Finding my father in Mesopotamia

Want to hear more from The National Archives? We'd like to introduce you to On the Record, a new podcast bringing old stories to life. Join our experts and special guests as we dig deep into the people behind the paper and bring fascinating stories from more than 11 million recor ...  Show more

The global datafication of economy, society and politics has rendered humans into constellations of datapoints. Technologies measure, monitor, predict and classify to enable personalization in the online and offline worlds alike, and we are increasingly offered bespoke realities: ...  Show more

Loss and belonging are explored in an installation at the Barbican Centre in London from Sierra Leonian poet and artist/filmmaker Julianknxx which hears choirs and musicians from cities across the world voice a single refrain: ‘We are what’s left of us’. Momtaza Mehri has been Yo ...  Show more

Yasmeen starts off with a poem that she wrote that was inspired by the film she wrote and co-produced “A Star in the Desert” which follows the life of a young Iraqi boy in Baghdad on the eve of the first Gulf War, as he escapes into a fantastical reality on the search for his mis ...  Show more

One of the world’s most acclaimed ceramicists, Edmund de Waal is renowned for simple, hand-made porcelain pots and bowls which are usually displayed in meticulously arranged groups. His work has been shown in museums and galleries including the V&A, the British Museum, the Frick ...  Show more

An earlier author described the British invasion of Mesopotamia in 1914 as “The Neglected War.” It no longer deserves that title thanks to the brilliant treatment of the subject by Professor Charles Townshend (University of Keele). His Desert Hell: The British Invasion of Mesopot ...  Show more