History Today

Historians grapple with a difficult subject.

Without their Welsh connections, the Tudors could never have made good their rags-to-riches ascent to the English throne, argues Peter R. Roberts.

A round up of the latest texts on the complex subject of the Norman Conquest.

Competing interests as much as ideology fuelled the functioning of the Third Reich, augmented by forced labour and the plunder of Occupied Europe.

Mark Kishlansky discusses the change for historians with the ever increasing use of computers.

'Trappings of popery and rags of the beast'. Mince-pies, mummers, holly and church services all fell victim to a determined Puritan attempt to stamp out the celebration of Christmas under the Commonwealth.

Edward Royle looks at the most relevant titles on the 19th-century working-class political movement.

This winter I shall be rereading A la recherche du temps perdu. It is not, I concede, everyone's idea of evening relaxation by the fire-side. But those who have come to love this sinuous masterpiece will know well the kind of delights I anticipate.

Jeffrey Richards answers