History Today

The Black Hole of Calcutta

Richard Cavendish describes how British prisoners were held captive by the army of the Nawab of Bengal, for one night, in the 'black hole' of Fort William in Calcutta.

The Floating World at War

Cartoon historian Mark Bryant explores the visual satire emanating from both sides of the conflict between Russia and Japan in the first decade of the 20th century.

Mr Guy’s Hospital and the Caribbean

Jane Bowden-Dan explores medical links between the Caribbean and London that throw important light on the position of blacks in eighteenth-century British society.

Paradise After Hell

Rhiannon Looseley uncovers the forgotten history of the evacuation of over 100,000 French soldiers from Dunkirk to Britain in May 1940, and describes what happened to them on their brief sojourn across the Channel and return to France soon after.

England Loses the World Cup

In March 1966, a few months before the England football team won the World Cup, the Football Association lost the trophy. Martin Atherton tells the full, often farcical, story of the theft and recovery of the Jules Rimet Trophy.

What Did Medieval Schools Do For Us?

Nicholas Orme returns to the classroom to find out how boys, and girls, were educated from the Anglo-Saxons to the Tudors; and finds that the foundations of our education system were laid during this period.