History Today

Between Plague and Fire

A new project to analyse the Hearth Tax returns of early modern London and Middlesex offers a revealing portrait of a growing but divided city in the midst of cataclysmic crises. Vanessa Harding explains.

London's Wartime Housing Crisis

The First World War precipitated a housing crisis in London, which affected all classes of the populace and had a profound effect on the capital, says Jerry White.

Killing Kennedy: Cock-Ups and Cover-Ups

The investigation of President Kennedy’s murder was marked by serious blunders. As a result, the truth behind the assassination is unlikely to be known, says Peter Ling.

Nelson’s Hardy

Derek Severn describes how, after service at Trafalgar, Thomas Hardy spent many years with the Navy’s two American Stations and in 1830 was appointed First Sea Lord.

Mrs Cornelys and Carlisle House

Aileen Ribeiro describes the masquerades and concerts that took place in eighteenth century Soho, as devised by the socialite, opera singer, and adventuress from Vienna. 

Mr Justice Holmes in England 1866

D.H. Burton describes how, aged twenty-five, Holmes, an influential future US supreme court justice, paid a summer visit during which he made many distinguished friendships.

More’s House in Chelsea

Thomas More and his family moved into his ‘Great House’ in Chelsea in 1518. L.W. Cowie describes their life there, until More's arrest in 1534.

Matthew Arnold’s School Inspections, Part II

Arnold spent some thirty-five years as an inspector of schools, in Europe as well as in England. David Hopkinson describes how the Victorian poet hoped education would humanize pupils and weaken the prejudices of nation and class.