Roberts weighs the historical significance of the wartime letters written by Kathleen Harriman.

Unseen Histories @unseenhistories.com · 18/02/2026

In 1838 an uprising took place in Kent. Led by a man calling himself 'Sir William Courtenay', supposedly a 'Knight of Malta' and a 'King of Jerusalem', the episode ended in shocking circumstances. Ian Breckon explains that this rebellion was very much the product of a distinctive historical moment👇

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Mad Tom's Rising with Ian Breckon

The author Ian Breckon recalls one of the most peculiar revolts in English history

Unseen Histories @unseenhistories.com · 11/02/2026

From the Samurais to the Fascists, Charlotte Brontë to Daniel Defoe, here is a selection of anticipated new history books that will be released over the month ahead. With new books from @olegb.bsky.social, @mmier.bsky.social, @neilrootwriter.bsky.social and many more👇

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New History Books for February 2026 - Unseen Histories

From Samurais to Fascists, Charlotte Brontë to Daniel Defoe. Here is a selection of anticipated books that will be published over the month ahead.

Unseen Histories @unseenhistories.com · 05/02/2026

Edoardo Albert, the author of a new biography of the Venetian military engineer Gabriele Tadino, describes a significant moment in the early 1520s as an emissary of the Knights Hospitaller begged him to leave Crete for Rhodes, where his skills were desperately needed against the expanding Ottomans👇

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Gabriele Tadino Goes to Rhodes

Edoardo Albert pinpoints a critical moment in the contest between the Venetians, the Knights Hospitaller and the Ottomans.

Unseen Histories @unseenhistories.com · 06/01/2026

From the Footlights to the Baltic, the Declaration of Independence to Suleiman the Magnificent, here’s our new year picks for 2026. With books from @murrayp.bsky.social, @mcalvinbook.bsky.social, @alwynturner.bsky.social and many more👇

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New History Books for January 2026 - Unseen Histories

Our picks of a range of vibrant new history books that will be released over the month ahead.

Unseen Histories @unseenhistories.com · 24/12/2025

Christmas Day lies dead ahead! Here are ten of our favourite history books published over the past year, with entries from @ianleslie.bsky.social, @drjoannepaul.bsky.social, @rooneyvision.bsky.social, @shafikmeghji.bsky.social, @highamnews.bsky.social and more👇 Happy Christmas, all! 🎄

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Our favourite history books of 2025 - Unseen Histories

Looking for a history book this Christmas? Here's a list of our favourites.

Unseen Histories @unseenhistories.com · 19/12/2025

Stephen Bates charts the singular story of John Maundy Gregory. In the early 20th century Gregory was a confidant of kings and a political operative who made a fortune selling honours to wealthy individuals. In many ways he only refined a form of political corruption that was generations old.👇

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The Men Who Sold Honours - Unseen Histories

Stephen Bates, author of The Man Who Sold Honours, charts the history of an old piece of political corruption..

Unseen Histories @unseenhistories.com · 19/11/2025

As the Napoleonic Wars drew to a close there were food riots. Opposition, meanwhile, was growing against the introduction of industrial technologies. It is in this world of extremes that Katherine Quarmby has set her novel. The Low Road is a captivating tale that is inspired by real history 👇

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The Low Road - Unseen Histories

Katharine Quarmby, the author of The Low Road, casts an eye over Georgian England.

Unseen Histories @unseenhistories.com · 07/11/2025

From the North Sea to Mexico, fossil hunting to the Soviet Union, Louis D. Hall casts his eyes over a selection of history books that will be released over the month ahead. With new books from @historylauren.bsky.social, @zygaro.bsky.social and many more👇

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New History Books for November 2025 - Unseen Histories

Our picks of a range of vibrant new history books that will be released over the month ahead.

Unseen Histories @unseenhistories.com · 23/10/2025

Jane Austen's novels tell stories about people getting married. There are good matches and bad matches and, for young ladies aged between 16 and 27, much depends on making the right choices. Emma Campbell Webster, tells us more about what it was like to be a young lady in Austen's time👇

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You Are Elizabeth Bennet - Unseen Histories

We speak to the author of You Are Elizabeth Bennet, Emma Campbell Webster, about being a young lady in the late Georgian Age..

Unseen Histories @unseenhistories.com · 17/10/2025

In the 1890s an Irish writer called Bram Stoker sat in the London Library researching an idea he had for a chilling Gothic novel. The most vivid stimulus for Stoker's Count Dracula was seemingly a terrifying figure from the fifteenth-century. Elizabeth Drayson tells us about Vlad 'the Impaler'👇

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Shining a light on Dracula - Unseen Histories

Elizabeth Drayson, author of Crucible of Light, tells us all Vlad the Impaler - a real life Dracula.

