History Today

The French tragedy at sea, immortalised in Géricault’s masterpiece The Raft of the Medusa, was put to use in the service of British patriotism.

How many miraculous recoveries from castration and blinding were there in thirteenth-century England? Paul Hyams investigates the conjunction of the cure with the growth of a saint’s cult.

Jeremy Black, one of the most prolific historians of our time, explains the energy behind his perpetual-motion pen.

Borrowing the money to hire 3,000 mercenaries, Henry crossed the Channel in a howling gale on 6 January 1153.

The House of Trade was set up in Seville on January 20th, 1503, granting the city the exclusive right to trade with the New World.

Peter Monteath recalls what happened when two explorers, whose nations were battling for supremacy, met on the other side of the world.

Josip Broz, known as Tito since the 1930s, was elected President of the Federal Assembly of Yugoslavia on January 13th, 1953.

Raymond Campbell Paterson re-examines the fortunes and friendships of a key figure of Charles II’s administration.

Penny Young on an eventful year for the town of Bethlehem.

Hugh Brogan looks at the BBC’s great debate on the greatest Britons.