Humanities

Ruth Richardson on the capital city’s great mists and smogs that have inspired, harmed and killed

Robert Gellately on the truth behind how the Gestapo operated on a routine basis

Fred Inglis on the innumerable shows and figures from 50 years of popular culture

Danny Dorling sees how bricks and mortar became part of the arsenal with which the US fought the Cold War

Lara Cook lauds a study of the comrades who kept the Man of Steel company for 30 years

Former business secretary also voices concerns over impact of Prevent on campus debates

Efforts to reform universities in the face of shrinking student numbers may jeopardise departments with the best overseas links, says Japan-based UK professor

Lisa Hopkins on a defining time in the Bard’s career

On 25 October it will be the 600th anniversary of the Battle of Agincourt. Ahead of the commemoration, we talk to an Agincourt expert about its continued historical significance

A highly readable study traces how both women became part of cultural and political networks that shaped the 20th century, writes Ulrike Zitzlsperger

The question of whether fictional representations of the past can offer as much insight as scholarly histories is tackled with verve, says Philip Kemp

UK maintains its strength in the arts while US loses ground

The Chinese president is visiting several of the UK’s top universities. But would they thrive in China? 

Do the socially conservative societies of Asia stifle creativity, or is this a myth created by a complacent West? asks Jack Grove

The value of the humanities to business is underestimated, but few departments are able to demonstrate relevance of studies to industry, Singapore audience is told

Noted art historian David Freedberg is keen to shake up the Bloomsbury institute that has been described as the ‘world’s weirdest library’

The Nazi leader aimed to convey taste and moderation with his interiors, says Neil Gregor

Jonathan Mirsky on the treaties and extraterritoriality imposed on China in the decades after the Opium Wars

The Renaissance and the Middle Ages should be seen as a continuous epoch, argues Helen Fulton

£20,000 essay-writing competition shortlist features two UK scholars

Lucy Wooding on a work centred on relations with the Emerald Isle during the reign of Henry VII and Henry VIII

Tracey Warr on the middlemen and artists who decide what their works should be called

David Fowler on the influence of venues that at one stage were attracting 3 million visitors a night

Jacqueline Broad discovers admiration for a misunderstood and misrepresented philosopher

Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2015-2016 subject tables will be revealed over six weeks

Majority of academics publishing in journals with lax peer review are from Asia, study concludes

Joanna Lewis on a portrait of British blubbering from medieval mystics to the death of Diana

Danielle Sands on a collection of previously unpublished material that fails to capture the ‘flair and flight’ of the French philosopher at his best

Elizabeth I. Watkins on a study about reparation that analyses recent works including Hunger and Waltz with Bashir

Peter J. Smith on a study of the history of drama in penal settings

A work of distinction offers fresh insights into the hedonism and hangovers, says Richard J. Williams

Theses in open-access repository at Dublin City University have been downloaded almost 1.4 million times

A scholar mounts a strong argument for one year being a decisive one for the world, says A. W. Purdue

One woman’s discovery of love letters belonging to her great-aunt has yielded a portrait capturing the It girl’s restless effervescence, says Deborah Longworth

Willy Maley delights in a study casting light on the lexicographer’s life as both drudge and judge

The theme of vision is central to an examination of the German writer’s oeuvre, says Simon Ward

Martin Cohen on a study offering a fresh perspective on the philosopher’s work

Stomach-churning detail reminds us of the blood, sweat and tears in clothes, says Shahidha Bari

Philip Altbach warns that ‘you can’t starve a higher education system’ without grave consequences

Gemma Edney on the arguments for the academic study of a genre too often dismissed for being à l’Américaine

We talk to the director of the Egypt Exploration Society about mummies, whether university is right for everyone and his one-time ambition to play guitar for Radiohead

Robert Gellately on a study that puts Germany at the heart of the narrative

Peter J. Smith on what books collections tell us about the collector

Matthew Reisz celebrates the joys of profiling scholars

£18K-a-year college launches its students into the world with artwork to reflect their CVs and ‘brainwaves’

A scholar, novelist and photographer whose work drew on her past as a Jewish émigré from the Soviet Union has died

Sir Adrian Smith on what he feels is the institution’s undeserved reputation for fustiness

A study of anti-masturbation campaigns reveals many unexpected allegiances, says Heike Bauer

Caron E. Gentry praises a work that reveals the contributions of female Muslims

Robert Gellately on a study of the ideas and politics that led to the mass murder of the Jews

There’s productive provocation in this epically ambitious study, but Chris Millard wishes its rigour matched its scope

This survey shows how textbook materials often reveal more about the ‘home’ culture than they do about the one being taught. Sylvia Jaworska writes

Landmark discoveries have relied on some unexpected connections, says Richard Joyner

Tracey Warr extols a study demonstrating an artist’s deep engagement with the theories, practices and works of his peers

Howard Segal admires the travelogue of a self-confessed ‘professional disaster tourist’ covering a variety of global wastelands

Richard J. Williams is enlightened and amused by the acts and aesthetics of risk reduction in transit

Laurence Coupe on the narratives that lead to re-enchantment with our natural environment

A wealth of detail and revealing images bring a troubled critic into focus, says Sharon Kivland

We talk to the AHRC chief executive as he prepares to move to the School of Advanced Study

Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones appreciates a nuanced biography of a complex ruler whose achievements are often ignored