History Today

‘What historical topic have I changed my mind on? The collapse of the Soviet Union. I used to think it was a relatively peaceful event.’

Arsenic was a hidden killer in Victorian homes, but it also played a large part in the British economy. Which comes first: commerce or public health?

On 11 May 1891 the future Tsar Nicholas II narrowly escaped assassination on a trip to Japan.

How did medieval holy men cope with the strictures their devotion placed upon them?

With North Vietnam’s victory in 1975, its southern counterpart ceased to exist. What happened to South Vietnam?

Padraic X. Scanlan levels familiar charges against British colonialism and capitalism in Rot: A History of the Irish Famine. Is there more to the story?

On the 250th anniversary of her birth, Jane Austen still has lessons for readers of history.

The Merovingians have a reputation for long hair and barbarity. Instead, the dynasty, born out of the chaos of civil war, was one of peace, diplomacy, and bureaucracy.

Over the 18th and 19th centuries Britain’s economy, technology, and society were transformed by the so-called Industrial Revolution. Why?

The Roman Empire had two main populations: gods and humans. By its end, there was only one god left. How, and why, did he reign supreme?