History Today

Peasants and popes, free speech and fashion, sentimentality and special forces: the first 10 of 20 historians choose their favourite new history books of 2025.

In November 2025 we reach 25 years of continuous human presence in space. Did reaching orbit alter the trajectory of the planet below?

The climate crisis is a hot topic, but what does it mean to study the history of our relationship with the natural world?

Whether as ‘Gloriana’ or ‘Good Queen Bess’ Elizabeth I is one of England’s most iconic monarchs, but did her gender shape her reign?

Best of times or worst of times, how did the ‘greatest event that has happened in the history of man’ – as per Benjamin Disraeli – change the course of what followed?

‘Mary, Bessie, James you ken, then Charlie, Charlie, James again...’ Does the litany of kings and queens help or hinder an accurate understanding of Britain’s past?

When it comes to the end of the Roman Empire three things are certain: death, taxes, and Goths. Were reports of its demise exaggerated?

Over the 18th and 19th centuries Britain’s economy, technology, and society were transformed by the so-called Industrial Revolution. Why?

King Charles I’s execution in 1649 turned the world upside down – were other outcomes possible?

From a cult’s rogue personalities to its foundational ideologies, how have fringe beliefs guided the direction of the American dream?