Can a dozen shipwrecks tell the history of the world?
Historical listicles are in vogue
A spectre is haunting history—the listicle. You know the formula: a history of something enormous in an intriguingly specific number of unexpected things. In 2023 alone readers were met with new books about the history of baseball in 50 moments, the West in 14 lives, the information age in five hacks, women in 101 objects and the world in eight plagues, ten dinners or 50 lies. Call it history-by-numbers, or, if you must, the “histicle”.
This article appeared in the Culture section of the print edition under the headline “Colour by numbers”
Culture March 2nd 2024
- Britain’s arts still dazzle the world
- “The Picture of Dorian Gray” points to the future of theatre
- Why did a once-revered painter, Frans Hals, fall out of favour?
- “Palestine”, an old graphic novel, is making a comeback
- Can a dozen shipwrecks tell the history of the world?
- Cinemas may be dying. But IMAX and the high end are thriving
From the March 2nd 2024 edition
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