History Today

On October 23, 1812, the Emperor Napoleon, campaigning in Russia, was for six hours threatened with dethronement by a theatrical coup d'etat back in Paris. Godfrey LeMay describes what happened.

Arthur Bryant relates how Becket’s death, at the hands of Henry II's servants, made this once worldly prelate a popular religious hero.

In the twelfth-century conflict between Church and State, Henry II found his most determined opponent in his formerly devoted servant, Thomas Becket, as Arthur Bryant continues his Story of England series.

D.H. Pennington uses the diary notes of a contemporary MP to give readers a real sense of the dramatic atmosphere in the pre-Civil War House of Commons.

A leading actor in the civil war, Clarendon in his History offered an interpretation of the causes of the conflict which has been much debated by later historians, as Christopher Hill discusses here.

The Italian prince who boasted that the Pope was his chaplain, and the Emperor his condottiere, ended his days in 1508, forgotten in a foreign prison

Michael Howard records the relish with which Oliver Cromwell ended a particularly famous session in the House of Commons.

Arthur Bryant continues his series on the historical development of the country at the United Kingdom's heart.

James Joll attempts to unearth the deep roots of modern Germany.

A man of deep convictions, George III ruled at a time “when kings were still expected to govern. That he failed to acquire “true notions of common things”, Lewis Namier writes, was “perhaps the deepest cause of his tragedy.”