Our Readers on the 75th Anniversary
History Today was first published on 12 January 1951. Our readers and contributors share their memories of the magazine 75 years on.
History Today
The Ambassador, the Spy, and the Chocolatier
The 18th-century Dutch Republic was a hotbed of secretive Jacobite networks producing seditious pamphlets.
‘The Queenship of Mathilda of Flanders’ by Laura L. Gathagan review
The Queenship of Mathilda of Flanders, c.1031-1083: Embodying Conquest by Laura L. Gathagan traces the material legacy of the Conqueror’s consort.
The Rise and Fall of the US Army Camel Corps
The vast deserts of the American West posed logistical problems for the US Army. Camels offered a novel solution.
‘The Revolution to Come’ and ‘Revolutions: A New History’ review
Two recent books, The Revolution to Come: A History of an Idea from Thucydides to Lenin by Dan Edelstein and Revolutions: A New History by Donald Sassoon, illustrate the past and future of revolutionary studies.
New Year Readers’ Resolutions
How to read more? We might take instruction from a more leisurely age.
The Last Emirate of Spain
The emirate of Granada – Islam’s last polity in Spain – was surrendered to the Catholic monarchs on 2 January 1492.
The Death of Charles the Bad
On 1 January 1387 Charles II, the medieval king of Navarre, died as he had lived – with great violence.
The First Christmas Celebration
On 25 December 336 Rome’s believers celebrated Christmas Day – the earliest recorded use of that date as it spread across Christendom.
Understanding the Northern Lights
When the aurora borealis appeared in the skies of 18th-century Europe, Enlightenment scientists first turned to history to understand it.