Unseen Histories @unseenhistories.com · 10/10/2025

The US military disrupts drug trafficking networks with operations at sea. In the early 1970s, however, criminals exploited a legal loophole to import marijuana from offshore boats. This, explains David Tuch, lay behind the founding moment in America's war on drugs: Operation Stopgap👇

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Operation Stopgap: The First Shot in America’s War on Drugs - Unseen Histories

David Tuch, author of the book The Wireless Operator, tells us about Operation Stopgap.

Unseen Histories @unseenhistories.com · 07/10/2025

From the Caspian Sea to Burma, the Regency to U Boats; our history book picks for the month ahead. With new books from @theprofrog.bsky.social @lmbd1418.bsky.social @highamnews.bsky.social @andrewrsorkin.bsky.social @fourredshoes.bsky.social @edmond-smith.bsky.social @rory-stewart.bsky.social👇

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New History Books for October 2025 - Unseen Histories

Our picks of a range of vibrant new history books that will be released over the month ahead.

Unseen Histories @unseenhistories.com · 01/10/2025

On October 1st, 2021, the first iteration of the Unseen Histories website launched to little fanfare. Exactly four years later on our 200th post, we've build a small audience and a solid foundation for the next 4 years beginning with a complete site upgrade and migration to @ghost.org – more soon!

A screenshot from the new Unseen Histories website, featuring a new layout. Shown is a medieval manuscript, an author interview and a feature on the Roman emperor, Septimus.

Unseen Histories @unseenhistories.com · 26/09/2025

@simonelliott20.bsky.social has spent the last years reconstructing the life of the Roman Emperor Septimus Severus. Here he makes the case for him as an astonishing and consequential figure in ancient history and, perhaps, 'the most powerful person ever born in Africa'.👇

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The African Emperor - Unseen Histories

Simon Elliott, the author of The African Emperor, tells us all about Septimus Severus.

Unseen Histories @unseenhistories.com · 23/09/2025

When the first railways were introduced in the early 19th century they were regarded as objects of wonder, but the 1940s western Europe's developed rail network played a significant role in the Holocaust. @monisharajesh.bsky.social recounts the story of one young boy who survived this persecution👇

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Escaping Auschwitz - Unseen Histories

From 'Untold Railway Stories', comes the story of a boy's escape from Auschwitz.

Unseen Histories @unseenhistories.com · 11/09/2025

The Maginot Line is remembered as an expensive failure. Built in the 1930s to safeguard France from German expansion, it was rendered useless in just a few weeks as Hitler's forces blitzed their way to the north of it. @passmorek.bsky.social explores the invasion of the Maginot line in May 1940👇

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The Maginot Line - Unseen Histories

Author of The Maginot Line, Kevin Passmore, on its singular history.

Unseen Histories @unseenhistories.com · 10/09/2025

From herrings to Queen Elizabeth II, the Caribbean to Christopher Marlowe, here are a selection of history books that will be released over the month ahead. Featuring new books from @tracyborman.bsky.social @drmirandakaufmann.bsky.social @cathamclarke.bsky.social And many more 👇

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New History Books for September 2025 - Unseen Histories

Our picks of a range of vibrant new history books that will be released over the month ahead.

Unseen Histories @unseenhistories.com · 08/09/2025

There are between one and two billion cars on the world's roads today; central to the control of all of them is the steering wheel. But as @timqueeney.bsky.social explains, the steering wheel evolved well away from any highway. It first appeared in the Enlightenment as a way to steer vessels at sea👇

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The Symbol of the Open Road Was Born at Sea - Unseen Histories

Tim Queeney, author of the book Rope, explains the history behind the steering wheel.

Unseen Histories @unseenhistories.com · 05/09/2025

In the desperate days of the Second World War, Winston Churchill and Charles de Gaulle emerged as sources of strength and hope to their respective people. But they were very different personalities. Now, Richard Vinen has written a joint biography of the two men he calls, 'the last titans'👇

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Winston Churchill and Charles de Gaulle - Unseen Histories

We speak to the author of The Last Titans, about a two of the twentieth-century's leading political figures.

