Madhubani Painting.

'Hindu women who live in villages near the market town of Madhubani in northern India maintain old traditions and teach them to their daughters. Painting is one of the traditional skills that is passed down from generation to generation in the families of some of the women. They paint figures from nature and myth on household and village walls to mark the seasonal festivals of the religious year, for special events of the life-cycle, and when marriages are being arranged they prepare intricately designed wedding proposals...'




Southwell Union Workhouse 1834-1871.

'You can now search and download documents from Southwell Union Workhouse, the best-preserved workhouse in England. These records are a fantastic resource for researchers. We are fortunate to be able to provide free access to the images because this is a joint project by The National Archives in partnership with the National Trust, with the aid of volunteers in Nottinghamshire. '



American Slave Narratives: An Online Anthology.

From 1936 to 1938, many of the last surviving American slaves were interviewed as part of the Works Progress Administration. 'Their narratives remain a peerless resource for understanding the lives of America's four million slaves. '




Built to Last: Ten Enduring Landmarks of Baltimore's Central Business District.



A Guide to the Historic Covered Bridges of Georgia.



The Andean Chronicle.

'The >1000 page 'Nueva Corónica y Buen Gobierno' {New Chronicle and Good Government) by Felipe Guaman Poma de Ayala was written down between about 1612 and 1616. This extraordinary document is part historical chronicle, part legal brief, part illustrated portrait of colonial destruction and part naive plea to the Spanish throne.'
'Guaman Poma was a full-blooded native from southern Peru with noble ancestry which he used as a basis to engage in unsuccessful litigation to wrest back control of lands awarded to his forbears. By contrast, he worked for the colonial administration, was an enthusiastic religious convert, wore spanish clothes, and was virtually fluent in spanish.'




The Berlin Airlift.

'On June 24, 1948, one of the first major crises of the Cold War occurred when the Soviet Union blocked railroad and street access to West Berlin. For nearly a year two million civilians and twenty thousand allied soldiers in the city's western sector were fed and fueled entirely from the air. Former German soldiers built airfields and repaired engines for the enemies they had been shooting out of the sky just three years before. British and American pilots, so recently delivering death, were now angels of mercy, supplying coal and flour, coffee and chocolate to the beleaguered city...'




Auschwitz Through the Lens of the SS.

'In January 2007, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Archives received a donation of a photograph album. The inscription "Auschwitz 21.6.1944" on its first page signaled the uniqueness of the album—there are very few wartime photographs of the Auschwitz concentration camp complex, which included Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest Nazi killing center. Though his name does not appear anywhere in the album, the dates of the photographs and various decorations including adjutant cords on the uniform of the album's owner, indicate that the album almost certainly belonged to and was created by SS-Obersturmführer Karl Höcker, the adjutant to the commandant of Auschwitz, SS-Sturmbannführer Richard Baer. Höcker was stationed at Auschwitz from May 1944 until the evacuation of the camp in January 1945...'




Zen Eccentrics.

Zen art.
'Soga Shohaku, whose work initially resembled Muromachi-period (1336-1573) ink painting, ultimately devised wild, almost surreal depictions of ghosts, demons, and bizarre Zen-like images ... '





Heroes and Martyrs of the French Resistance: Last Letters.

Collection of last letters of executed members of French Resistance group.




Paris, May 1968 Archive.




The Age of Rembrandt: Dutch Paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art.




Yorkshire Dales Market Towns.

'At the centre of our regions' commercial, cultural and social heritage for centuries; Yorkshire Dales market towns continue to inspire visitors and provide a focal point for community life as they have down the years.'




Great Wishford, Wiltshire.

'As people in the village of Great Wishford prepare for the Oak Apple day celebrations, a new book aims to reveal the history of this south Wiltshire community.'




Wiltshire's Underground City.

'Burlington: The 35 acre, secret subterranean Cold War City that lies 100 feet beneath Corsham.'




Digital Malham.

'On these pages you will find information on the areas of outstanding natural beauty which surround the Yorkshire Dales village of Malham.
We encourage you to take some time out and discover some of the geological treasures that lie within. '




Phuoc Hue: Vietnamese Buddhist Temple in Sydney.

Photo-essay.




Weekly Puzzle.

'A man lives on the twelfth floor of an apartment building. Every morning he takes the lift down to the lobby and leaves the building. In the evening, he gets into the lift, and, if there is someone else in the elevator he goes back to his floor directly. Otherwise, he goes to the tenth floor and walks up two flights of stairs to his apartment. Why?'



Eye Candy.


Amsterdam.


Harajuku Girls are the New Geisha.


Jews Praying in the Synagogue on Yom Kippur.


Whirlpool Galaxy and NGC 5195.


4000 Kilometers Above Saturn's Iapetus.

1960 Iranian Ad for TV Sets.



Soul Candy.

Driving to Town Late to Mail a Letter.



Querying the Hive Mind.


'I'm looking for books with quirky storylines or quirky characters doing strange things.'


'What is a Buddhist to do about bullies?


'What is a food processor good for?'


Advice on online dating services.