History Today

Alexander II died on July 8th, 1249, aged fifty. His reign was often later remembered in Scotland as a golden age.

Valery Rees looks at the Florentine scholar Marsilio Ficino and finds a man whose work still speaks to us today.

Mark Mazower looks back to the much maligned Versailles Treaty and finds we still live in the continent it created.

Denise Silvester-Carr looks at Art Deco places of interest in Britain.

Dave Wright and Nicholas Hill explain the failure of Britain’s post-war attempts to join the space race.

Richard Cavendish describes the maiden flight of the world's first jet-propelled airliner, on July 27th 1949.

John Haywood describes the final battles of the First Crusade in July 1099.

A.D. Harvey looks back a hundred years to the birth of modern local government in London - the launch-pad for many national political careers.

Account of the life of the socialite Marguerite Blessington.