History Today

St. Francis of Assisi showing his stigmata in an illustrated manuscript, c. 1490.

The Death of St Francis of Assisi

St Francis of Assisi died on 4 October 1226, leaving behind the question of how we venerate a saint who resisted veneration.

Chinese warlord Cao Cao – who wrote one of the earliest military commentaries to Sun Tzu’s Art of War – meeting with politician Hua Xin, Chinese, late 19th-early 20th century. Album/Alamy Stock Photo.

Sun Tzu and the Art of Becoming Famous

How did Sun Tzu and The Art of War become synonymous with strategy in the West?

Carving of medieval university students on the tomb of the scholar Giovanni da Legnano, Bologna, 14th century. Sailko (CC BY 2.5).

The Medieval University Experience

The experiences of medieval university students are familiar: they missed their mothers, asked for money and got into trouble.

Musicians the Flying Pickets join a picket line at Drax Power Station, North Yorkshire, in 1984. Virgil Lucky (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Backbone of the Nation by Robert Gildea review

Backbone of the Nation: Mining Communities and the Great Strike of 1984-85 by Robert Gildea is shaped more by heartbreak than heroism.

St. Vladimir of Kiev/Volodymyr of Kyiv on the Millennium of Russia monument in Veliky Novgorod, 2010. Дар Ветер (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Vladimir Putin the Historian

Moscow was once considered the third Rome, but in Vladimir Putin’s view it is more accurately the second Kyiv.

History Today September 2023 Crossword

Synthpop, satire and seasonal produce: challenge yourself with the History Today crossword for September 2023.

Will Putin Get His ‘Nuremberg Moment’?

As new crimes are committed, new laws must be written to punish them. When it comes to crimes committed by states like Putin’s Russia, who decides?

Angevin family tree showing Henry II and his children. From left: William, Henry, Richard, Matilda, Geoffrey, Eleanor, Joan and John. Niday Picture Library/Alamy Stock Photo.

How Henry II Survived the Great Rebellion

In 1173 the Angevin empire looked set to fall, facing rebellion on all sides. Against incredible odds Henry II won a decisive victory, silencing kings, lords – and his own children.

Jewish diamond merchants being searched at the Diamond Exchange, Amsterdam by order of the SS Devisenschutzkommando, 16 April 1942. Bart de Kok/Amsterdam City Archives OKBB00024000039.

Diamonds and the Holocaust

As Jewish lapidaries were held in Nazi concentration camps, diamond sales soared in the US. Both sides saw gemstones as integral to the war effort.

British rock group the Rolling Stones arrive in Norway, 1965.

A Northern Wind: Britain 1962-65 by David Kynaston review

A Northern Wind: Britain 1962-65 by David Kynaston is a hyperreal account of Britain on the cusp of modernity.