History Today

A pirate execution, from The history and lives of all the most notorious pirates, and their crews, from Capt. Avery, who first settled at Madagascar, to Capt. John Gow, by Charles Johnson, 1725. British Library/Bridgeman Image.

Putting Pirates on Trial

Mutiny and murder at sea ended in capture for the crew of the pirate ship Revenge. Their trial was a deliberate display of the authority of the British state. How did it unfold?

Two musicians, by Francesco Bartolozzi, c. 1764-1800. Albertina. Public Domain.

‘Forbidden Desire in Early Modern Europe’ by Noel Malcolm review

Forbidden Desire in Early Modern Europe: Male-Male Sexual Relations, 1400-1750 by Noel Malcolm is an ambitious comparative study that raises plenty of questions.

The monastic seal of Chertsey Abbey during the reign of Henry VIII, April 1525. The National Archives.

Once maligned as a record ‘of the dullest kind’, a 1535 audit of Church wealth – the Valor ecclesiasticus – offers a unique view of England’s religious, social and cultural life just months after the break with Rome.

‘The Conflagration of Dalla on the Rangoon River’, from Eighteen views taken at and near Rangoon, by Joseph Moore, 1825. British Library/Bridgeman Images.

The First Anglo-Burmese War

In March 1824 the East India Company declared war on Burma, the opening salvo in a series of conflicts that would see one empire fall, another expand and leave divisive wounds still felt today.

Relief showing the construction of a building using a crane, from the tomb of the Haterii, Rome, first century AD. Universal Art Archive/Alamy Stock Photo.

Ancient Rome’s Failed Building Projects

Alongside the great successes of Roman architectural feats were expensive failures. Who was to blame?

‘Bookseller and Author’ by Thomas Rowlandson, 1784. Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection. Public Domain.

‘Reading It Wrong’ by Abigail Williams review

Reading It Wrong: An Alternative History of Early Eighteenth-Century Literature by Abigail Williams argues that misunderstanding popular literature was a sign of its success.

Declaration of the result of the 1880 general election poll at Leeds Town Hall, in which Gladstone’s Liberals have a majority, illustration for The Graphic, 10 April 1880. Look and Learn / Illustrated Papers Collection / Bridgeman Images.

The End of Britain’s Weeks-Long General Elections

General elections in Britain were once weeks-long affairs of corruption and chaos. The shift to one-day polling was slow.

The great conjunction in Pisces. Titlepage from Leonhard Reinmann’s Practica uber die grossen und manigfeltigen Coniunction der Planeten (1524). Science History Images/Alamy Stock Photo.

Bad Omens: When the Astrologers Got it Wrong

Europe panicked when astrologers predicted a huge flood in 1524. When it failed to appear, astrology had to defend itself.

‘Girolamo Savonarola Preaching Against Prodigality’ by Ludwig von Langenmantel, 1879. St Bonaventure University. Public Domain.

The Original Bonfire of the Vanities

On 7 February 1497, the Piagnoni of Florence set sin ablaze in the original ‘bonfire of the vanities’

‘Death and the Miser’ by Thomas Rowlandson, 1801. Metropolitan Museum of Art. Public Domain.

‘As Gods Among Men’ by Guido Alfani review

Guido Alfani’s As Gods Among Men: A History of the Rich in the West explores how history’s wealthiest men made their fortunes, but says little about why they did so.