History Today: May 2010

[John Simkin]

Churchill: Cometh the Finest Hour

The great war leader’s rise to power was far from inevitable. Taylor Downing explains what a difference a day made.

The Chartists: Charting a Future Democracy

David Nash argues that the Chartists’ campaign for political inclusion and social justice have much to offer Britain’s political system.

The Murder of Le Roi Henri

In May 1610 Henry IV of France was assassinated by a religious fanatic apparently acting alone. Though popular, Henry had nevertheless aroused animosity on his way to kingship, not least because of his Protestant beliefs, writes Robert J. Knecht.

British Society: Never So Good Again

By the time the sixties arrived, with the welfare state established, Britain’s baby boomer generation was having a ball. But its obsession with novelty and a lack of respect for the traditions of its elders sowed the seeds of today’s anxieties, argues Francis Beckett.

Captain Jennings Causes Chaos

Early 17th century England saw the emergence of pirates, much romanticised creatures whose lives were often nasty, brutish and short. Adrian Tinniswood examines one such career.

Science & Shelley: What Mary Knew

Patricia Fara explores the scientific education of Mary Shelley and how a work of early science fiction inspired her best-known novel Frankenstein.

No Gifts for the Greeks

The current economic plight of Greece is part of a long feud between Athens and Europe’s great powers, writes James Miller.

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