History Today

The Birth of the Panama Canal, 1869—1914

Panama, and its American-controlled Canal Zone, have lately been the scene of a revolutionary flutter. W.H. Chaloner asks, what is the history of the building of the Canal, and of the United States connexion with it?

The Younger Pitt and the Ochakov Affair

In 1791, while the French Revolution was nearing its climax, the Tory Prime Minister was deeply concerned about Russian designs upon Poland and Turkey. The Younger Pitt's policy of calling a halt to Russian expansion, writes John Ehrman, led to vehement political schism in Britain.

Wellington in his Wartime Letters

“They are as good as I could write now,” said the Duke in 1834. “They show the same attention to details — to the pursuit of all the means, however small, that could promote success.”

The Territorial Army in Peace and War

Past services cannot determine future policy. But, writes Brian Bond, the record of the Territorial Army suggests that the force has always given returns out of all proportion to the small amount invested in it.

The Just War in Historical Perspective

From Roman times to the present age of American dominance, writes Brian Bond, philosophers, jurists and men of state have tried to answer the question: ‘When is war just?’

The British Soldier at Waterloo

Ill-fed, badly lodged, subject to ferocious discipline, once described by their leader as “fellows who have all enlisted for drink,” Wellington’s soldiers showed a solidity and courage in action that enabled him to “do the business”. By T.H. McGuffie.

The Dominican Republic

In the stormy history of the island of Hispaniola, where Columbus was buried, American intervention has followed upon Spanish, French and British. A survey of the scene since 1492.