History Today

The distinction between centre and periphery was vital to the Roman Empire’s conception of itself. For centuries a rugged frontier, the land north of the Danube would produce one of Rome’s greatest foes.

Despite her fragile health and the chauvinism of the time, Susan Anderson brought compassion and competence to the medical profession in a still wild West. 

The sinking of the White Ship, a vessel carrying the English king Henry I’s sole heir, was a disaster from which anarchy would follow. 

Chronicling an abusive relationship between people and the animals we have hunted, imprisoned and eaten.

The identification of Magas, capital of the medieval Kingdom of Alania, reveals a civilisation forged by global interconnections.

Putting a pig on trial appears to defy logic, but in medieval France it gave rural folk the illusion of order in a frightening world. 

We ask four historians whether the great advances of the Renaissance were extended to women.

Cecil feared the Tower, until his kinswoman Anne Bacon stepped in. 

‘As we grow older, we often learn that we have misunderstood our parents and grandparents.’ 

The ‘discovery’ of America, capitalism, the Reformation and the Sunni-Shia divide all owe something to Selim the Grim.