History Today

Piet Heyn and the Silver Fleet

C.R. Boxer portrays a key moment in the Thirty Years War. Dutch fortunes were not prospering when Piet Heyn revived his compatriots’ spirits by the daring capture of a Spanish treasure fleet.

Henry Adams and the American Scene, Part II

In London, at Harvard, in Washington and during his extensive world travels, Henry Adams elaborated his penetrating views on the nature of history and of the American experience. By John Raymond.

The Architecture of Dissent

Esther Moir brings us on a visit to the Nonconformist chapels of England, products of a long tradition in vernacular architecture, and well adapted to the needs of local worshippers.

The Count-Duke of Olivares, 1587-1645

During the years when France rose to predominance in Europe, writes J.H. Elliott, the Spanish Empire was governed by a man capable of gigantic designs, but lacking felicity in their outcome.

Sallust: Censor of a Decadent Age

S. Usher introduces Sallust, himself a disillusioned politician, who envisaged no future greatness for Rome until a single man of vision should have restored the old Republican sense of obligation—the individual's obligation to the state, and the state’s obligation to the world at large.

The Abbey of Saint-Denis: A Royal Mausoleum

Established, by Louis IX at the burying-place of the French monarchy, in 1793 Saint-Denis was solemnly desecrated by order of the revolutionary Convention, determined to remove all “horrid memories” of the former royal line. By Peter Quennell.