Unseen Histories
@unseenhistories.com
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.
https://www.unseenhistories.com/
https://www.unseenhistories.com/
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!
October 1, 2025 at 3:01 PM
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!
81 years ago, the final preparations were made for the biggest amphibious invasion in recorded history. Over the next three days, 19 historians tell the story of D-Day in 44 iconic images in this commemorative feature, reformatted for your inbox. Subscribe via the link👇
unseenhistories.substack.com
unseenhistories.substack.com
June 4, 2025 at 5:06 PM
81 years ago, the final preparations were made for the biggest amphibious invasion in recorded history. Over the next three days, 19 historians tell the story of D-Day in 44 iconic images in this commemorative feature, reformatted for your inbox. Subscribe via the link👇
unseenhistories.substack.com
unseenhistories.substack.com
The Unseen Histories Studio has two restored and colorized photographs for the VE Day commemorative supplement in today's edition of @thetimes.com – thanks to our creative director @jordanacosta.co, Joshua Barrett, @newsukarchives.bsky.social and
@mjjjennings.bsky.social, Andrew Keys and Matt Fearn
@mjjjennings.bsky.social, Andrew Keys and Matt Fearn
May 6, 2025 at 7:15 AM
The Unseen Histories Studio has two restored and colorized photographs for the VE Day commemorative supplement in today's edition of @thetimes.com – thanks to our creative director @jordanacosta.co, Joshua Barrett, @newsukarchives.bsky.social and
@mjjjennings.bsky.social, Andrew Keys and Matt Fearn
@mjjjennings.bsky.social, Andrew Keys and Matt Fearn
Eiffel's 'tower' was intended to be the centrepiece for the planned Paris Exhibition of 1889. In July 1888, Roger Viollet captured the workers' progress. The red stood out sharply in the haze of a overcast Parisian day. No one had ever seen anything like it.👇
www.unseenhistories.com/the-eiffel-t...
www.unseenhistories.com/the-eiffel-t...
January 24, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Eiffel's 'tower' was intended to be the centrepiece for the planned Paris Exhibition of 1889. In July 1888, Roger Viollet captured the workers' progress. The red stood out sharply in the haze of a overcast Parisian day. No one had ever seen anything like it.👇
www.unseenhistories.com/the-eiffel-t...
www.unseenhistories.com/the-eiffel-t...
Italy was a central theatre of conflict during the Second World War. Under Benito Mussolini it formed a central part of Hitler's Axis Alliance. Yvonnick Denoël takes us back to the Second World War and the Vatican's efforts to secure their wealth. 👇
www.unseenhistories.com/vatican-spie...
www.unseenhistories.com/vatican-spie...
January 23, 2025 at 4:45 PM
Italy was a central theatre of conflict during the Second World War. Under Benito Mussolini it formed a central part of Hitler's Axis Alliance. Yvonnick Denoël takes us back to the Second World War and the Vatican's efforts to secure their wealth. 👇
www.unseenhistories.com/vatican-spie...
www.unseenhistories.com/vatican-spie...
As a crowd of 5,000 watched on, Johnny Reynolds performed a thrilling series of tricks in Washington D.C. on 5 September 1917. A photographer buzzed around as Reynolds worked. One of these shots frames Reynolds - a forgotten twentieth-century figure - in a pose that once thrilled a generation.👇
January 17, 2025 at 5:00 PM
As a crowd of 5,000 watched on, Johnny Reynolds performed a thrilling series of tricks in Washington D.C. on 5 September 1917. A photographer buzzed around as Reynolds worked. One of these shots frames Reynolds - a forgotten twentieth-century figure - in a pose that once thrilled a generation.👇
From Dante to Haiti, Shakespeare to Socrates, here's a selection of anticipated history books that will be released over the month ahead from
@danelawdawn.bsky.social,
@juliandrichards.bsky.social, @agcallard.bsky.social,
@waatcoconut.bsky.social and more👇
www.unseenhistories.com/history-book...
@danelawdawn.bsky.social,
@juliandrichards.bsky.social, @agcallard.bsky.social,
@waatcoconut.bsky.social and more👇
www.unseenhistories.com/history-book...
