A Chinese man who believed he was Jesus caused the deaths of tens of millions of people. Why wasn’t this taught in my history class at school? And yet it happened. An astonishing story of a messianic leader in 19th century China who left a trail of slaughter right across the country. This is the…
Homer was an ancient Greek writer who wrote The Odyssey. Did you know that even that statement can’t be taken for granted? Some academics believe Homer may never have existed. Or that The Odyssey could have been the product of several hands. As for Homer’s birth and death details – don’t bother looking because that’s…
As a teenager, I went to confession at our local Roman Catholic church and struggled to find much to confess. From the back of my mind, I dredged up some petty misdemeanours and was told by the priest in the confessional box to recite three Our Fathers, Three Glory Be’s, and Three Hail Marys. The…
Temples built up to 3,000 years before the Pyramids of Egypt – which were constructed around 2,500BC. When I visited Malta in 2023, I had to try and get my head round the fact that the temple ruins I was looking at dated back 5,000 years. Stone structures still standing with doorways aligned to catch…
When entire settlements disappear without a trace, what do their silences tell us? Roanoke Island is arguably the most famous exampled of a vanished community – but there have been other lost colonies. The disappearance of those who have struck out to create a new life for themselves grips our imagination. Few mysteries in human…
I’m writing a book on secret societies at the moment for a publisher and as I looked at the ancient Greek mystery cults, and all their strange practices and beliefs, I began to see elements of Christianity. Ideas of sacrifice, resurrection, redemption, and the rituals performed in both belief systems. Because the Old and New…
When Errol Christie first sat down with me to tell his life story, I wasn’t prepared for the journey that lay ahead. I knew the headline version — British boxing’s nearly man, the gifted middleweight who should have been a world champion. What I didn’t know was the depth of the world he’d navigated to…
From lead-laced face powder to jawline-shattering surgery, the lengths people have gone to look beautiful have often been lethal. We are still prepared to use dangerous cosmetics and dubious medical procedures to look amazing. Our ancestors made the same mistake. Here is the full, unflinching story. Beauty has always come at a price. Sometimes that…
My grandmother – ‘granny’ to me – was an Irish woman who had been a school teacher before retirement, but in her last years, liked nothing better than to fill my young head with tales from Irish mythology. Norma McMahon (born McEnhill), 1909-1975, was a fiery product of Ulster (Omagh, county Tyrone to be exact)….
They were the rockstars of the ancient world — enslaved, brutalised, and adored. The life of a Roman gladiator was far stranger, and far more human, than the movies suggest. First, let’s start with a little video clip of the Colosseum, scene of so much gladiatorial combat, from my last visit in 2025. Who Were…