When pirates ruled asia’s waves

On a cold morning in North Carolina’s Ocracoke Inlet, an infamous career was ending in smoke, blood and fury. Edward Teach, better known as ‘Blackbeard’, the most notorious pirate of his age, was abou

For over 14 years the Royal Navy has taken on Iranian-backed terror against international shipping

How the Qin forged a great power from the fragments of the Warring States

I n 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue. That, at least, is what the famous rhyme tells us. Memorising such dates is a common experience of being taught history – a cliché superbly lampooned by the w

The many fates of Islamic slaves

On the night of 13 March 1944, the Greekregistered steamship SS Peleus was en route from Freetown to Buenos Aires when she was hit amidships by two torpedoes, launched by a German U-boat, U-852. The t