History Today

J.J.N. McGurk describes the life of the tall, corpulent and silent Aquinas, the greatest of medieval philosophers, who worked and taught in Italy, France and Germany during the thirteenth century.

Michael Grant describes how, in their portrait-heads, which reveal an extraordinary grasp of the subject’s personality, Roman sculptors ‘created one of the outstanding arts of all time’.

The Sheriff’s office under the Norman Kings fulfilled its duties of Saxon times, writes Irene Gladwin, and was awarded to the magnates among the Conqueror’s supporters.

Anthony Dent describes how the last wolves of Yorkshire lived on into the reign of Henry VIII, but by then had almost vanished from England.

Michael Grant describes how, after the death of Alexander the Great, the classical world was divided into a system of contending super-states of which our twentieth century world is the heir.

Henry Marsh describes how England and Scotland became the first European countries to begin freeing their serfs, towards the close of the twelfth century.

Ronald Webber describes how, from the banks of the Thames, London was supplied with asparagus, melons, artichokes, carrots, beans and berries.

Andrew P. Trout describes how Pelletier sought to improve conditions of everyday life for ordinary people in seventeenth century Paris.

Imperial Britain appealed to the men of its colonies to come to the aid of the Mother Country during the First World War. Many did so but their contribution has not always been honoured, says Stephen Bourne.

During the forty-one years he spent in China, writes Gerald Morgan, Thomas Francis Wade learned to understand the Chinese mind and culture without being absorbed by it.