History Today

Luke Syson examines how artifice, art and political calculation combined to produce medal portraits by Sperandio of Mantua for two of Renaissance Italy's "warhorses", Giovanni Bentivoglio and Federico da Montelfeltro.

Nicholas Soteri reflects on the often-overlooked Jewish kingdom of Khazaria, and the vital role they played in balancing Christian and Muslim power in the early medieval period.

Johnathan Israel describes how the genius of the 17th-century Netherlands lay not just in painting but in a blazing a trail in civic pride and technological improvements for the rest of Europe.

Robert Stradling uncovers the tale of the Irishmen who went off to fight for the Nationalists in the Spanish Civil War and the reaction they provoked, then and now.

Lisa Jardine speaks at the Longman/ History Today awards on Erasmus.

Richard Vinen reveiws the early career of the former French President.

Historians of the world unite at conference

Louise Stevenson argues that girls growing up in mid-19th-century America were far more intellectually forceful and streetwise than often given credit for.

Archaeological wonders in the Mediterranean