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Stories from Joshua Hammer

At Dorney Lake, scullers try out for Britain’s Olympic women’s rowing team.

300 Years of Rowing on the Thames

There must be something in the water at Eton, where rowing rules as the sport of choice

When the future president journeyed to Kogelo in 1987, it was, he said, as if “a circle was beginning to close.”

A Journey to Obama’s Kenya

The dusty village where Barack Obama’s father was raised had high hopes after his son was elected president. What has happened since then?

In this undated family photo, Kalinka Bamberski, center, is on the beach with her father, Andre Bamberski and an unidentified woman.

What Happened to Kalinka Bamberski?

In an exclusive excerpt, read about the mysterious death of a young teenager that inspired a complicated web of European intrigue

They helped overthrow the regime, but can they overcome tradition and win their share of political clout? (Here: Women rally in Tripoli.)

Women: The Libyan Rebellion’s Secret Weapon

They helped overthrow Qaddafi by smuggling arms and spying on the government. Now the women of Libya are fighting for a greater voice in society

Ellen "Nelly" Ternan, in 1870, was a figure lost to history.

Dickens’ Secret Affair

Biographer Claire Tomalin’s literary sleuthing revealed the untold story of the famed author’s “invisible woman”

Dickens World, a theme park in Chatham, offers an 1800s immersion. The novelist, says the attraction's Kevin Christie, "was a showman. He would have loved this."

Going Mad for Charles Dickens

Two centuries after his birth, the novelist is still wildly popular, as a theme park, a new movie and countless festivals attest

Although Christians and Muslims joined in protests against Mubarak, shown here in Cairo's Tahrir Square this past February, violence against the Copts escalated soon after the regime fell.

A New Crisis for Egypt’s Copts

The toppling of Egypt’s government has led to a renewal of violence against the nation’s Christian minority

As a child, Agatha Christie spent countless summer weekends at Beacon Cove, at the northern edge of Torquay, a resort town in the county of Devon, in southwest England.

The Picturesque Torquay, England

The seaside town beckons vacationers and Agatha Christie pilgrims alike

Christie purchased Greenway in 1938. Years later, she recalled the spell that the estate had cast on her: "a white Georgian house of about 1780 or '90, with woods sweeping down to the Dart...the ideal house, a dream house."

Where Agatha Christie Dreamed Up Murder

The birthplace of Poirot and Marple welcomes visitors looking for clues to the best-selling novelist of all time

A circa 1925 woodcut by Unpo Takashima depicts Tokyo's Ueno district ablaze. "Each new gust of wind," reported Joseph Dahlmann, a Jesuit priest who witnessed the calamity from a hilltop, "gave new impulse to the fury of the conflagration."

The Great Japan Earthquake of 1923

The powerful quake and ensuing tsunami that struck Yokohama and Tokyo traumatized a nation and unleashed historic consequences

Non-Muslims use a wood ramp to enter the complex, home to the gilded Dome of the Rock, an Islamic shrine, and the Western Wall, holy to Jews.

What Is Beneath the Temple Mount?

As Israeli archaeologists recover artifacts from the religious site, ancient history inflames modern-day political tensions

One of the country's most popular rappers, J-Me avoids political statements in his music. But his lyrics, he says, reflect the concerns of Myanmar's young.

Myanmar’s Young Artists and Activists

In the country formerly known as Burma, these free thinkers are a force in the struggle for democracy

A cliff-face cavity is all that remains of one of two sixth-century Buddha sculptures, sublime expressions of Bamiyan's ancient kingdom.

Searching for Buddha in Afghanistan

An archaeologist insists a third giant statue lies near the cliffs where the Bamiyan Buddhas, destroyed in 2001, once stood

A monarchist displays images of the Romanovs. Many Russians regard the Romanovs, canonized by the Orthodox Church in 2000, as martyrs.

Resurrecting the Czar

In Russia, the recent discovery of the remains of the two missing Romanov children has pitted science against the church

On the anniversary of the assassination of an anti-mafia magistrate, Palermo's citizens joined politicians in a fiaccolata, or candlelight vigil, in his honor.

In Sicily, Defying the Mafia

Fed up with extortion and violent crime, ordinary citizens are rising up against organized crime

Shai Agassi, at a corporate facility outside Tel Aviv, founded a company whose name reflects his determination to improve the world.

Charging Ahead With a New Electric Car

An entrepreneur hits the road with a new approach for an all-electric car that overcomes its biggest shortcoming

If destruction continues unimpeded, preservationists will run out of time to save Kashgar's Uighur quarter.

Demolishing Kashgar’s History

A vital stop on China’s ancient Silk Road, the Uighur city of Kashgar may lose its old quarter to plans for “progress”

The city, in all its brooding grandeur, takes center stage in stories featuring the master of deduction.

Sherlock Holmes’ London

As the detective stalks movie theaters, our reporter tracks down the favorite haunts of Arthur Conan Doyle and his famous sleuth

Mali's long history as a sub-Saharan trade route underlies its artistic traditions.

Looting Mali’s History

As demand for its antiquities soars, the West African country is losing its most prized artifacts to illegal sellers and smugglers

In 7 B.C., at a point along the Via Aurelia, the Romans erected a monument to the emperor Augustus.

Via Aurelia: The Roman Empire’s Lost Highway

French amateur archaeologist Bruno Tassan fights to preserve a neglected 2,000-year-old ancient interstate in southern Provence

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