Contemporary History (1945-)

Many thought that 9/11 was the start of an Al-Qaeda assault on the West, but it turned out to be Bin Laden’s Pearl Harbor – a victory that led to strategic defeat – says Peter Bergen, one of the few reporters who met the Saudi-born militant.

The Middle East scholar tells us what to read if we’re to understand where upheaval in the Arab world came from, and where it’s going.

Which were the best speeches ever made? Clarence B Jones, lawyer, friend and adviser to Martin Luther King Jr—and contributor to the ‘I Have a Dream’ speech—chooses his top five, and explains what is that makes these famous speeches so good.

Andy Beckett’s choices point to a welcome reassessment of the 1970s, that much-maligned 'gothic' decade, and sweep from London to Los Angeles by way of Malcolm Bradbury and John le Carré

What will historians say about the latest period in British history? What has stayed the same, and what is vastly different from our parents' generation? Andrew Hindmoor, professor of politics at the University of Sheffield and author of Twelve Days that Made Modern Britain, recommends books that give insights into contemporary British history.

The author and historian Richard Wolin explains that French people in the late 1960s were desperate for a utopian political alternative.

Until the 1970s, Britain was predominantly a working class society, says the historian David Kynaston. He tells us about books that explore how this changed, giving rise to the turbulent Thatcher years.

Israeli historian Gabriel Piterberg tells us about works of scholarship that have challenged the Zionist Israeli narrative of modern history.

Yale professor John Lewis Gaddis points to research showing that, contrary to widespread belief, Mao was regularly briefed on the famine he had caused

The senior lecturer in the Department of War Studies, King’s College London, chooses books on the real pioneers of British and American espionage – flawed men who saved lives and made a difference.