THE BRIEFING
6 Viewpoint: Michael Booth explores
the long roots of tensions in east Asia
10 History Headlines: Discoveries and
developments in the world of history
REGULARS
9 F e e d b a c k : Responses to our experts’
nominations for the greatest leader in
global history54 A Y e a r i n P i c t u r e s : 1982
by Richard Overy
62 Extraordinary People: Sanmao – globe-
trotting icon of Chinese youth by Mike Fu
98 P a r t i n g S h o t : Join a mass pilgrimage
honouring a sea goddess in Taiwan
CULTURE
72 Interview: Mary Beard discusses the role
of the nude in western art with Matt Elton
and Janina Ramirez ✪80 Agenda: The latest exhibitions, films,
books, events, radio and television
JOURNEYS
86 Wonders of the World: Bhaktapur, Nepal
by Paul Bloomfield
90 Footsteps: Nansen’s traverse of the
Greenland Ice Sheet by Jon Gertner ✪
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14-day trialCONTRIBUTORS
Expert voices from the world of history
Mary Beard
What makes nude art different from porn? That’s
one of the questions discussed on page 72 by
the professor of classics and presenter of recent
BBC TV series Mary Beard’s Shock of the Nude.
“How do we explain why one painting of female
genitalia is in a gallery, whereas we’d likely find
similar photos in a not-wholly-salubrious shop?”Mike Fu
In writing about travels in Africa and beyond,
one young Chinese-born woman revealed new
horizons for her compatriots. “Sanmao’s earnest,
egalitarian sensibilities and casual worldliness
cast her as a figure of devotion for millions of
youth, especially young women,” explains writer
and translator Fu from page 62.Susan Mattern
Menopause affects half of the population – yet,
as the distinguished research professor at the
University of Georgia reveals on page 20, our
understanding of its causes, symptoms and
wider impacts is still nascent. “The word
‘menopause’ was invented as recently as 1821,
by a French doctor,” she points out.Camilla Townsend
By revisiting painted histories and post-conquest
journals, the story of the Aztecs is today being
rewritten. “The Aztecs who emerge from these
documents bear little resemblance to the people
described in Spanish texts of the colonial era,”
explains the distinguished professor of history
at Rutgers University from page 12.David Edmonds
“Is it possible that people do bad things just
because they’re told to?” asks BBC journalist
Edmonds, who from page 64 explores social
psycholog y studies tr ying to ma ke sense of the
Holocaust. “One experiment revealed how
easily humans divide into groups and then dis-
criminate against other groups,” he explains.Jen Manion
“Female husbands usually became known to
local media in times of crisis, often arrest or
death,” says the associate professor of history
at Amherst College. From page 48, Manion
explores the stories of individuals assigned as
female at birth, but who lived with male identi-
ties and with fema le partners in past centuries.