Cultural

The Image of Man: Tradition and Change expressed in Indian Art

In this article Thomas Maxwell, one of the organisers of the exhibition and co-author of the catalogue, In the Image of Man: The Indian perception of the Universe through 2,000 years of painting and sculpture (An Arts Council publication in conjunction with Weidenfeld and Nicolson) explains the background to the exhibition.

The 'Life of Alexander' and West Africa

There is evidence, argues Adrian Tronson, to suggest that the 13th-century Mali empire, and its ruler Sundiata, were strongly influenced by the life of Alexander the Great, 356-323 BC, an influence that was to be capitalised on in the late 1950s.

Saints and Soul-Caking

Maggie Black takes a look at the seasonal celebration of All Saints and serves up a Hallowe'en recipe.

Women in India

A.A. Powell on a new exhibition and publication from the British Library.

Spas: Pleasure or Penance?

Taking the waters became a Victorian passion and spa towns flourished. In this article the first prize winner in History Today's Essay Competition Pamela Steen, a student at the Open University, describes the pleasure and the pains of this fashion.

Gilbert & Sullivan and the Victorian Age

Ian Bradley shows that the characters and plots of Gilbert and Sullivan's operas reveal much that is of interest to the historian about certain individuals and institutions of the Victorian era.

Psychohistory - An Australian Perspective

'Australia is a nation of immigrants' In the belief that manifestations of the unconscious can no longer be exempt from the attentions of the historian, John Rickard argues that psychohistory can illuminate this vital theme of Australian history.

Monument: A House in Aspic

Juliet Gardiner continues our Monument series, welcoming the opening of Linley Sambourne’s house in London as one of the few city house museums to show us the habitat of the urban dweller and to satisfy our curiosity about the surroundings of people’s lives in the past.