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Olivia Colman plays Elizabeth II
20th Century

Netflix’s The Crown recap: the real history behind the series so far

Victorian

Shop ’till you drop: a brief history of Christmas shopping

20th Century

Days of future past: how the new BBC TV series The War of the Worlds reinvented the sci-fi classic

Statue of Liberty. (Photo by Dreamstime)
General Modern

A history of the United States

Maoism
General Modern

Julia Lovell’s Maoism: A Global History wins 2019 Cundill History Prize

Latest articles

The Crown

Ahead of Season 3 of The Crown, which airs on Netflix on 17 November, we delve into some real royal history...
Princess Margaret attends the premiere of Captain Horatio Hornblower, Leicester Square, 1951. (Photo by Ron Burton/Keystone/Getty Images)
20th Century

The Queen’s “rebel sister”: 8 facts about Princess Margaret

Charles and Camilla, 1979
20th Century

Prince Charles and Camilla: a history of their romance

Rescue workers at the scene of the wrecked Pantglas Junior School at Aberfan, South Wales. (Getty Images)
20th Century

Death under the black mountain: surviving the 1966 Aberfan disaster

Elizabeth II
General Modern

12 surprising facts about Queen Elizabeth II

The 1969 documentary was made amid a feeling that there was an increasing awareness of a need to ‘sell’ the monarchy to the people, writes historian Sarah Gristwood. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
20th Century

‘Royal Family’: the fly-on-the-wall documentary the Palace doesn’t want you to see

Princess Margaret and her husband, Lord Snowdon, in San Francisco during a visit to America, November 1965. (Photo by Harry Benson/Express/Getty Images)
20th Century

“Cheap men and expensive bottles”: Princess Margaret’s love affairs

Read more about The Crown

In the news

Today’s events in historical context…
The War of the Worlds. (Photo by BBC/© Mammoth Screen)
20th Century

Days of future past: how the new BBC TV series The War of the Worlds reinvented the sci-fi classic

Listening in: a doctor uses a stethoscope to examine a patient in 1948. (Photo by Popperfoto/Getty Images)
20th Century

The birth pains of the NHS

Richard Nixon gives a thumbs-up
21st Century

Presidents under pressure: the resignation of Richard Nixon and the impeachment case against Trump

George Frederic Watts' 1846 painting 'Alfred Inciting the Saxons to Prevent the Landing of the Danes'
Anglo-Saxon

Michael Wood “As a racism row rumbles on, is it time to retire the term ‘Anglo-Saxon’?”

HistoryExtra Podcast

The latest episodes from the History Extra podcast
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Medieval

The King: Henry V on film

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Tudor

The origins of the Tudors

The Vietnam War podcast
20th Century

The Vietnam War on film

The American aircraft carrier USS Yorktown is being bombed in the Battle of Midway, June 1942. (Photo by Corbis via Getty Images)
Second World War

Midway: the Pacific War on screen

Simon Sebag Montefiore on letters from history. (Photo by Dreamstime)
General Modern

Letters that changed the world

The famous Checkpoint Charlie crossing point between East and West Berlin, June 1968 (Photo by AFP/Getty Images)
20th Century

The rise and fall of the Berlin Wall

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Henry V and the battle of Agincourt

As 'The King' is released on Netflix, read more about the real history behind the tale…
Henry V. (© Lebrecht Music and Arts Photo Library / Alamy)
Medieval

10 things you (probably) didn’t know about Henry V and the battle of Agincourt

(Image by Netflix)
Medieval

The King: Henry V on film

Agincourt was one of the major battles of the Hundred Years' War.
Medieval

Agincourt: what really happened

Timothée Chalamet as Prince Hal
Medieval

“It’s hard to square Prince Hal’s pacifism with what we know about Henry V”: a historian’s review of The King

Read more about Henry V

Trending in the US

Reinhard Heydrich’s brutality was shocking, even by Nazi standards. (Photo by ullstein bild/ullstein bild via Getty Images)
Second World War

Killing Hitler’s hangman: the dramatic story of Reinhard Heydrich’s assassination

Charles and Camilla, 1979
20th Century

Prince Charles and Camilla: a history of their romance

Ragnar Lothbrok. (Illustration by Georgie Gozem for BBC History Magazine)
Viking

Ragnar Lothbrok: the immortal Viking

Princess Margaret attends the premiere of Captain Horatio Hornblower, Leicester Square, 1951. (Photo by Ron Burton/Keystone/Getty Images)
20th Century

The Queen’s “rebel sister”: 8 facts about Princess Margaret

Read American history

Brexit

The history behind Britain’s decision to leave the European Union…
(Getty Images)
General Modern

Why has Britain decided to leave the EU?

(Photo by Alamy)
General Modern

Brexit lessons from history

(Illustration by Davide Bonazzi for BBC History Magazine)
20th Century

The big question: has the European Union been a success?

General Modern

“The anglocentric view we have of British history is unsustainable,” says Misha Glenny

Georgian

Brexit and American independence

20th Century

The reluctant Europeans

Latest articles

Mary I. (Getty Images)
Tudor

Mary I: 8 facts about her life, death and legacy

Queen Mary I of England and Ireland. Her legend speaks merely of burning Protestants, yet her time on the throne featured many great achievements, not least establishing that a woman had the right to reign. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Tudor

Mary I: the forgotten trailblazer

Despite popular belief, Gladiatorial fighting was not the most popular entertainment in Ancient Rome. (Photo by Alamy)
Roman

10 things you (probably) didn’t know about the Romans

Actress Sarah Bernhardt, who was personally invited by Oscar Wilde to play the title role in the upcoming London premiere of his play, 'Salomé'.
General Modern

6 of London theatre’s most notable historical scandals

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History Quizzes

How much do you know about history? Test out your knowledge with our quizzes...
People praying for relief from the bubonic plague, circa 1350. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Medieval

Medieval quiz

A depiction of a witch on a broomstick. (Photo by: Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images)
Medieval

Halloween history quiz: test your knowledge

The results of the poll: 100 women who changed the world. (Photos by Getty Images/Alamy)
100 women

Quiz: 100 Women Who Changed The World

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Stuart

Great Fire of London quiz – how much do you know?

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Portrait of King Henry VIII, Jane Seymour and Prince Edward. (Photo by Getty Images)

Tudor

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Painting of Henry VIII

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Winston Churchill gives his famous v-sign as he opens the new headquarters of 615 (County of Surrey) Squadron of the RAAF (Royal Auxiliary Air Force) at Croydon, 1948. (Photo by Central Press/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

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