History Today

Victory in Arakan

Geoffrey Evans describes how British and Indian forces recovered Burma from the Japanese during the Second World War.

Trek and Counter-Trek in South Africa

The inward movement of European peoples and the southward migration of Bantu tribes supply the key to South African history and, write Edna and Frank Bradlow, to the problems that confront the country today.

The Theism of Lord Balfour

Lord Balfour, then Foreign Secretary, announced that he viewed with favour a national home for the Jews in Palestine. I.T. Naamani examines the philosophical writings of a remarkable British statesman.

The Shape of Wars to Come

During the opening years of the twentieth century, writes I.F. Clarke, many fantastic forecasts of the coming World War aroused widespread interest and alarm.

The Second Reform Act of 1867

Parliament initially became troubled by the working classes 'thundering at the gates'. Curiously, writes Paul Adelman, it was the Conservative Party that benefited from Russell’s Reform Act.

The Rise of the Rothschilds

In the midst of the Napoleonic Wars, writes William Verity, the enterprising family of merchant bankers expanded their activities from Frankfurt to London and Paris.