Volume: 62 Issue: 2

The British Battalion of the International Brigades, formed to defend the Spanish Republic against the forces of General Franco, first went into battle at Jarama...

Robin Whitlock asks if studies of the decline of societies such as that of Easter Island can shed light on contemporary concerns.

Eva Anna Paula Braun was born in Munich on February 6th 1912.

As the debate continues on the causes of last summer’s English Riots, Michael Roberts examines previous attempts by reformers to address moral malaise and social...

For centuries King John has been regarded as the embodiment of an evil ruler. But, says Graham E. Seel, this image is largely the creation of monastic chroniclers...

As the debate rages about how history should be taught in state schools David Cannadine discusses his recent research project.

Contemporary culture places a high premium on novelty. Armand D’Angour argues that we should consider the more balanced views about old and new found in...

Britain’s recent disputes with the European Union are part of a
long historical narrative, argues James Ellison – but it is not the whole story.

John Herschel Glenn Jr was the first American to orbit the Earth on February 20th 1962.

Hugh Purcell tells how Kitty Bowler, a young American, captured the heart of Tom Wintringham, the 'English Captain' at Jarama.

A selection of readers' correspondence with the editor, Paul Lay.

When the world’s population reached seven billion it prompted a great deal of nonsense to be written about Thomas Malthus. Robert J. Mayhew sets the record...

Otto I was crowned Emperor of the Romans by Pope John XII on February 2nd 962.

Keith Lowe on the dilemmas faced by a victorious but financially ruined Britain in its dealings with postwar Germany.

The year 1812 was a turning point in the career of the industrialist Robert Owen. Ian Donnachie examines his Essays on a New View of Society, in which...

With Italy on the brink of financial collapse and in deep political crisis, the country’s 150th anniversary has been a dramatic one. It is especially timely, then...

Fundamentalism has become the face of Islam in the West. It was not always so and need not be in the future, says Tim Stanley.

Enter our crossword competition and win an audiobook of A Brief History of Mathematics, written and presented by Marcus du Sautoy.

Richard Almond has trawled medieval and Renaissance sources for insights about ladies’ riding habits in the Middle Ages and what they reveal about a woman’s place...

Roger Hudson explains the story behind a 19th-century photograph of George Washington's mausoleum.

Stephen Gundle reviews two books which explore Italian culture in the postwar decades.

An examination of the practices and cultural meanings attached to the night and darkness.

In the aftermath of American independence, Britain was forced to find another place for criminals who had previously been banished to the New World: the slave...

A 'charming book' which provides an insight into life in Early Modern England at a time of enormous stress.

A paean of praise for the 'backroom boys' of the Second World War. 

Roger Crowley's history of the rise of the empire acquired by Venice between 1000 and 1500 is a 'gripping tale of diplomatic cunning and military engagements...

A vision of the culture, politics and media of 1950s Rome through the lens of the greatest crime scandal of the day.

Congratulations to the winner of our caption competition in December, who gave a saucy subtext to this picture from the RAF's wartime photo interpretation unit....

Paul Lay speaks to David Waller, author of The Magnificent Mrs Tennant: The Adventurous Life of Gertrude Tennant, Victorian Grande Dame.

Tracy Borman's latest work is a biography of Matilda, wife of William the Conqueror and the first queen of England's Norman dynasty.

This large landscape shaped book draws on Philip Davies' bestselling Lost London, whilst also featuring previously unseen photographs.

Two books that underline the extent to which the Victorians clung on to the roots and language of religious faith after they had abandoned it

Intelligence is the hidden hand of history, as three new books demonstrate.

Two Tudor treats from the prolific writers A.N. Wilson and Alison Weir.

A new book by Ian Kershaw attempts to explain why, in 1945, Germany fought on to the bitter end.