Today’s featured articles
Following the death of Henry I, medieval England was plunged into a civil war that reduced the country to a charred ruin. With the barons split between rival claimants, the people suffered.
In 1943 letters reporting starvation and death in Bengal began to reach Indian soldiers serving the British overseas. Despite colonial censorship, their testimonies revealed the devastating reality of famine.
The Norman Conquest brought French kings, language and culture across the Channel. What did that mean for medieval England?
Most recent
Europe’s Strangest Special Relationship
The historical partnership between Germany and Turkey is arguably the most paradoxical, if unavoidable, in modern Europe.
On the Spot: Amy Fuller
‘I can solve one historical mystery? I’d like to have proven that Hernán Cortés murdered his first wife.’
The Bayeux Tapestry: Woven by the Victors
The Bayeux Tapestry may be back in England, but it is a Norman artwork. For Anglo-Saxon voices, we need to look elsewhere.
‘The Bookshop’ by Andrew Pettegree review
The Bookshop: A History of Bookselling From the Dawn of Print to the 21st Century by Andrew Pettegree reveals the hard graft and innovation behind the book trade.
Golden Horses, Red Square
In 1935 Turkmen farmers rode their horses 4,300 kilometres across the Soviet Union to impress Moscow.
‘Desk Revolutionaries’ by Biancamaria Fontana review
Desk Revolutionaries: The Men of the French Directory, 1795-9 by Biancamaria Fontana sets the record straight on the French Revolution’s great experiment in governance.
How the Carthusians Resisted the Reformation
The consequences of Carthusian defiance showed the brutality of the dissolution of the monasteries.
‘The Rise and Fall of American Europe’ by Glyn Morgan review
The Rise and Fall of American Europe by Glyn Morgan finds a continent powerless before a capricious United States. Is it too late to teach an old world new tricks?
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In the September 2026 issue:
Tourism in Communist China, the medieval forgery at the heart of the Church, what the Victorians read, the Bengal Famine in Indian letters, Stuart petitions, and more.
Plus: reviews, opinion, crossword, debate, and much more!
You can buy this issue from our website, from newsstands across the UK, or read it as a digital edition via the History Today App.