History Today

Mark Bryant describes the life and works of Abu Abraham, the Observer’s first ever political cartoonist.

David Roffe asks why exactly Domesday Book, the oldest and most precious of the English public records, was compiled – and for whom.

Colin Jacobson looks at the history of a pioneering photojournalism magazine.

After he fell from power, Bismarck became a mythical hero figure of the right. The legend of the ‘Iron Chancellor’ was wielded by militarists, conservatives, and eventually, Adolf Hitler.

David Mattingly says it’s time to rethink the current orthodoxy and question whether Roman rule was good for Britain.

Francis Robinson looks for the distinctively tolerant and worldly features of Mughal rule in India and that of the related Islamic dynasties of Iran and Central Asia.

For centuries Tiananmen Square has been at the heart of China. Named for the Tiananmen – the Gate of Heavenly Peace – its history has been anything but.

Christopher Phipps introduces one of the capital’s great private institutions, and invites History Today readers to visit on June 28th.

Daniel Scharf of the Oxford Trust for Contemporary History describes the battle to preserve RAF Upper Heyford as a unique monument to the Cold War.