History Today

Jacqui Livesey unmasks the cleric who revealed Lord Nelson and Lady Hamilton’s most intimate secrets.

Tobias Grey meets the journalist who was at Charles de Gaulle’s side for twenty-six years.

 In 1909 Beatrice Webb produced a controversial report which proposed abolishing the stigma and penury of the Poor Law and its workhouses. James Gregory argues that this plea for a less judgemental approach to poverty created the foundations of the modern Welfare State.

Bill Wallace looks at the anniversary of the Prague Spring in 1968.

Jeremy Black reviews two books on military history, ancient and modern.

Bridget McGing describes the fascinating but heart breaking task of working with her mother on the family archive, before it was too late.

Mark Bryant examines the history of the Second World War’s favorite cartoon pin-up.

Charles II was the only king of England for two hundred years to survive exile and return to power. Anna Keay considers how he kept up his regal appearances whilst in exile, paving the way for his return to the throne.

A public falling-out ended the close political friendship between two leaders of reform in early nineteenth-century Britain. A familiar scenario? Penny Young tells the story.

Historians have long argued whether the years 1500-1700 saw a revolutionary change in the art and organization of war. Jeremy Black reports.