January 9, 2025 at 2:32 PM
From Dante to Haiti, Shakespeare to Socrates, here's a selection of anticipated history books that will be released over the month ahead from
@danelawdawn.bsky.social,
@juliandrichards.bsky.social, @agcallard.bsky.social,
@waatcoconut.bsky.social and more👇
www.unseenhistories.com/history-book...
@danelawdawn.bsky.social,
@juliandrichards.bsky.social, @agcallard.bsky.social,
@waatcoconut.bsky.social and more👇
www.unseenhistories.com/history-book...
January 2, 2025 marks a quarter of a century since the death of the beloved historical fiction author Patrick O’Brian. Unseen Histories commemorates his passing with a unique insight into O’Brian’s life in a rare interview with his stepson, Nikolai Tolstoy.👇
www.unseenhistories.com/tolstoy-patr...
www.unseenhistories.com/tolstoy-patr...
January 2, 2025 at 10:43 AM
January 2, 2025 marks a quarter of a century since the death of the beloved historical fiction author Patrick O’Brian. Unseen Histories commemorates his passing with a unique insight into O’Brian’s life in a rare interview with his stepson, Nikolai Tolstoy.👇
www.unseenhistories.com/tolstoy-patr...
www.unseenhistories.com/tolstoy-patr...
As the holidays draw upon us, we’re signing off 2024 with an interview with Laurence Blair, who has spent a decade travelling from the jungles of Paraguay to the favelas of Rio and remote islands off Peru, in search of a new perspective on this old story.👇
www.unseenhistories.com/patria-laure...
www.unseenhistories.com/patria-laure...
December 24, 2024 at 8:59 AM
As the holidays draw upon us, we’re signing off 2024 with an interview with Laurence Blair, who has spent a decade travelling from the jungles of Paraguay to the favelas of Rio and remote islands off Peru, in search of a new perspective on this old story.👇
www.unseenhistories.com/patria-laure...
www.unseenhistories.com/patria-laure...
Whatever happened to those aboard the Mary Celeste? On 13 December 1872 the Mary Celeste brigantine and a great mystery arrived at Gibraltar. In our series 'First Draft', we revisit significant events in modern history and look at how they were first reported.
www.unseenhistories.com/mary-celeste...
www.unseenhistories.com/mary-celeste...
December 19, 2024 at 2:22 PM
Whatever happened to those aboard the Mary Celeste? On 13 December 1872 the Mary Celeste brigantine and a great mystery arrived at Gibraltar. In our series 'First Draft', we revisit significant events in modern history and look at how they were first reported.
www.unseenhistories.com/mary-celeste...
www.unseenhistories.com/mary-celeste...
We search for the exact spot a classic image was taken by one of twentieth century's great documentary photographers, Jack Delano, on a winter's day in Pittsburgh.👇
www.unseenhistories.com/mill-distric...
www.unseenhistories.com/mill-distric...
December 2, 2024 at 2:04 PM
We search for the exact spot a classic image was taken by one of twentieth century's great documentary photographers, Jack Delano, on a winter's day in Pittsburgh.👇
www.unseenhistories.com/mill-distric...
www.unseenhistories.com/mill-distric...
From Paris to India, King Richard II to the Commonwealth of England, here are our favourite books of 2024 w/ @josephinequinn.bsky.social @claremulley.bsky.social @josephhone.bsky.social @daisydunn.bsky.social @willdalrymple.bsky.social @alicehunt.bsky.social
www.unseenhistories.com/our-favourit...
www.unseenhistories.com/our-favourit...
November 29, 2024 at 4:45 PM
From Paris to India, King Richard II to the Commonwealth of England, here are our favourite books of 2024 w/ @josephinequinn.bsky.social @claremulley.bsky.social @josephhone.bsky.social @daisydunn.bsky.social @willdalrymple.bsky.social @alicehunt.bsky.social
www.unseenhistories.com/our-favourit...
www.unseenhistories.com/our-favourit...
As Americans come together for Thanksgiving, Alista Wikle reflects on her ancestor, Bert, and the tumultuous history of German-Americans as the First World War brought their adopted nation into direct confrontation with their ancestral country.👇
www.unseenhistories.com/a-blacksmith...
www.unseenhistories.com/a-blacksmith...
