History Today

Revolutions and changes of dynasty seem to have happened with the regularity of clockwork on the island of Java. M.C. Ricklefs investigates.

Rebuilding the Frauenkirche church which was destroyed in the 1945 Dresden bombings.

After three years, the conflict came to an end on October 16th, 1949.

Andrew Roberts argues that Lord Salisbury, the British Prime Minister most identified with imperialism at its acme, in reality saw the Empire as a mixed blessing at best.

Brian Griffin describes the forces that arose from the ashes of the Royal Irish Constabulary to face the very different problems of policing Ireland north and south.

William Rubinstein reviews the research of 'amateur historians' on the Kennedy assassination and suggests a new motive for Lee Harvey Oswald's actions.

Barbara Yorke considers the reputation of King Alfred the Great, and the enduring cult around his life and legend.

Charles Baudelaire described Edgar Allan Poe's death, on October 7th, 1849, as 'almost a suicide, a suicide prepared for a long time'.

Daniel Snowman meets the co-founder of the University of Sussex and doyen of Victorian history.

When did the British government know of the true role of Auschwitz-Birkenau in the ‘Final Solution’?