History Today

Celebrating the library and the University of Oxford’s greatest benefactor.

Was Bruce as patriotic or as harmonious in his relationship with Wallace as the view of historical romance has handed down? Andrew Fisher investigates the meaning of patriotism in 14th-century Scotland and suggests the tradition needs revising.

Anne Crawford describes Britain’s national archive of official documents, and the ways in which it is developing to meet the changing needs of its users.

Philip Ziegler tells how a chance invitation to a Loire château set him en route to becoming a historical biographer.

Craig Spence uncovers records of black and Asian sailors in the pictorial archives of the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich.

Angela Brabin uncovers the gruesome tale of serial murder committed by a group of women in the poorest districts of 19th-century Liverpool.

Daniel Snowman meets the historian of ‘Martin Guerre’.

The last Plantagenet king was born on 2 October 1452.

Mark Weisenmiller explains how, forty years ago, the ‘Sunshine State’ played a pivotal role in the Cuban Missile Crisis.

In-house historical adviser Katherine Prior introduces this new museum which opens at the end of September.