History Today

High Society Humour

Cartoon historian Mark Bryant explores the art of Carlo Pellegrini,  aka ‘Ape’, whose cartoons of politicians and society figures for Vanity Fair help define the way we imagine Victorian Britain.

The Black Hole of Calcutta

Richard Cavendish describes how British prisoners were held captive by the army of the Nawab of Bengal, for one night, in the 'black hole' of Fort William in Calcutta.

The Floating World at War

Cartoon historian Mark Bryant explores the visual satire emanating from both sides of the conflict between Russia and Japan in the first decade of the 20th century.

Mr Guy’s Hospital and the Caribbean

Jane Bowden-Dan explores medical links between the Caribbean and London that throw important light on the position of blacks in eighteenth-century British society.

Paradise After Hell

Rhiannon Looseley uncovers the forgotten history of the evacuation of over 100,000 French soldiers from Dunkirk to Britain in May 1940, and describes what happened to them on their brief sojourn across the Channel and return to France soon after.