History Today

Overlord, Over-ruled and Over There

David Nicholas suggests that America’s involvement in northern Europe was unwittingly shaped by a British War Office official, against the wishes of the President.

The Man Who Tried to Stop the Dresden Raids

Between February 13th and 15th, 1945, British and American bombers dropped nearly 4,000 tonnes of bombs on the refugee-crammed city of Dresden. David Spark relates how an officer at the British Air Ministry tried to get the raids called off.

The Lisbon Tsunami

Jenifer Roberts recalls the impact of a tidal wave that brought chaos and disaster to Portugal.

Storm Over Mexico

Godfrey Hodgson tells the colourful story of Jane McManus, political journalist, land speculator, pioneer settler in Texas and propagandist who believed that the United States had a ‘manifest destiny’ to rule Mexico and the Caribbean.