History Today

The coronation of Henry VI in Paris, from the Anciennes chroniques d’Angleterre, 15th century.

Minor Monarchs

A child’s rule did not inevitably lead to instability.

Benito Mussolini, during the march on Rome, with some of the quadruplets: from left Emilio De Bono, Italo Balbo and Cesare Maria De Vecchi.

Shut Up and Eat!

Does silence endure in Italy over Mussolini’s murderous regime?

Liar Liar

The courtroom drama, executions, and street pageantry of the so-called ‘Popish Plot’.

Yonker Ramp and His Sweetheart, by Frans Hals, 1623

No Laughing Matter

Aristotle’s lost treatise on laughter is a serious business. Could laughter lead to the downfall of society?

Muhammad is visited by the Archangel Gabriel at Al-Masjid an-Nabawi, the Prophet’s Mosque, Medina. Turkish, 18th century

Words and Deeds

Controversy surrounding the ‘Satanic Verses’ is centuries old.

Demanding Surrender

The exchange of wanted persons between the UK and the US is a contentious issue and has been for more than 200 years.

Milk is watered down and sand is added to sugar, detail from an engraving of ‘London improvements’, 1845. Mary Evans Picture Library.

Filthy Food

Efforts by the German scientist Friedrich Accum brought about widespread awareness of the dangers of food adulteration, paving the way for legislation that protects what we eat today.

No More Windfalls

Uprisings, strikes, protests and massacres in South Africa, from the Boer War to the present day.

The BOCHK Bank of China Building under construction viewed from the Peak

‘Contradiction on Stilts’

A uniquely personal take on the transfer of power in Hong Kong.

‘B’ Flight of No. 30 Squadron RAF over Iraq, 1924. San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive. Public Domain.

Creating Iraq’s Military State

Foreign armies acted with impunity in Iraq from the first decade of independence. In response, the Iraqi military became a tool of internal repression.