History Today

Though he exercised little political influence, Victor Hugo’s genius and his ardent championship of liberty had made him a legendary figure long before his death.

In his memoirs Chateaubriand denounces Napoleon. But, asks Douglas Hilt, is it not a figure of grandeur and vision that emerges?

‘I sought in the Balzac...’ wrote the artist, ‘to represent in sculpture that which was not photographic... to imitate not only form but also life itself’. By Michael Greenhalgh.

The visit of the Baroque master in 1665, writes Michael Greenhalgh, coincided with a rejection of Italian influence by French taste.

Celia Goodman describes how one of the greatest French beauties of her day became the faithfully devoted companion of its most celebrated and gifted writer.

The second phase of the Battle of Jutland was dominated by Jellicoe's resolve to renew the action and Scheer’s determined and successful efforts to escape. By Geoffrey Bennett.

The first news of the Battle of Jutland in 1916 startled the British public, who had looked forward to an emphatic victory at sea. Geoffrey Bennett asks, what exactly happened in the course of this momentous and controversial engagement?

‘We shall never see his equal in any age’, wrote Madame de Sévigné of this simple and heroic soldier. By Aram Bakshian Jr.

Just over a hundred and thirty years ago, writes Sarah Searight Great Britain acquired New Zealand with a minimum of political and financial fuss.

Burke and Wills crossed the continent of Australia; but, writes S.H. Woolf, tragedy marked their way back.