History Today

A.L. Rowse finds that for more than 200 years Cornwall has been making an important contribution to British pottery.

Pepys hoped that his library would remain intact for the benefit of future ages. R.W. Ladborough describes how the diarist's hopes were realized; and the collection of books that he left behind him forms an impressive memorial to his rich and diverse personality.

W.L.F. Nuttall describes how, when the Star Chamber was abolished in 1641 it became easier to print home news, and many newspapers appeared, supporting both sides in the Civil Wars.

Tzykanion, or polo, formed part of the ritual of life at the court of the Emperors in Constantinople. Expertise on horseback, writes Anthony Bryer, was one of the requirements of Imperial dignity.

E.R. Chamberlin recounts the Babylonian captivity, as Petrarch described it, which lasted in Avignon for seventy-four years.

Stephen Usher describes how Pericles became the embodiment of Athenian imperialism; which he exalted because, like General De Gaulle, he believed that his own country had a mighty civilizing mission. 

E.A. Smith describes how, immediately after the Seven Years’ War, the young Earl Fitzwilliam became a grand tourist of Europe in the eighteenth-century style.

For two thousand years poets, writes Michael Grant, composers and painters have drawn upon the great archetypal myth of Orpheus—one of the myths that will always stir humanity.

The Nok people of Nigeria were smelters of iron but also agriculturalists. The culture they founded may have a deep effect on the ancient history of Africa.

Derek W. Lawrence portrays 1769 as a fateful year for the world: Napoleon and Wellington were both born in it; and James Watt took out a patent for his momentous steam-engine.