History Today

In the autumn of 1936, on Communist inspiration, a shock force was internationally recruited to assist the Republican Army in the Spanish Civil War. Where did the Brigades come from and why? By Hugh Thomas.

At the crisis of the battle Napoleon withheld the Imperial Guard, writes Michael Barthorp, only to commit it piecemeal at a later stage to its first and last defeat.

Andrew Johnson’s impeachers failed by one vote to win the two-thirds majority needed in the Senate.

Henry I. Kurtz describes how the generous policies of Lincoln’s successor towards the former Confederates led to impeachment proceedings against him in 1868.

Béla Menczer describes how the last Austrian Emperor strove to regain one of his family’s Kingdoms.

Territorial concessions in Anatolia were promised to the Greeks during the First World War but, writes Cyril Falls, hope of fulfilment was defeated by the resurgent republicans of Turkey.

Michael Langley describes how missionary endeavour, the ambition of Cecil Rhodes and the technology of mining engineers combined to create the background of modern Zambia.

Before the extension of the railways, writes Louis C. Kleber, long cattle-drives were the way of life west of the Mississippi.

In 1914 the British Expeditionary Force entered the field under the command of Sir John French; Alan Clark describes how, after a year of frustration and defeat, French's leadership was strongly criticized, none of his critics being more effective than his onetime friend Sir Douglas Haig.

The history of insurance reflects the rapid development of commercial and industrial Britain. Nicholas Lane describes how its pioneers broke down the monopolies that had existed since the days of the South Sea Bubble.