Gabrielle Falloppia is credited with inventing the condom. He didn’t, but he did discover the fallopian tubes, all while battling academic rivals, accusations of heresy, a syphilis epidemic, and the pirates who kidnapped his boyfriend. He has been accused of vivisecting the criminals given to him...

Ancient history has traditionally been dominated by the lives of great men, while ancient women are confined to the margins or omitted altogether. In The Missing Thread, award-winning classicist Dr Daisy Dunn pulls these women out of the shadows and puts them center stage, where they belong. This...