CATEGORIES

HIDDEN HISTORIES

EMMA DABIRI explores lesser-known stories from our past

INTERVIEW: HELEN CARR & SUZANNAH LIPSCOMB

A new book edited by Helen Carr and Suzannah Lipscomb marks the 60th anniversary of EH Carr's What Is History? by asking that question a new for the 21st century

How George V won the war

The First World War ushered many European monarchies to extinction. But not in Britain. Heather Jones reveals how – through canny PR and genuine compassion for the troops – the royal family emerged from the conflict stronger than ever.

Golden girls

SIAN EVANS recommends an entertaining introduction to the adventures of independently wealthy women in Britain over the past four centuries

Marriage of misery

FERN RIDDELL recommends a vivid biography of a women’s rights campaigner who shook off the shackles of married life

Redrawing the battleground

MICHAEL WOOD gives his verdict on an ambitious book that attempts to finally provide a definitive location for one of the most famous battles in Anglo-Saxon history

Class dismissed

News that some UK universities are to cut their history degrees in favour of more “vocational” courses sparked a strong online reaction. ANNA WHITELOCK charted Twitter’s response

Mary Wortley Montagu The scourge of smallpox

That humanity won its battle with smallpox is in no small part down to the resilience of a woman who pioneered inoculation in 18th-century Britain, in the teeth of tremendous resistance. JO WILLETT reveals how Mary Wortley Montagu changed the course of medical history

Best and brightest?

PETER MANDLER considers a sweeping analysis of meritocracy’s role in shaping the western world and debates the effectiveness of attempts to usher in equality

Scheming and slaughter

NIGEL JONES appraises an extensive survey of assassinations throughout history, from the blood-soaked stabbings of ancient Rome to the drone strikes of modern warfare

Traditions constitute the invisible, under-the-surface flow of history

LIVING HISTORY IN THE AMERICAS

ROME GLORIED IN CLEOPATRA'S TALE OF DECADENCE, LUST AND DEATH

Joyce Tyldesley on an Egyptian queen’s ill-fated entanglements with three Roman generals

Flying the royal nest

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s departure from the royal family is the latest in a string of shock exits from the monarchy dating back centuries. TRACY BORMAN looks to the past to consider how one can leave “the Firm” successfully – and the difficulties of life as a royal exile

Rome's Reluctant Killer

Marcus Aurelius may not have sought war, but when it came he was more than ready. Shushma Malik reveals how a man of peace became one of Rome’s greatest warrior-emperors

Walking A Dangerous Road

The recent death of Sarah Everard sparked outrage, with protests breaking out across the United Kingdom. NELL DARBY argues that women’s safety in public spaces has never been assured, with the threat of violence stalking the streets from the Victorian era to the present day

Tulsa Race Massacre

A century ago, America’s simmering racial tensions boiled over on the streets of one Oklahoma city, leaving dozens dead and hundreds more injured. Scott Ellsworth explores what remains the worst single incident of racial violence in US history – the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre

Triumph and tragedy

GILES MILTON applauds a masterful new account of the Special Operations Executive and the female agents who put their lives on the line to sabotage the Nazi war machine

Empire of chains

CLARE ANDERSON embarks on a lively journey through a series of convict tales that shed new light on centuries of penal transportation across the British empire

Georg Elser Hitler's Would-Be Killer

In the latest instalment of our occasional series profiling remarkable yet unheralded characters from history, Roger Moorhouse introduces a little-known carpenter-turned-assassin whose daring attempt to kill Hitler almost succeeded

Our Dangerous Devotion To The Second World War

The west’s enduring obsession with the battle against Nazism is hampering its efforts to meet the challenges of the modern world

A Taste For Strange Meats And Husbands' Buttocks

From chewing coal to salivating over starch and shells, pregnant women in early modern England were consumed by a number of outlandish cravings. Jennifer Evans explores how doctors made sense of these bizarre – and sometimes dangerous – desires

Wonder of its age

Nestled in the Northumbrian hills, Cragside looms large through the trees. JULIAN HUMPHRYS explores the extraordinary Victorian mansion and gardens which were masterminded by an equally extraordinary engineer

RICHARD THE RADICAL

For centuries Richard III has been cast as a diabolical despot who would stop at nothing in pursuit of power. But, argues Matt Lewis, in reality, Richard was a champion of the common man – and it was this that ultimately led to his downfall

Life After Death

Laurence Rees recommends a moving and often surprising examination of the difficulties faced by children rebuilding their lives after surviving the Holocaust

Spanish Civil War - Fighters Against Fascism

Alejandro Quiroga recommends a book that tells the stories of international soldiers who signed up to fight in the Spanish Civil War, and questions what motivated them

We Should Keep Rewriting History: Our ‘Island Story' Is Not Set In Stone

I had made up my mind not to talk about the ‘Life in the UK’ British history test. Earlier this summer, 181 historians and authors had their say about its factual inaccuracies; about the lack of social history; the omission of black history; the downplaying of Britain’s role in the slave trade. But this, in a real sense, represents the ‘official’ narrative of our history. When the prime minister said, in response to the fall of Edward Colston’s statue in Bristol, “we cannot pretend to have a different history”, we have to assume that this is what he means.

How Covid-19 Is Forcing Universities To Change

Covid-19 has compelled history departments in UK universities to radically alter their teaching methods. Richard Toye explores the challenges that online teaching poses and how they can be overcome

“So many people knew their parents had gone through the Holocaust and grew up with this shadow of trauma”

Barrister and TV presenter ROBERT RINDER tells us about his two-part documentary dealing with the legacy of the Holocaust and its impact on his family – and why it’s vital to talk about the trauma

ROMAN - Murder most foul

MICHAEL SCOTT considers a grisly new title that contains a blood-soaked collection of Roman murder tales

Paraguay's child-soldiers fought with wooden sticks, painted as muskets

Outside of South America – where it remains an open wound – the War of the Triple Alliance is largely forgotten. It lasted from 1864 to 1870 and pitted