History Today

Gladstone and his Victorian Liberals still offer a great insight into the UK's divisions.

Englishmen, during the reign of George III, loved every form of festivity and show. In 1775, a courageous attempt was made to hold a magnificent London regatta. But, as F.H.W. Sheppard writes, there were the usual delays and misunderstandings; ladies fell into the Thames-side mud; and, naturally, the weather changed.

“How different were our feelings” wrote a Scottish sergeant, “from many of our countrymen at home, whose ideas of the French character were drawn from servile newspapers and caricatures in print shops.”

The concluding article in Steven Watson’s studies of Britain’s Lord Chancellors.

Richard Storry describes how the Army Mutiny of February 1936 was the climax of revolutionary nationalism in Japan. Its outcome meant action against China, and in the end led to Pearl Harbour

On the Neva in 1740, Peter the Great’s niece constructed a winter palace.

Thomas D. Mahoney discusses the character, career and present-day importance of the great political philosopher.

W.H. Chaloner assesses the life and career of Ferdinand De Lesseps, the French diplomat and later developer of the Suez Canal.

J.L. Carr describes how, in revolutionary France, the debonair delights of civilization were replaced by a more virtuous albeit often stale cultural climate.