History Today

Thriving in troubled times, the allure of a good conspiracy theory has proved irresistible whenever and wherever authorities are not trusted. What’s the damage? 

Child-murderer, arch villain, failed monarch, ‘northern’. Have efforts to redeem Richard III succeeded or is he still one of history’s worst kings?

It’s the most tired of historical clichés, but is it so for a reason? Who writes history? Four would-be winners debate.

It’s bad news for local newspapers, with reports that they have reached their lowest numbers since the 18th century. How will historians study the provincial past when they can’t read all about it?

Which person in history would I most like to have met? Karl Marx. You’d have to know the right questions to ask, though.

‘Those in power tend to dictate the way history gets written.’

Long out of fashion, the term ‘Third World’ emerged amid the political polarisation of the Cold War. Now there is war in Europe again, and renewed talk of Non-Alignment. Does the ‘Global South’ exist?

‘I’d like to go back to midnight on 1 January 1863, when the Emancipation Proclamation went into effect.’

Julius Caesar was killed on 15 March 44 BC. We’ve heard about the ‘Ides of March’ – but what happened next?

‘Great leaders are much less in control of events than people imagine.’