History Today

Their finest hour - Angus Calder takes a critical look at the credits - and debits - of Britain's contribution to the Second World War and asks if a 'spirit of the Blitz' myth-mentality has helped or hindered the country's post-war development.

From Hitler's suicide to the Berlin blockade - Friedemann Bedurftig looks at the consequences of defeat, the process of denazification and reconstruction and the growing Cold War tensions between the former Allies in charge of the ruins of the Third Reich.

In the first of our contributions from the Russian magazine Rodina, Sergei Kudryashov charts the twists and turns of the Soviet leader's tricksy diplomacy with his Western comrades-in-arms and its impact on the war effort.

A fascinating speculation on what might have happened for the future of the world if Operation Barbarossa against the Soviet Union had been successful.

Michael Biddiss looks at how the victorious Allies dealt with the unprecedented prosecution of genocide and mass atrocities by the Nazi leadership and how fair the proceedings were to those in the dock.

Tony Aldous takes a look at the establishment of county teams, set up for the preservation of historical buildings around the country.

Michael Sturma identifies the portrayal of South pacific women.

Monarchs could do anything – or could they? Steven Ellis examines what happened when commands from the centre had to he executed in practice in the remoter parts of the kingdom.

Penelope Corfield looks at the controversy about religion and ancien régime in the Georgian state and comes to a pluralist conclusion.