Chevalier d’Éon
The Chevalier d’Éon—born Charles-Geneviève-Louis-Auguste-André-Timothée d’Éon de Beaumont—was one of the most remarkable diplomatic and military figures of the 18th century, a French knight renowned for…
Historical Figures
Grigori Rasputin
The life of Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin is a journey that began in a small Siberian village and extended into the most intimate corridors of the…
Joshua Norton
The story of Joshua Norton is a chronological account of a businessman’s dramatic identity shift following a massive financial collapse, and the subsequent official recognition…
Peter the Great’s Head in a Jar
Peter the Great was a man who built cities and trained armies to turn Russia into a massive empire. However, this desire for absolute control…
The Emperor Who Watched His Own Funeral
Charles V—or Karl V, as he is known in history—the man who ruled half of Europe, the gold of the Americas, and vast lands where…
The Eyes of Çandarlı Halil Pasha
The conquest of Istanbul did not only open the gates of a city; it also closed a century-long era in Ottoman administration. Çandarlı Halil Pasha…
The Female Pope: The Legend of Pope Joan
This is the story of a massive “leak” opened by a woman’s intellect and camouflage in the heart of the Vatican—one of history’s greatest male-dominated…
Timothy el-Mühtedi
Timothy el-Mühtedi—known in Western sources as Timothy the Great—was an extraordinary figure whose identity was forged through religious and political transitions in East Africa and…