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History Today
History Today is a monthly magazine published by History Today, Ltd. Founded in 1951, it is owned by Andy Patterson and has a circulation of roughly 30,000 subscribers. Headquarters are based in London, England.The magazine, which is geared towards teachers, students, and those with an interest in history, publishes essays written by some leading history scholars covering myriad periods, regions, topics, and themes in history. It is available in print and online.The print version was founded by Brendan Backen, who worked as the Minister of Information during World War II. He was also the publisher of the Financial Times. Currently, both print and online versions are published under the vision and guide of editor-in-chief, Paul Lay.History Today offers readers articles ranging from atomic medicine to the rise and fall of empires. Each essay comes with illustrations selected by picture editor Sheila Corr. The web edition includes a news digest from web editor, Kathryn Hadley.Subscribers can buy an annual subscription for either the web or print version. Web subscribers can also purchase access to articles from the publication's archives dating back to 1980. The magazine also has a sister publication, History Review, which is aimed at students and is published three times each year.
Articles from Vol. 60, No. 9, September
A Reputation Restored: Nigel Jones Celebrates a Great Humanitarian Who Navigated the Perilous Paths between Good and Evil, a Mission That Was to Cost Him His Life
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On September 17th, 1948 Count Folke Bernadotte, the first of many United Nations mediators assigned the thankless task of attempting to find a peaceful solution to the seemingly intractable problem of hostility in the Middle East, was assassinated...
A South African Election: September 15th, 1910
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The second Boer War ended in a British victory in 1902. Defeat reinforced Afrikaner (Boer) nationalism and the bitter resentments the war left behind were still festering when the new Union of South Africa came formally into existence on May 31st,...
Beyond Belief: As the Daily Life of Berlin's Jews Became Ever More Difficult under the Nazi Regime, Rumour and Hearsay Grew about the Fate of Those 'Evacuated' to the East. How Much, Asks Roger Moorhouse, Did Ordinary Berliners Know about the Fate of Their Neighbours and Was the Holocaust Literally Unimaginable to the German Capital's Ordinary Citizens, Gentile or Jew?
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[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] On the first day of October 1941 Berlin's Jewish community was preparing to celebrate Yom Kippur, the holiest festival in the Judaic calendar. At the heart of the celebrations was the German capital's one remaining undamaged...
Birth of Mrs Gaskell: September 29th, 1810
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A blue plaque at 93 Cheyne Walk in Chelsea, which in 1810 was still a village on London's outskirts, marks the birthplace of a writer whose work is admired not only for its literary qualities, but as social history. Elizabeth Cleghorn Stevenson was...
Book History
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Against all odds, sales of books soared in the first decade of the Internet. Although high street bookshops, both chains and independents, are now struggling (partly because a new generation of digital equipment and digital users has arrived), in the...
Charlemagne the Pragmatist: Hywel Williams Revisits an Article by Peter Munz, First Published in History Today in 1959, and Asks Who Needed Whose Approval Most, the Great Ruler of the Franks or Pope Leo III?
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By the late 1950s western Europe's political elites were claiming to be the heirs to Charlemagne (d.814); all the signatories to the original Treaty of Rome (1957) represented countries whose lands had formed part of the Carolingian empire. These were...
Dr Trelawney's Cabinet of Historical Curiosities: This Month's Subject: The Seaside
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Saucy postcard cartoonist Donald Fraser McGill (1875-1962) found his greatest success with a card of a praying girl saying 'Excuse me Lord while I kick Fido!' It sold six million copies. McGill was paid six shillings for the work. Scottish mathematician...
Facing the Facts: Few Events in History Have Proved as Momentous as Galileo's Discovery of the Moons of Jupiter. David Wootton Explains Why
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Four hundred years ago this summer Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) was in a state of anxiety. In January he had discovered four moons orbiting Jupiter. In March he had published this and other remarkable discoveries made with his improved telescope in...
Film Review: The Wildest Dream: Conquest of Everest
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Film Review: The Wildest Dream Conquest of Everest Directed by Anthony Geffen and narrated by Liam Neeson with Ralph Fiennes, Natasha Richardson, Hugh Dancy, Alan Rickman ON GENERAL RELEASE FROM SEPTEMBER [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] George...
