History Today

In 1871 Parisians watched the burning of one of their most ancient palaces; and, Philip Mansel writes, twelve years later, its ruins were sold and demolished.

M. Foster Farley describes the battle of the Cowpens, of January 17th, 1781, whereby an experienced old soldier, Daniel Morgan, routed the force led by Banastre Tarleton, a ‘ruthless and ambitious’ young adventurer.

Steven R. Smith finds that John Evelyn proposed some drastic remedies to combat the polluted air of London in the seventeenth century.

One summer day, the author of the famous 'Alice' books first sent his heroine down a rabbit hole into a fantastic underground world, enriched with his own memories of many different scenes and characters.

‘There is a middle state’, Landor once said, ‘between love and friendship, more delightful than either, but more difficult to remain in.’ Such was the affectionate association that the Duke and Lady Shelley long enjoyed, writes Prudence Hannay

Sherman Johnson unravels the legends surrounding the author of the shortest and, possibly, earliest of the Gospels in the New Testament.

W. Bruce Lincoln finds that, though at first extremely against the visits, Queen Victoria was much impressed by the Russian Emperor’s dignity, civility and grace.

Jan Read describes Al-Mansur, the honorific name for the leader who restored Moorish power in Spain during the late 10th century.

Niall Ferguson's suggestion that John Maynard Keynes was concerned only with the present doesn't stand up to scrutiny, argues  Paul Lay.