From the Editor

If Covid-19 has taught us anything it is that the West – and that includes its historians – must expand its horizons. 

In the 70 years since History Today was launched, the way we engage with the past has changed, often for the better. But challenges remain. 

A walk through the City of London provides chance encounters with its deep history.

The Roman poet Ovid remains our contemporary despite a gap of two millennia.

The West Indies’ past is a key to our present.

Lockdown has reacquainted us with boredom.

The opening of hairdressers and pubs has a strange historical resonance.

The English came late to gardening, but they have more than made up for it.

Covid-19 has rekindled ancient tensions between city and country.

Fundamental things apply in a time of crisis.