HISTORY MAY/JUNE 2026
CHARLEMAGNE
What kind of man was the father of modern Europe? Thanks to a biography by Einhard, Charlemagne’s friend and court member, we have a unique insight into the character and personal life of the Frankish ruler, who so wished to carry on the legacy of the Roman Empire. Other features in this issue include:
• Homer’s Historical Odysseus: The Odysseus who breached the walls of Troy, a hero of The Iliad, is a figure who origins can be found in Bronze Age Greece, among the warlords of ancient Mycenae. However, as the protagonist of The Odyssey, the epic hero undergoes a complex transformation.
• Inventions of the Islamic Golden Age: The rise of science during the eighth-century Abbasid caliphate was widely influential. Before its destruction by the Mongols, Baghdad was home to the scholarly House of Wisdom and its library of classical texts that would later shape the West.
• The Scandals of Pre-Code Hollywood: Before the enforcement of the Hays Code in 1934, Hollywood was rife with salacious scripts, film about organized crime, and scenes of social upheaval. Pressure from the Catholic Legion of Decency finally put an end to this free and rebellious.
