History Today

Greek Myths

Two heroes of the 1821 Greek Revolution found themselves cast out of the national pantheon because of their gender. In the centuries that followed, their legends would be used to justify a range of nationalist causes.

The New Tourists

The visitors’ books of 19th-century hotels, pubs and inns show Victorians on holiday, revealing them to be irreverent pleasure seekers, capable of highfalutin pomposity and touristic wrath.

Rebels in Rubber Soles

The denizens of an Asian underground who waged a clandestine struggle against European colonial powers.

Dolphins of the Belfiore

Does the intelligent sea mammal, long associated with Venus, the goddess of love, offer a clue to a lost jewel of the Renaissance? 

War is Hell

A visceral history of of American soldiers in Belgium, France and Italy, 1943-45.

Non-essential Freedoms

The mild anarchy of piles of second-hand books reminds us of the simple, contingent encounters we have all missed during lockdown. 

Just a Book?

The story of Thomas Jefferson’s bible, his own version of the Gospels.