History Today

Jan Hus - Heretic or Patriot?

'Truth will conquer' - the Czech historian Frantisek Smahel traces the life and work of his 15th-century compatriot Jan Hus - whose uncompromising criticism of medieval Catholicism stirred national pride and acted as a forerunner of the Reformation.

The Search for Uncle Sam

New Hampshire meat-packer to national symbol - Alton Ketchum recounts the rise and rise of Uncle Sam Wilson.

King John's Maundy

England's royal black sheep may well turn out to be the instigator of the ancient ceremony linking Church and Crown. Arnold Kellett explains how this came about.