History Today

Stairwell entrance of Bethnal Green Underground station, by Colin Tait, 29 October 1953 © TfL from the London Transport Museum collection.

A Perfect Storm

The Bethnal Green tube station disaster, 80 years on.

Katherine of Aragon, by Lucas Horenbout, c.1525.

Historical Omertà

Menopause is an inescapable fact of life. Why is history silent on it?

the Wife of Bath, the Ellesmere Manuscript of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, c.1410.

Are you Experienced?

Not a queen or a saint, witch or idealised lady-love, the Wife of Bath is a much-married working woman and an enthusiastic traveller.

Edda Mussolini presenting a banner at the Banco Commerciale Italiana ground at Edgware, 17 June 1934. Alamy.

‘Edda Mussolini’ by Caroline Moorehead review

Edda Mussolini: The Most Dangerous Woman in Europe by Caroline Moorehead explores how Italy became enslaved by ‘a corrupt gang of warmongers’.

Lieutenant Robert R Rogers and Erich Pinkau from the German criminal police inspect the Konsum-Genossenschaftsbäckerei bakery in Nuremberg, 1946. Wiki Commons.

‘Nakam’ by Dina Porat review

Nakam: The Holocaust Survivors Who Sought Full-Scale Revenge by Dina Porat explores acts of vengeance in the aftermath of the Second World War.

Ghosts of Java

Indonesia’s bloody past has produced a country populated with ghosts. Now, they are sharing their stories on YouTube.

One of the alleged Sponsian coins featuring a bust of the emperor Sponsian, depicted wearing a radiate crown, c.260-70.

The ‘Lost’ Emperor?

Could a pair of ancient looking coins reveal the existence of a previously unknown Roman emperor?

illustration from Narrative of the Euphrates Expedition carried on by Order of the British Government during the years 1835, 1836, and 1837, by F.R. Chesney, 1868.

The Land Between Rivers

All 19th-century British visitors to Mesopotamia knew that it was the birthplace of civilisation. Could steam power revive ancient greatness while also keeping Russia at bay?

Wood Engraving 5 from the Compendium Maleficarum

Meet you There

Crossroads: meeting places or religious locations plagued by devils and demons?

Lieutenant-Colonel Charles M’Carthy, 1812.

Battle of Nsamankow

The British faced a 10,000-strong army on 21 January 1824.