Primary links
Francis Beckett is enthralled by a study of the Profumo Affair – and what it says about England of the 1960
Jerry Brotton is disappointed by a study of powerful women in the Italian Renaissance
Aleks Pluskowski praises a comprehensive exploration of domestic and captive animals in Britain in the Middle Ages
Sian Pooley considers an examination of shifting attitudes to British childhood, from the Victorian period to the present day
From disabled children to ‘bachelor uncles’, Joanna Bourke enjoys a history of the things that families have tried to brush under the carpet
Hallie Rubenhold on a biography of an 18th-century actor and dandy
Joanna Bourke enjoys a study of the women who went looking for love in India
Joanna Bourke looks back at how previous generations treated single mothers
Chris Given-Wilson welcomes a meticulously researched account of a 16th-century wool-broker, 'or brogger', John Heritage
Nigel Jones takes issue with the arguments made in a provocative study of thwarted revolts