On the Spot: Jessie Childs
We ask 20 questions of leading historians on why their research matters, one book everyone should read and their views on the Tudors …
History Today
The Tragedy of Force Z
The sinking by Japanese aircraft of HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse in December 1941 and the subsequent loss of Singapore was a grievous blow to British morale. But have historians misunderstood what really happened?
At Home with the Stoics
The writings of Seneca show how the model Stoic, relying on nothing but his own mind, can still be a loving family man.
The Myth of Mummy Wheat
Despite a total lack of evidence, the belief that grains of wheat found in Ancient Egyptian tombs could produce bountiful crops was surprisingly hardy.
The Map: Rome, 1942
The War Office’s map of cultural treasures in Rome, 1942.
Pakistan: What Went Wrong?
Crisis-ridden Pakistan is a very different country from the one envisioned by its founder, Muhammad Ali Jinnah in 1947.
The Myth of Symmetry and Balance
The idea that the ancients believed in Antipodean lands to balance the globe is a modern invention – and wrong.
‘Crafty and Fawning’: Downing of Downing Street
In his lifetime George Downing was regarded as ‘ready to turn to every side that was uppermost’, but even Pepys was grudgingly forced to admit his qualities in eighteenth-century political life.
The Law According to Justinian
A magisterial translation of a work that forms the basis of the European civil law tradition.
An Idea of Alexander
During the Enlightenment, Alexander the Great was reinvented as an esoteric ideal.