History Today

Kaiser Wilhelm II and the Cartoonists

Professor W. A. Coupe suggests, on the basis of the popular cartoon of the period, that the Emperor's person was the object of sustained criticism which seemed to augur well for the future political development of Germany.

John Quincy Adams

Adams was a remarkable man and the most able member of America's most celebrated political dynasty. He was a polymath, second only to Jefferson as the most intellectually gifted American President. As Maldwyn A. Jones explains, his presidency was to prove short and frustrating; his contribution to American political life, outstanding.

Makers of the Twentieth Century: Ho Chi Minh

'Ho, Ho, Ho Chi Minh' was the chant of radicals in the 1960s and 1970s, idolising the Communist leader who led Vietnam's Revolutionary struggle first against French colonialism and then against the United States' involvement in Vietnam. 

The British Under Roman Rule: A Study in Colonialism

The Roman invasion of Britain divided its constituent kingdoms and tribes. Some supported the Romans, others fiercely opposed their occupation and suffered dreadfully as a consequence. In the face of continuing resentment at their occupation the Romans, argues Graham Webster, changed from a policy of repression, and began to pay careful attention to the feelings and aspirations of their British subjects.

Christopher Saxton and the Mapping of Britain

The history of the making of maps should be a source for historians at at least three levels; the geographical, the technical and the political. An exhibition has recently opened at the British Library commemorating the work of Christopher Saxton, 'the father of English cartography' and a short book, Christopher Saxton and Tudor Mapmaking by Sarah

The Begums of Bhopal

Princess Abida Sultaan, granddaughter of the last woman ruler of Bhopal, Begum Sultan Jahan, examines the rule of the Begum dynasty.

The European Summer Palaces of China

The beautiful summer palaces of Yuan Ming Yuan outside Peking, designed by Europeans for the Emperor of China in the middle of the eighteenth century, have now been recognised as a curiosity of their country's heritage.