History Today

Carthage: The God in the Stone

‘Carthage must be destroyed’ - words from Cato the Elder to seal the Punic city’s fate in its epic struggle with Ancient Rome. But what was its religion and society like?

Alchemy: New Light on a Dark Art

Fools' gold, Dr Faustus - traditional images of a Renaissance black art. But was there more to it than that? Zbigniew Szydlo and Richard Brzezinski offer an intriguing rehabilitation.

Triumph of the Will

Brian Winston casts a critical eye over Leni Riefenstahl's cinematic paean to Nazi aesthetics.

Birthday Mechanics

Michael Leech celebrates the 150th anniversary of the foundation of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers.

The Capitol, Seoul

Ronan Thomas takes a look at the cultures of Korea after becoming independent from Japan in 1945.