November 28, 2024 at 9:20 AM
As Americans come together for Thanksgiving, Alista Wikle reflects on her ancestor, Bert, and the tumultuous history of German-Americans as the First World War brought their adopted nation into direct confrontation with their ancestral country.👇
www.unseenhistories.com/a-blacksmith...
www.unseenhistories.com/a-blacksmith...
High spirited Martha Dodd's life changed in the early 1930s when FDR appointed her father as the US Ambassador to Nazi Germany. And so began, as Brendan McNally describes in this feature, a 'traitor's odyssey'.👇
www.unseenhistories.com/martha-dodd-...
www.unseenhistories.com/martha-dodd-...
November 21, 2024 at 10:19 AM
High spirited Martha Dodd's life changed in the early 1930s when FDR appointed her father as the US Ambassador to Nazi Germany. And so began, as Brendan McNally describes in this feature, a 'traitor's odyssey'.👇
www.unseenhistories.com/martha-dodd-...
www.unseenhistories.com/martha-dodd-...
The final touches to our brand new newsletter, The Dispatch #1, are being ironed out this afternoon to hit your inbox first thing tomorrow morning! If you want a free roundup of everything we’re publishing straight to your emails, link to subscribe is in the comments.
November 20, 2024 at 3:41 PM
The final touches to our brand new newsletter, The Dispatch #1, are being ironed out this afternoon to hit your inbox first thing tomorrow morning! If you want a free roundup of everything we’re publishing straight to your emails, link to subscribe is in the comments.
165 years ago, in 1859, hundreds of people were lost in the disastrous shipwreck of the Royal Charter. In this continuing series, 'First Draft', we revisit significant events in modern history and look at how they were reported in their immediate aftermath.👇
www.unseenhistories.com/the-wreck-ro...
www.unseenhistories.com/the-wreck-ro...
November 14, 2024 at 9:56 AM
165 years ago, in 1859, hundreds of people were lost in the disastrous shipwreck of the Royal Charter. In this continuing series, 'First Draft', we revisit significant events in modern history and look at how they were reported in their immediate aftermath.👇
www.unseenhistories.com/the-wreck-ro...
www.unseenhistories.com/the-wreck-ro...
Travelling around Japan in olden times was complicated by the prohibition of wheeled transport. This meant that ordinary people were obliged to walk or make use of palaquins. Lesley Downer explains how an advanced society sought to move without wheels.👇
www.unseenhistories.com/travel-in-an...
www.unseenhistories.com/travel-in-an...
November 13, 2024 at 11:27 AM
Travelling around Japan in olden times was complicated by the prohibition of wheeled transport. This meant that ordinary people were obliged to walk or make use of palaquins. Lesley Downer explains how an advanced society sought to move without wheels.👇
www.unseenhistories.com/travel-in-an...
www.unseenhistories.com/travel-in-an...
From South America to Castile, Handel to Wallis Simpson, here's our November 2024 Preview; with books by @chinarhyming.bsky.social, Joan Smith, Laurence Blair and many more.👇
www.unseenhistories.com/history-prev...
www.unseenhistories.com/history-prev...
November 13, 2024 at 9:30 AM
From South America to Castile, Handel to Wallis Simpson, here's our November 2024 Preview; with books by @chinarhyming.bsky.social, Joan Smith, Laurence Blair and many more.👇
www.unseenhistories.com/history-prev...
www.unseenhistories.com/history-prev...
In November 1939 Stalin's Soviet Union launched a poorly judged attack against Finland. So began 'The Winter War', a conflict with many similarities to the Russo Ukrainian War of today. Kimmo Rentola tells us more in this interview.
#Finland #WW2 #WinterWar
www.unseenhistories.com/how-finland-...
#Finland #WW2 #WinterWar
www.unseenhistories.com/how-finland-...
November 28, 2023 at 5:39 PM
In November 1939 Stalin's Soviet Union launched a poorly judged attack against Finland. So began 'The Winter War', a conflict with many similarities to the Russo Ukrainian War of today. Kimmo Rentola tells us more in this interview.
#Finland #WW2 #WinterWar
www.unseenhistories.com/how-finland-...
#Finland #WW2 #WinterWar
www.unseenhistories.com/how-finland-...