From the Editor
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In July the Historical Association organised a debate at the Institute of Education (IOE) in London entitled 'History in Schools: What is the Future?' Before a packed audience of schoolteachers and other interested parties, a distinguished panel of...
Lessons from Auschwitz: Kathryn Hadley Joins a Group of Schoolteachers and Police Officers in an Innovative Project That Seeks Ways to Better Understand the Holocaust
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To stand inside wooden barracks designed for 52 horses, but used to house over 400 female prisoners, is to be overwhelmed by the horror of Auschwitz. No amount of preliminary research or listening to Holocaust survivor testimonies can prepare one for...
Only Connect: Nick Poyntz Looks at the Opportunities Offered to Historians by Text Mining, the Use of Computer Programmes to Examine Concordances and Divergences within and between Documents and Texts
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Text mining is the process of deriving previously unknown information, patterns or trends from large amounts of text. At its simplest, it can involve counting how many times a particular word or phrase occurs, or listing the differences between two...
Rascoala the Last Peasants' Revolt: In Early 1907 the Peasants of Romania Rose Up against Feudal Laws, Wealthy Landowners and the Agents Who Kept Them Living in Penury and Servitude. Markus Bauer Discusses the Legacy of an 'Unbelievable Bloodbath'
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On February 21st, 1907 around 200 peasants gathered in front of the town hall in Flaminzi in the district of Botosani, northeastern Romania. The farming season had begun and they were due to start cultivation. They had come to negotiate their leasing...
Ship of State: The Fortunes of Oliver Cromwell and Charless II and the Regard in Which Their Successive Regimes Came to Be Held Were Mirrored in the Fate of One of Their Mightiest Naval Vessels
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In the middle of May 1660, as the Restoration of Charles II became inevitable, hasty changes were made to the British fleet lying off the coast of the Low Countries. Samuel Pepys, who witnessed it, described a frenzy of activity, as 'this morning we...
The First Performance of Porgy and Bess: September 30th, 1935
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One night in 1926 the composer George Gershwin picked a book called Porgy to read in bed and was so rivetted by it that he could not stop until he had read it all. He then wrote to the author at four o'clock in the morning. The author was the novelist...
The Lady and the Earl: Martin Greig Reveals the Intimate Relationship between the Powerful Earl of Lauderdale, Charles II's Secretary for Scotland in the 1660s, and a Scottish Spinster Who Became the Earl's 'Presbyterian Conscience' during a Tumultuous Period for Kirk and Crown
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[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] On the evening of April 10th, 1663 a letter arrived at Hamilton Palace, a sprawling 16th-century manor house located in the Clyde river valley, about 10 miles outside Glasgow and home to the dukes of Hamilton. It was addressed...
The Making of an Englishman: At a Time of Widespread Concern about the Patriotism of 'Economic Migrants' and Political Refugees, Peter Barber Tells the Story of One 19th-Century Immigrant Whose Affection for Britain Grew as Political Crisis Severed His Attachment to Home
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If you had been making your way along Seven Sisters Road in the north London suburbs in 1901 you would have noticed a large flag of St George flying over a modest looking care at the entrance to Finsbury Park. This may have seemed nothing special until...
The Many and the Few: Seventy Years after the Battle of Britain, Richard Overy Looks Behind the Myth of a Vulnerable Island Defended by a Small Band of Fighter Pilots to Give Due Credit to the Courage of the Redoubtable Civilian Population
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[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The Battle of Britain is once again high profile. The 70th anniversary is being celebrated with as much enthusiasm as the 60th. The more time passes since the summer of 1940, the more fervently it is recalled as a moment of...
The Sceptical Realist: The Acclaimed Historian Michael Burleigh Talks to Paul Lay about His Influences, Working Methods, the Need for Historians to Engage in Public Policy and Why He Is Relieved to Be Free from Academic Bureaucracy
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[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] When I arrive at Michael Burleigh's house, barely a lofted six from the Oval Cricket Ground, he has just returned from a fishing trip to the Dominican Republic. Burleigh has a passion for fishing and for painting too--the...
