History Today

Christopher Lloyd describes how, trying to fight his way from Egypt to Constantinople, Bonaparte was checked by Sidney Smith’s defence.

The preeminent Restoration actress and infamous Royal mistress died in 1687 at the age of 37. Jane Hoare describes how Charles II had left her well provided.

From A.D. 400, writes E.R. Chamberlin, imperial Rome was subject to pillage and plunder, but Popes in the Renaissance destroyed in order to rebuild.

In 1879, writes Samuel Stanley, a magnificent new clubhouse was opened for the benefit of the gentlemanly young ranchers who had recently invaded Wyoming.

Impressions of the social and literary scene in the French capital, as recorded by nineteenth-century visitors.

L.W. Cowie describes what was, for seventy years, a key feature of the fashionable resort on the English south coast.

The English south coast lay at the mercy of smugglers, writes Christopher Lloyd, until a full-scale blockade from 1817 gradually brought them under control.

Darrell Bates describes Queen Victoria's special affection for young people of exotic origin. One for whom she especially cared was Prince Alamayu of Abyssinia.

An elaborate hierarchy maintained the royal household of Elizabeth I, writes Alan Haynes, but there was much pilfering and graft among the purveyors of domestic goods.

Sarah Searight introduces the fifth century ascetic whose long life on top of a pillar attracted thousands of worshippers.