History Today

Shakespeare’s approach to history and geography is often regarded as something of a joke. But his skill was in reconstructing the medieval Mediterranean for audiences whose horizons were being expanded.

By the end of the Seven Years’ War in 1763 Britain had become a global power. However, the conflict’s colossal expense and the high-handed approach of British politicians led to the American Revolution.

When the European powers began exporting convicts to other continents, they did so to create a deterrent and to establish new settlements across the world.

The 500th anniversary of the publication of Utopia is a chance to appreciate Thomas More in all his complexity.

The discovery in Victorian London of the remains of ancient animals – and a fascination with their modern descendants – helped to transform people’s ideas of the deep past, as Chris Manias reveals.

The trial for treason and execution of Roger Casement – humanitarian, homosexual and Irish Nationalist – which took place, in the wake of the Easter Rising of 1916, continues to resonate, as Andrew Lycett explains.

A new exhibition explores the history behind the first global market.

The first monarch of the House of Stewart was born on March 2nd, 1316.

Eleanor Parker is inspired by a visit to a village church in Oxfordshire that bears witness to one of the most turbulent and transformative periods in English history.

The ‘Nazi who said sorry’ was a master of constructing his own narrative.