History Today

Enlightened despots or imperial new clothes? Nicholas Henshall takes a fresh look at the realities of power in the bureaucracies and rulers of ancien regime Europe.

Richard Cavendish takes the tartan with the Scottish History Society

Sarah Jane Evans discusses historical venues and their catering habits.

An end to the old order - Clive Lee looks at the pressures and changes that marked out the 1890s as a frontier post in a settled world economy.

David Mayall chronicles the uneasy relations between gypsies and the British establishment.

Ann Hills evaluates the recently-opened island museum.

'Tis to be feared this threatening storm will not be allayed without some showers... of blood' – Chris Durston chronicles the rumours and fears of an England on the brink of fratricidal conflict.

Anne Laurence considers how the conflict between King and Parliament altered the occupations and preoccupations of England's women.

From isolation to Great Power status: Richard Perren explains how a mania for Westernisation led to Japan's transformation at the turn of the century.

Ronald Quinault wonders what Churchill would have made of Maastricht in the light of his post-war activities.