History Today

David Starkey looks at what impresses the contemporary visitor to Henry VIII's palaces

Rebel without a cause? Paul Cartledge probes whether the chequered career of one of fifth-century Athens' most famous sons reveals more about conflicting codes of loyalty than just the machinations of a turncoat.

Conrad Russell examines the evil reputation attached to the poll tax.

Personal persuasion and the hope of maintaining a Scottish identity encouraged emigrants to a better life in 1870s Canada - but their experiences on arrival were far from Utopian.

Questions are raised about the death of men in John Franklin’s 1845 Arctic expedition.

Annette Bingham reports on an environmental project in Sri Lanka.

'Revisionism' has now become a historian's catch-phrase. Long-cherished interpretations of upheavals in British and European history have been re-examined. In this light, Glyn Redworth examines revisionist interpretations of the English Reformation.

Elders and betters? Attitudes towards old age in the society of classical Greece were enormously varied and often far from respectful.

Keith Nurse raises questions about the state of Britain’s hospital buildings.

Shelia Fletcher questions the relationship between women and the church from the early nineteenth century.