Today’s featured articles
Bern after reading: Switzerland was a hub for communist China’s spy networks in the Cold War.
In exile, Hortense Mancini captivated 17th-century Europe – and king Charles II – with her beauty and charm. But her path to freedom was mired in scandal.
![Prizes from the 1567 English state lottery, from Humfrey Dyson’s A booke [of] proclamations , 1618. Folger Shakespeare Library. Public Domain.](/sites/default/files/styles/featured/public/2025-01/elizabeth_i_english_national_lottery_history_today_1.png?itok=vMGcayOi)
In 1567, permission for the holding of ‘a very rich Lottery General’ in England was granted by an increasingly cash-strapped Elizabeth I.
Most recent
The Problem with Britain’s Pensions
How to finance old age has been a problem since the inception of Britain’s welfare state. Why is pension reform so difficult?
Hortense Mancini’s English Affairs
In exile, Hortense Mancini captivated 17th-century Europe – and king Charles II – with her beauty and charm. But her path to freedom was mired in scandal.
‘Turncoat’ by Dennis Sewell review
In Turncoat: Roundhead to Royalist, the Double Life of Cromwell’s Spy, Dennis Sewell asks whether George Downing was the ‘biggest scoundrel in Stuart England’?
Tibet: History Across the Himalayas
How can historians of Tibet – a region whose history is tightly controlled by the Chinese authorities – gain access to its recent past? Comparing newspapers from either side of the Himalayas might offer a way in.
On the Spot: Justine Firnhaber-Baker
‘What is the most common misconception about my field? That medieval people were dumber than modern ones.’
Drinking to Australian Democracy
The colony of New South Wales did not have its own parliament until 1856, but it did have a tradition of public dinners and politically charged toasts.
‘The Maginot Line’ by Kevin Passmore review
The Maginot Line: A New History by Kevin Passmore confronts the myths surrounding the fall of France in 1940.
The Excommunication of Henry VIII
Henry VIII’s break with Rome was a watershed moment for England and for Christendom. Did the papacy have itself to blame?
Current issue
- Image
In the December issue:
Rome’s clash with Henry VIII, the secret history of Tibet, Russia’s Decembrist Revolt, the affairs of Hortense Mancini, drinking politics in colonial Australia, and more.
Plus: reviews, opinion, crossword and much more!
You can buy this issue from our website, from newsstands across the UK, or read it as a digital edition via the History Today App.