History Today

On his early travels across the world it was geology that struck Charles Darwin’s interest, not biology.

On 8 February 1644, Li Zicheng, a rebel warlord, proclaimed the foundation of his own Shun dynasty.

Guru to the World: The Life and Legacy of Vivekananda by Ruth Harris uncovers the Hindu guru’s life of epiphanies and contradictions.

The first-known secular bell-ringing society was founded on 2 February 1604.

The Bethnal Green tube station disaster, 80 years on.

Menopause is an inescapable fact of life. Why is history silent on it?

Not a queen or a saint, witch or idealised lady-love, the Wife of Bath is a much-married working woman and an enthusiastic traveller.

Edda Mussolini: The Most Dangerous Woman in Europe by Caroline Moorehead explores how Italy became enslaved by ‘a corrupt gang of warmongers’.

Nakam: The Holocaust Survivors Who Sought Full-Scale Revenge by Dina Porat explores acts of vengeance in the aftermath of the Second World War.

Indonesia’s bloody past has produced a country populated with ghosts. Now, they are sharing their stories on YouTube.