History Today

Charles C. Noel illustrates how the remodelling of the Spanish capital reflected the new philosophical and cultural concerns of her rulers in the 'Age of Reason'. 

David Nash considers a cause celebre that tested tensions between pious tradition and a 'progressive' age.

David Birmingham looks at how the invented traditions of 19th-century Swiss history cemented a sense of national identity.

Abigail Beach looks at constructing communities in the first half of the century

Cathy Mercer reconstructs a wonder of the ancient world

Felipe Fernandez-Armesto argues for a new world history for the Millennium

F.Bremer and E.Rydell examine the tricks used by preachers in 17th-century England and America to hold their audiences.

Exhibitions of African art and culture

Pierre Sorlin considers Visconti's treatment of the 19th-century Italian nobility caught up in the Risorgimento

Iain Fenlon explores how Catholic Europe's great 16th-century sea victory over the Turk was celebrated and propagandised.