History Today

‘Pour le suprême effort’: The German eagle is throttled by a French soldier, by Marcel Falter, 1918. Prints, Drawings and Watercolors from the Anne S.K. Brown Military Collection. Brown Digital Repository. Brown University Library. Public Domain.

1918: Year of Victory and Defeat

When the Great War broke out in 1914, the German imperial army was regarded as the finest fighting force on earth. Just four years later, it was crushed by Britain and its allies.

Alexander Morison by Richard Dadd, 1852.

Finding Keepers: Mental Illness in the 19th century

Caring for the mentally ill in Victorian Britain was hard, unrewarding and dangerously unregulated. Alexander Morison tried to improve things for both the unwell and their carers.

The death of the bronze automata Talos depicted on a Volute krater, c. 400 BC. ArchaiOptix (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Tyrants and Robots in Ancient Greece

Autocrats have deployed automatons as weapons since antiquity, not just in Ancient Greek myth but in reality.

Two wounded British soldiers, a sailor, and an American Red Cross volunteer celebrate the Armistice in Paris, 11 November 1918. Library of Congress.

The End of the First World War

Having survived the rigours of the First World War, soldiers faced the return to civilian life. For some, it presented an even greater challenge.

Winfarthing pendant, early seventh century, found in a woman's grave in Norfolk, 2015.

Wynflæd’s Will

Often lost behind stories of kings, queens, bishops and saints, what was life like for an Anglo-Saxon woman below the upper ranks of society?

Vladimir Lenin directing the October Revolution, from Plakat, 1926. New York Public Library. Public Domain.

Lenin: The Machiavellian Marxist

Vladimir Lenin, the leader of the Bolshevik Revolution, was an armed prophet who adopted the characteristics of Machiavelli’s lion and fox.

On The Spot: Emily Jones

‘Ideas don’t do things; people do.’

‘Gypsies: An English History’ by David Cressy review

Gypsies: An English History by David Cressy is a sympathetic narrative of a people integral to the national story.

Richard Cromwell, by Philibert Bouttats, c.late 17th century. Rijksmuseum. Public Domain.

The End of Cromwell’s English Republic

The English republic was brought down in 1660 by the same forces that brought it to power.

Opium poppy, white flowers and seed capsule, about 1853, after Miss M.A. Burnett.

A History of Opium

Opium has been known and used for more than 7,000 years. A brilliantly researched and wide-ranging study brings its history up to date.