Features

Nelson and Winnie Mandela days after his release, 1990 - Gideon Mendel/Corbis
Nelson Mandela: “a symbol of the struggle against racism”
6th December 2013
People around the world are today mourning the death of Nelson Mandela. South Africa’s first black president, Mandela led the fight against South Africa’s apartheid regime – a system of racial segregation which oppressed the black majority.
Tom Hanks and Emma Thompson in Saving Mr. Banks - credit Kobal Collection
Historian at the Movies: Saving Mr. Banks reviewed
5th December 2013
As part of our new series, Dr John Wills, a senior lecturer in American history at the University of Kent, reviews Saving Mr. Banks – a biographical drama about PL Travers, the Australian creator of children's literary classic Mary Poppins
Angkor, Cambodia - credit Corbis
My favourite historical places: Dr Julie Barrau
4th December 2013
As part of our weekly series, Dr Julie Barrau from the University of Cambridge picks out her favourite historical places to visit
Illustration depicting a scene from The Tempest - Kean Collection/Getty Images
Sam Willis on Shipwrecks: from Shakespeare to cannibalism
2nd December 2013
They were the price Britain paid for dominating the waves from an island surrounded by rocks. But, as Dr Sam Willis will reveal in his new television series, shipwrecks also played a vital role in British culture, inspiring playwrights and transforming murder laws
A 17th-century woodcut shows people dancing around the maypole - image Topfoto
Bad sports? Puritan attempts to ban games in 17th-century England
26th November 2013
Alistair Dougall describes how Puritan attempts to ban games such as football, wrestling and bowling divided the people of England in the 17th century
Billy Bob Thornton as Forrest Sorrels - image Koch Media 2013
Historian at the Movies: Parkland reviewed
26th November 2013
In the first of a new series, Peter Ling, Professor of American Studies at the University of Nottingham, reviews Parkland - a new film recounting the assassination of JFK from the perspectives of those who witnessed it first-hand
Prato della Valle, Padua, Veneto, Italy - image Alamy
My favourite historical places: Joanna Innes
26th November 2013
As part of our weekly series, Joanna Innes from the University of Oxford picks out her favourite historical places to visit
Jack Ruby moving towards Oswald - © Everett Collection Historical/Alamy
Assassination of JFK: historians explore the conspiracy theories
21st November 2013
Fifty years after the assassination of US president John F Kennedy, speculation about his death shows no sign of abating.
Nafplio, Greece - image © Paul Panayiotou/Corbis
My favourite historical places: Professor Richard Alston
19th November 2013
As part of our new weekly series, Professor Richard Alston from Royal Holloway, University of London, picks out his favourite historical places to visit
Crowds in Dallas, Texas, on 22 November 1963 - credit The Dallas Morning News
The assassination of JFK: an eyewitness account
19th November 2013
On 22 November 1963, Dallas Morning News reporter Hugh Aynesworth inadvertently became an eyewitness to one of the biggest turning points in history.
In pictures: Georgian caricaturist Thomas Rowlandson
19th November 2013
A selection of works by Thomas Rowlandson, one of the most popular caricaturists of Georgian Britain, is to go on display at the Palace of Holyroodhouse.
JFK prepares to sign the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty with the Soviet Union - Corbis
The Kennedys and the Cuban missile crisis
18th November 2013
The Cuban missile crisis was arguably the most dangerous confrontation the world has faced. Some 51 years on, Mark White re-examines the conduct of the Kennedys