Unseen Histories @unseenhistories.com · 02/09/2025

As the 19th century opened, Britain faced an existential crisis. Just a short distance away Napoleon's army gathered on the Channel coast. The terror of that historical moment was very real – Andrew Lambert investigates how British politicians spent the next century ensuring it was never felt again👇

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How Britain Managed Europe from Waterloo to World War One - Unseen Histories

We speak to Andrew Lambert, the author of No More Napoleons, about the British foreign policy between Waterloo and World War One..

Unseen Histories @unseenhistories.com · 01/09/2025

This summer, author Louis D. Hall set out to explore the history of his homeland of Fife, north of Edinburgh; an enchanting place of hills, estuaries and coasts. Setting out on foot he discovered stories of adventurers and witches, saints and scholars👇

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The Kingdom of Fife - Unseen Histories

Louis D. Hall, the author of In Green, explores the history of the Kingdom of Fife.

Unseen Histories @unseenhistories.com · 19/08/2025

It is 80 years since the fighting stopped in August 1945 and WW2 reached its dramatic conclusion. While one era of history ended, another conflict had begun. As Churchill memorably put it, 'An iron curtain has descended across the continent.' Barrett Tillman analyses the events of that month.👇

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August 1945 - Unseen Histories

FBarrett Tillman, author of When the Shooting Stopped, revisits the events of August 1945.

Unseen Histories @unseenhistories.com · 14/08/2025

As the summer wanes, in the countryside the fields grow busy. Directly ahead lies the harvest, an event that has always been of critical importance to human societies. Daniel Stables, author of the book Fiesta, looks back at some of the vivid traditions that have long animated this time of the year👇

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John Barleycorn Must Die - Unseen Histories

Daniel Stables evaluates the festivals that are celebrated around the world at harvest time.

Unseen Histories @unseenhistories.com · 04/08/2025

Long before Nelson Mandela began his 27 years of imprisonment on Robben Island off Cape Town, it held many other people captive. From 1845 onwards, in particular, leprosy patients were taken to the island. In this excerpt from his book, Outcast, @olibasciano.bsky.social evaluates this history.👇

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The Leprosarium at Robben Island

Oliver Basciano recounts a lesser known part of Robben Island's complex history

Unseen Histories @unseenhistories.com · 17/07/2025

Over the past few years scholars have uncovered stirring new evidence about the existence of fierce warrior women who lived in Scythia bearing a resemblance to Penthesilea, the Amazonian queen in Greek mythology. It might be there’s a link, and the myth may well be grounded in factural accounts👇

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Penthesilea the Amazonian Queen - Unseen Histories

Everyone remembers Helen of Troy, but no one has heard of Penthesilea. Christine Lehnen asks why.

Reposted by Unseen Histories

Shafik Meghji @shafikmeghji.bsky.social · 14/07/2025

‘A thrilling, illuminating perspective on a continent that is closer than we think.’ Chuffed to see #SmallEarthquakes included in the @unseenhistories.com summer books preview alongside some fascinating looking titles. @hurstpublishers.bsky.social www.unseenhistories.com/history-book...

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New History Books for Summer 2025 - Unseen Histories

Our picks of a range of vibrant new history books that will be released over the months ahead.

Reposted by Unseen Histories

Tim Queeney @timqueeney.bsky.social · 10/07/2025

“Rope” makes this excellent list of history books being published in August! @iconbooks.bsky.social

Unseen Histories @unseenhistories.com · 10/07/2025

📚 From Mary Queen of Scots to Fidel Castro, the Monsoon to earthquakes, here’s our selection of anticipated new history books that will be released over this summer. With new books by @marinawarner.bsky.social, @shafikmeghji.bsky.social, @timqueeney.bsky.social and many more👇

unseenhistories.com

New History Books for Summer 2025 - Unseen Histories

Our picks of a range of vibrant new history books that will be released over the months ahead.

Unseen Histories @unseenhistories.com · 30/06/2025

Gertrude Stein was a writer, art collector, avant-gardist and a free-thinker. Her significance as a twentieth-century cultural figure is acknowledged by all, but there remains something mercurial about her. In her new book, Francesca Wade reflects on her creative output and considers her intensions👇

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In Search of Gertrude Stein

Francesca Wade tells us all about her new book, Gertrude Stein: An Afterlife

Unseen Histories @unseenhistories.com · 20/06/2025

In her new book, author @lallymacbeth.bsky.social examines the role folk culture has played in our history. In this excerpt from The Lost Folk, she recounts the stories of Barbara Jones and Florence White, gifted collectors who found deep meaning in everyday English food👇

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Folk Cookery from the English Countryside - Unseen Histories

Author of The Lost Folk, Lally Macbeth, on the significance of English food.

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