Charles Freeman's sweeping new book, The Children of Athena, shows how the influence of the Greeks stretched long into the Age of Rome, through figures like Galen, Ptolemy and Plutarch.
#AncientGreece
www.unseenhistories.com/greek-intell...
#AncientGreece
www.unseenhistories.com/greek-intell...
November 7, 2023 at 5:39 PM
Charles Freeman's sweeping new book, The Children of Athena, shows how the influence of the Greeks stretched long into the Age of Rome, through figures like Galen, Ptolemy and Plutarch.
#AncientGreece
www.unseenhistories.com/greek-intell...
#AncientGreece
www.unseenhistories.com/greek-intell...
'Rigid airships were a bad idea. They started as a bad idea and finished as a bad idea. People are familiar with the Hindenburg going up in a fireball. What people don’t know is that there were probably 75 such fireballs.' - S.C. Gwynne on the Airship Era
www.unseenhistories.com/his-majestys...
www.unseenhistories.com/his-majestys...
October 30, 2023 at 6:01 PM
'Rigid airships were a bad idea. They started as a bad idea and finished as a bad idea. People are familiar with the Hindenburg going up in a fireball. What people don’t know is that there were probably 75 such fireballs.' - S.C. Gwynne on the Airship Era
www.unseenhistories.com/his-majestys...
www.unseenhistories.com/his-majestys...
One of the strangest artefacts in the National Museum of Scotland’s collection is described as 'A piece of lead taken from the stomach of a keeper after the fire of 1755.' Here Jose Luis González Macías tells us about a disaster at Eddystone Lighthouse.
www.unseenhistories.com/the-lighthou...
www.unseenhistories.com/the-lighthou...
October 26, 2023 at 4:48 PM
One of the strangest artefacts in the National Museum of Scotland’s collection is described as 'A piece of lead taken from the stomach of a keeper after the fire of 1755.' Here Jose Luis González Macías tells us about a disaster at Eddystone Lighthouse.
www.unseenhistories.com/the-lighthou...
www.unseenhistories.com/the-lighthou...
Bennelong and Arthur Phillip are two figures at the heart of Australia's founding story. In her new joint biography Kate Fullagar reexamines the nature of their relationship. She urges us to see the 'Enlightenment Hero' and his ‘tragic’ interlocutor anew.
www.unseenhistories.com/bennelong-an...
www.unseenhistories.com/bennelong-an...
October 25, 2023 at 1:37 PM
Bennelong and Arthur Phillip are two figures at the heart of Australia's founding story. In her new joint biography Kate Fullagar reexamines the nature of their relationship. She urges us to see the 'Enlightenment Hero' and his ‘tragic’ interlocutor anew.
www.unseenhistories.com/bennelong-an...
www.unseenhistories.com/bennelong-an...
On this Day in 1902: Gliding over the Kill Devil Hills, #NorthCarolina, USA. 121 years ago, the Wright Brothers, Wilbur and Orville, were having great success with their experiments in flight.
#Flight #WrightBrothers
www.unseenhistories.com/gliding-over...
#Flight #WrightBrothers
www.unseenhistories.com/gliding-over...
October 10, 2023 at 12:45 PM
On this Day in 1902: Gliding over the Kill Devil Hills, #NorthCarolina, USA. 121 years ago, the Wright Brothers, Wilbur and Orville, were having great success with their experiments in flight.
#Flight #WrightBrothers
www.unseenhistories.com/gliding-over...
#Flight #WrightBrothers
www.unseenhistories.com/gliding-over...
Georgian elections were uproarious affairs: colourful, chaotic and hugely corrupt. One such election lies at the heart of a new novel, Scarlet Town (Viper) by the acclaimed novelist Leonora Nattrass, interviewed by Peter Moore. #18thCentury #HistoricalFiction
www.unseenhistories.com/scarlet-town...
www.unseenhistories.com/scarlet-town...
October 5, 2023 at 11:54 AM
Georgian elections were uproarious affairs: colourful, chaotic and hugely corrupt. One such election lies at the heart of a new novel, Scarlet Town (Viper) by the acclaimed novelist Leonora Nattrass, interviewed by Peter Moore. #18thCentury #HistoricalFiction
www.unseenhistories.com/scarlet-town...
www.unseenhistories.com/scarlet-town...