History Today

‘Here, a house is burned’, Bayeux Tapestry, 11th century.

The Lost Generations

Age matters; events are experienced differently by young and old, but how do we find those differences in history?

Josephine Baker performing in Paris, 1927. Narodowe Archiwum Cyfrowe. Public Domain.

Josephine Baker: France’s Acceptable Black Hero

Rightly revered in her adopted France, did Josephine Baker’s fame help launder a poisonous colonial legacy?

The Ramayana is one of the two great ancient Sanskrit epics from India (the other being the Mahabharata) and is one of Hinduism’s foundational texts. Thought, in its earliest sections, to date from between the seventh and fourth centuries bc, it forms part of the cultural consciousness across the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. The Ramayana covers the journey of prince Rama and his wife Sita, and is full of poignant stories and captivating characters through which the importance of virtue and duty e

The Nandi Bull

Two Hindu gods discover an abandoned child while following the wind’s path.

Christine de Pizan in her study. French, 15th century © British Library Board/Bridgeman Images

In Defence of her Sex

Travelling through time with Christine de Pizan.

Libraries for All

Early modern parish libraries, frequently established for the benefit of the general public, were often deliberately inaccessible.

Woman holding cacao (and decorated with cacao beans), Maya, AD 250-450 © Bridgeman Images.

The Theology of Chocolate

The introduction of chocolate to the Catholic world caused a dilemma: could it be eaten? Should it be given up for Lent?

Cartoon by Angus Reach, 1845 © Lordprice Collection/Alamy.

The Battle of the Gauges

The railway revolutionised Victorian Britain, but were its trains on the right track? It was difficult to gauge.

Lord Byron in repose after having swum the Hellespont, by William Allan, 1831.

Modern Times

How did those living in an age of enlightenment see themselves?

Boys playing on an abandoned car, Newport, 1974. Robin Weaver/Alamy.

Welsh Enough

A blend of fatalism and hope in 20th century Wales.

’Truman and his Military Advisors‘, by August Vincent Tack, c. 1949. National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution; gift of the Phillips Collection. Public Domain.

Was the Cold War the Biggest Change in Russia’s Relationship with the West?

Announced on 12 March 1947 with the intention of containing Soviet expansion, the Truman Doctrine is sometimes seen as the first declaration of the Cold War. Four experts ask whether the conflict’s legacy is a defining one.