History Today

Geoffrey Parker concludes our two-part feature on Europe's witch-craze.

February, 1981 marks the fifth centenary of the inauguration of the Spanish Inquisition. Over the years many myths and misconceptions have grown up around the Inquisition. These are dispelled in this commemorative essay by Henry Kamen, author of The Spanish Inquisition.

David G. Chandler discusses the logistics of Military History.

Maggie Black looks at the cultural history of three February menus, based as much on show as the cooking.

More witches were executed in the German-speaking territories than in any other part of Europe. Why was the German witch-hunt so assiduously and successfully prosecuted?

Comparisons between the English and Scottish witch-hunts have been drawn from as early as 1591. Using recent research on the subject from both sides of the border, Christina Larner offers a timely reassessment of their differences.

Robert Stephens looks at how Nasser left his mark on nearly twenty years of Egyptian, Arab and world history. An anti-colonialist who extended his concern to the newly liberated countries of the Third World, he has been acclaimed as a nationalist liberator - and condemned as a warmonger.

The career of Colonel Fernando Santos Costa explodes the myth of Salazar's Portugal as a politically stable country with 'no history'. In charge of Portugal's army for twenty-two years, Santos Costa played a powerful and often unscrupulous role within this dictatorship.