Aside from its status as an online emporium of historical curiosities and captivating tales, Wonders & Marvels boasts an alluring backstory. It all started in 2008, when Vanderbilt University Professor Holly Tucker mocked up a site on Blogger so her students could post their musings about a course she was teaching on the history of medicine. One thing led to another, and eventually a full-fledged website blossomed. Recent articles, written by specialists and nonspecialists, have focused upon the Mongol Invasions of Japan, the dire impacts of untreated syphilis, and and an expose of the great Arab historian Ibn Khaldun. A number of interviews are also featured on the site, including a very insightful piece about writing history, as experienced by Jeremy Dronfield and Deborah McDonald. Regardless of topic, by combining a playful attitude with some good, solid historical research the articles here are sure to both delight and inform.
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