History Today

Debbi Codling looks at the beliefs and spiritual life of the man who usurped Richard II, an anointed king.

Jörg Friedrich’s horrifying account of the Allied bombing raids caused a stir on its first publication in Germany. Now it has been translated into English, and York Membery has canvassed some leading British historians for their views.

Charles Freeman visits the Eternal City, and finds the Castel Sant’Angelo, home to emperors and popes, to be the clue to unravelling its fabulously rich and complex history.

Tony Rothman recalls one of the turning points of early modern history, when a heroic defence prevented the rampant Ottoman forces from gaining a strategic foothold in the central Mediterranean.

Following our article in November about Thomas Cochrane’s plans for chemical warfare, Richard Dale, author of a new book on Cochrane, reveals how the maverick naval hero was disgraced over his association with a stock market scandal.

Charlotte Crow reports a recent debate between historians and programme makers on the state of history on the small screen, and a television success in that field.

The background to Manet’s extraordinary series of paintings of the demise of a Mexican emperor.

Robert I. Burns and Paul E. Chevedden describe how a much-besieged citadel became the focus for Christian-Muslim co-existence in medieval Spain.

Richard Cavendish marks the anniversary of a great fortress being sacked, on August 15th, 1209.

Martin Evans looks at the events of 1956 and the French war on terror, both at home and elsewhere, and how this was a turning point for French fortunes in the Algerian War of Independence.