* Whilst photographs can offer us details about the past, there are also many potential problems of using them: here Elizabeth Miron discusses the perils of using photographs as historical sources.
* One sunny day in 1938, seven siblings sat upon a split-rail fence as a photographer, Howell Walker, snapped their picture. More than seven decades later, a hunt across the internet identified who they were...
* In the week following his death, the majority of the coverage about Nelson Mandela has focused on his legacy but is the symbol of Mandela more powerful than the reality and how should historians consider him?
* Romancing the dark: lamplights of Victorian London.
* Exploding toilets and aluminum-laced bread: the 10 most dangerous things in Victorian and Edwardian homes.
* Was Walter Sickert Jack the Ripper? Of course not, he was actually Dracula!
* The 9 December marked the century that has passed since the return of the Mona Lisa: the world's most famous missing painting.
* There has been renewed debate about where the battle of Hastings really took place after Medieval historian Dr Marc Morris claimed that the research that suggests the battle took place on the site of what is now a mini roundabout on the A2100 is 'no more than informed guesswork'.
* Poirot without a decent plot really would be a crime!
* A rare painting of Jane Austen is to be sold at auction. A version of the piece which was commissioned by her nephew in 1869 is being used on the new £10 note from 2017.
* Have researchers found the lost colony of Roanoke Island?
* Tolkien's revolver reveals how his time fighting in the trenches influenced his literary creations.
* Simon Tait explains the importance of arts funding for the First World War commemorations.
* The top 10 archaeological discoveries of 2013.
* The never-ending Odyssey to identify which of these two Italian towns were Odysseus' final destination - this may be an older link but attempts to link modern places and culture to their ancient counterparts is always fascinating!
* Why does literary fiction have such a problem with happy endings?
* William McIlvanney and 'tartan noir'.
* The Guardian ask what is your favourite book of 2013?
* Everyone has heard of Proust or Dumas but why don't French books sell abroad?
Which history and publishing stories have you enjoyed reading this week?