History Today

A 15th-century French manuscript illustration showing Alexander in a cage that is lifted into the air by six griffins.

That Magnificent Man in his Flying Machine

Richard Stoneman investigates the strange but widely held belief in the Middle Ages, that Alexander the Great had conquered more than the land, taking to the air and travelled to the ocean depths.

Which Way Cuba?

As Fidel Castro finally hands over the reins of power after forty-nine years, Michael Simmons finds his country poised between past and future.

The Case for Conscription

Many who supported the campaign for compulsory military service in Edwardian Britain saw it as a necessary measure against the threat of invasion and the shadow of German militarism. Others identified it as a valuable counter to ‘softness, indiscipline and unmanliness’ in young men of the period. Detractors, meanwhile, feared it could be used to overthrow the state. Tom Stearn describes the campaign, how it was received and what it achieved in the run up to the First World War.

Québec City

Patricia Cleveland-Peck visits the capital of French Canada which is celebrating its 400th birthday this year

London’s Olympics, 1908

In 1908 the Olympic movement visited Britain for the first time. Stephen Halliday describes how the British Olympic Association prepared for the Games with barely two years notice.

Sir Howard Colvin

Geoffrey Tyack remembers the renowned architectural historian who died on December 27th, 2007.