History Today

Tony Chafer examines the paradoxes and complexities that underlie belated recognition of the contribution of African soldiers to the liberation of France in 1944.

Alan Sharp looks at the factors shaping national policies in the weeks preceding the Paris Peace Conference, when the failure of the victorious allies to agree on aims and a process for negotiations with the Germans resulted in a ‘tragedy of disappointment’.

Mark Bryant examines the wartime work of Captain Bruce Bairnsfather, creator of the famous ‘Old Bill’ character.

Ian Ronayne describes how the Channel Island was torn in the First World War between its role as potato producer and its patriotic duty to send men to fight.

More than 900 people perished in the Jonestown mass suicide of November 18th 1978.

To understand why Americans believe their nation to be innocent of imperialism we must go back to the Founding Fathers of the Republic, says Graham MacPhee.

Mark Bryant examines the wartime work of Osbert Lancaster, the centenary of whose birth this year is marked with a new exhibition at the Wallace Collection, London.

Andrew Roberts reflects on the often stormy relationship between Churchill and the Chiefs of Staff during the Second World War.

A.D. Harvey thinks the world of academia is letting down the thousands who make Black History Month such a popular success each year.

Neil Taylor discusses how political change has left its mark on the Latvian capital’s Town Hall Square.