History Today

A Charles I shilling, minted in 1644-45, showing signs of clipping as part of the Yellow Trade. The Portable Antiquities Scheme/ The Trustees of the British Museum (CC BY-SA 4.0).

The Yellow Trade in Counterfeit Coins

How Yorkshire’s Yellow Trade of coin clippers and counterfeiters changed Britain’s economy in the 18th century.

The eruption of Vesuvius depicted in Giovanni Pacini’s opera, L’ultimo giorno di Pompei, 1827. The Getty Research Institute, via Wikipedia.

Volcanoes on Tour: Recreating Vesuvius

In the age of enlightenment, the public developed a taste for sheer spectacle. Suitably awe-inspiring, dazzling versions of the world’s most famous volcano, Vesuvius, could soon be found across Europe and North America.

Czech sokol participants at a slet at Strahov Stadium, Prague, 1948. CTK/Alamy Stock Photo.

Sokol: An Exercise in Czech Nation-Building

In the late 19th century a new trend captured the Czech people –gymnastics. But sokol was more than just exercise: a healthy body was a healthy nation and the Czechs wanted independence.

Books of the Year 2023

Revolutions and rubles, godlings and fascist symbols, Shakespeare and silk: ten historians choose their favourite new history books of 2023.

First World War munitions workers amid rows of artillery shells at the National Filling Factory in Chilwell, Nottinghamshire, 1917. CBW/Alamy Stock Photo.

First World War: The Fight on the Home Front

Soldiers on the front line in France and Flanders saw their fight as the only legitimate one. But in Britain, the mobilisation of the domestic workforce was integral to winning the First World War.

Angels are cast into the mouth of Hell, 20th-century illustration of the Cædmon Manuscript, 10th century. Lebrecht Authors/Bridgeman Images.

Archbishop Wulfstan: England’s Forgotten Lawmaker

As Anglo-Saxon England faced conquests and apocalypse, Archbishop Wulfstan saw hope for the kingdom in a radical restructuring of society.

The ‘Boston Tea Party’, 16 December 1773, 18th-century woodcut. incamerastock/Alamy Stock Photo.

The 50 Years that Made America

Fifty years separate the Boston Tea Party and the Monroe Doctrine. How did a group of British colonies become a self-proclaimed protector of continents within half a century?

A statue of Zumbi dos Palmares, in Alagoas, Brazil. Photograph by Gorivero (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Zambi of Palmares is Beheaded

On 20 November 1695, Zambi of Palmares – ruler of an ‘invincible’ community of former slaves in the Brazilian jungle – was killed by the Portuguese.

Bronze juror’s identification ticket, Greek, fourth century BC. Rogers Fund, 1907, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

Power and Populism in Ancient Greek Courts

In ancient Greece the ‘least dangerous’ branch of government – the courts – wielded serious political power.

Impact: Saint Edmund of Abingdon bringing about the reconciliation of Gilbert Marshal and Henry III, from Matthew Paris’ Historia Anglorum, 1250s. © British Library Board/Bridgeman Images.

Edmund of Abingdon’s Dream Job

How a vision led Edmund of Abingdon to elevate the role of Medieval teacher to saintly levels.