History Today

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.

Mary, Queen of Scots married Francis, Dauphin of France on 24 April 1558. Tragedy wasn’t far behind.

The civil rights leader was shot dead on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel on April 4th, 1968.

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

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.

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

Sue Donnelly introduces the archives of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, and a project to make them accessible to a wider audience.

Continental chefs dominated London’s restaurant world in the nineteenth century, says Panikos Panayi.

Paddy Hartley describes how an interest in the treatment of facial injuries in the First World War led him to develop a new form of sculpture.

Mark Bryant introduces the man who drew the British Establishment at its most shockable.