Today’s featured articles
Was the Earth flatter around the poles or the Equator? In the mid-1730s two expeditions set out to settle a matter of national pride.
The General Strike of May 1926 was quickly defeated, but it would rupture and recast the landscape of British politics. For some, the strikers’ failure was an opportunity.
The 19th-century Korean peninsula was a chessboard on which the fates of great powers were decided. China, Japan and Russia learned this to their cost in the 'Other Great Game’.
Most recent
‘A Defence of Pretence’ by Indira Ghose review
If all the world’s a stage, argues Indira Ghose in A Defence of Pretence: Civility and the Theatre in Early Modern England, then on the stage is where we see change most vividly.
How the General Strike Changed Britain
The General Strike of May 1926 was quickly defeated, but it would rupture and recast the landscape of British politics. For some, the strikers’ failure was an opportunity.
Inside London’s Chinese Embassy
China plans to move its British embassy to a controversial new London site. It will carry 150 years of history with it.
On the Spot: Mirela Ivanova
‘What is the most common misconception about my field? That the Byzantine Empire was decadent and effeminate. I wish.’
‘Lying Abroad’ by Carol Chillington Rutter review
Lying Abroad: Henry Wotton and the Invention of Diplomacy by Carol Chillington Rutter is a case study of the archetypal early modern ambassador.
William Cecil’s Succession Plan
Elizabeth I’s brief illness made the question of the succession top priority for William Cecil and the Privy Council.
The First Venice Biennale
By the late 19th century the relationship between art and Italy felt consigned to history. On 30 April 1895 creativity and controversy returned with the first Venice Biennale.
Italo Calvino: A Traveller in a World of Uncertainty
If the present, with its conflicts and uncertainties, is impossible to know, asks Italo Calvino, how can we hope to understand the past?
Current issue
- Image
In the April 2026 issue:
British servants on the Grand Tour, the afterlife of the Tyndale Bible, Scotland’s unmarried mothers, the fall of Jerusalem, African princes in the age of slavery, and more.
Plus: reviews, opinion, crossword 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.