History Today - Issues 2021

[English page]

Volume 71 Issue 1 January 2021

Execution of the Tailor-King

The bodies of Jan Bockelson, and two other leaders of the Anabaptist sect, were hung outside the church of St Lambert on 22 January 1536.

Rules of Engagement

A study of war through the ages.

Laocoön

A warning is ignored and a city falls in El Greco’s lurid depiction.

Backing Tyranny

The consequences of the German aristocracy’s Faustian pact.

Belarus Remembers

Belarusian memory of the Second World War once helped legitimise the Lukashenka regime. Now it is undermining it. 

Harold Moody’s Fight for Racial Equality

The pioneer of the British civil rights movement is no less significant than his American counterparts. 

Was German Unification Inevitable?

In January 1871 Bismarck declared the German nation united. Following a tragic 20th century, Germany reunified once more in 1990. Four historians offer their perspectives on both events.

How did the Elephant get its Trunk?

It took millennia to find out. 

Continental Drift

Two continents and two millennia of extraordinary African Europeans.

The Central Problem

Surveying the world of Late Antiquity from its Persian centre.

Volume 71 Issue 2 February 2021

The Edict of Thessalonica

On 27 February 380, divine punishment and imperial retribution were threatened for those who rejected the Nicene creed.

Publication of the Futurist Manifesto

Futurism was launched like a political movement on the front page of Le Figaro on 20 February 1909.

On the Defensive

From the founding of Kiev in the ninth century through to the present, the Russian Empire has been both a predator and a victim. 

The Politics of Pancakes

In England, Shrove Tuesday has not just symbolised feasting, fasting and family, but riot and rebellion, too. 

Dead Ends

Travelling into the past of London’s great train stations. 

The Romantic Reputation of John Keats

On his death two centuries ago, Keats and his work looked sure to be forgotten. Why is he now so well loved?

Tutankhamun’s Ostriches

Ungainly but fleet of foot, the flightless bird offers insights into the life of a legendary pharaoh.

On the Spot: Priya Satia

‘Struggles matter in and of themselves.’

The Story of Peru’s Cloud Warriors

What can be known about Peru’s pre-Incan civilisation? 

Venus and Mars

Love conquers all in Botticelli’s sensuous mythological masterpiece. 

Volume 71 Issue 3 March 2021

Dedicated Followers

A thoughtful long view of men’s participation in, and consumption of, fashionable dress.

Fall of Africa’s Greatest Empire

The Battle of Tondibi, which resulted in the defeat of the Songhay army, took place on 13 March 1591.

On the Spot: Katja Hoyer

 ‘Human nature always remains the same.’

The Shocking Truth

The fluid and unfixed Byzantine Empire.

What has been the Impact of the Creation of Bangladesh?

Beginning in March 1971, the Bangladesh War of Independence led to East Pakistan becoming a new nation state. On the 50th anniversary of its outbreak, four experts assess the war’s legacy. 

Roosevelt’s Southern Connection

Was the US president ‘dealing with the devil’ in his relationships with segregationist politicians or was his ‘the art of the possible’?

An Odious Story

A narrative history from the peak of Hitler’s powers up to his demise.

Our Before and After

The pandemic has created a dividing line for our time, like many others in the past.

Beowulf the Bro

A new translation finds Beowulf comfortably at home in the 21st century.

My Back Pages

Those who kept a diary in 2020 have provided a service to posterity.