Susan in NC’s Reviews > The Rest is History: From Ancient Rome to Ronald Reagan—History's Most Curious Questions, Answered > Status Update
Susan in NC
is on page 193 of 417
“The first British consul to arrive in Kumasi in 1820 was hugely impressed by what he saw, including a number of things that would still be remarkable in Britain today: daily litter collections; upper-class people washing themselves with soap; upper-class people cleaning their teeth. There were also windows sheathed in gold, flushing lavatories…This was confusing for a generation raised on tales of African savagery.”
— Sep 29, 2026 04:00PM
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Susan in NC’s Previous Updates
Susan in NC
is 75% done
“A third-century bishop who gave away his money in order to help the poor, St Nicholas was already popular among Dutch New Yorkers, who called him Sint Nikolaas, or Sinter Klaas…He was exported back to Britain and merged with the pre-existing British tradition of Father Christmas to create the commercial jamboree we know (and sometimes love) today. Santa Claus himself arrived by reindeer from America in the 1870s.”
— Oct 01, 2026 02:56PM
Susan in NC
is 37% done
“By the time Nelson’s men were gearing up to fight at Trafalgar in 1805, they were probably the healthiest Britons alive. Their ships were kept supplied with a steady stream of fresh carrots, cabbages, lemon juice (to prevent scurvy), beer and live pigs – a remarkable logistical operation in a world where everything had to be organised by letters.”
— Sep 27, 2026 05:29PM
Susan in NC
is on page 37 of 417
“ Sparta, a powerful, militarised and utterly bonkers city-state in Ancient Greece, has inspired the imagination of everyone from Jean-Jacques Rousseau, the French philosopher, to Victorian headmasters, to the Nazis, to elite military units, to Hollywood. And now it’s your turn. Can you navigate Sparta’s complex social structures and join the Krypteia, the Spartan elite? Play our adventure and find out.”
— Sep 25, 2026 03:15PM
Susan in NC
is on page 31 of 417
“The eighteenth century saw an enormous British backlash against French cooking and its associations with anything perceived as vaguely cosmopolitan, corrupt or urban. In a century in which Britain was regularly at war with France, some Brits sought solace in a strange form of beefy, patriotic nostalgia, setting up ‘beefsteak clubs’, painting pictures and singing songs about good old British beef.”
— Sep 24, 2026 03:23PM