History Today

Witch Beliefs and Witch-hunting in England and Scotland

Comparisons between the English and Scottish witch-hunts have been drawn from as early as 1591. Using recent research on the subject from both sides of the border, Christina Larner offers a timely reassessment of their differences.

Makers of the Twentieth Century: Nasser

Robert Stephens looks at how Nasser left his mark on nearly twenty years of Egyptian, Arab and world history. An anti-colonialist who extended his concern to the newly liberated countries of the Third World, he has been acclaimed as a nationalist liberator - and condemned as a warmonger.

General Santos Costa and Portugal’s Dictatorship

The career of Colonel Fernando Santos Costa explodes the myth of Salazar's Portugal as a politically stable country with 'no history'. In charge of Portugal's army for twenty-two years, Santos Costa played a powerful and often unscrupulous role within this dictatorship.

Tsar Alexis Goes to War

The invasion of Poland by Tsar Alexis of Russia in May, 1654, marked the emergence of his country as a major European power. As Philip Longworth argues here, it was also to inaugurate, albeit indirectly, a decisive stage in the Westernisation of Russia.

Man's Use of Energy

Thurstan Shaw presents a special feature on human attempts to manipulate and control natural resources