Painting of a European marketplace

Europe

A cartoon of Napoleon and King George III.

Q&AHow tall was Napoleon Bonaparte?

Painting of Napoleon in St Helena

Napoleon on St Helena: how exile became the French emperor's last battle

Napoleon is apprehended by French soldiers on his return from Elba. Rather than take him to Paris in chains, the soldiers joined him

Napoleon's comeback: from exile on Elba to the Hundred Days

An early 19th-century painting of Napoleon Bonaparte

Q&AWhere is Napoleon buried?

Napoleon Bonaparte

Napoleon Bonaparte: facts about his life, death and career

The storming of the Bastille, 14 July 1789, as depicted by artist Charles Thévenin

Napoleon’s chance: why the French Revolution was Bonaparte's big break

Happier days: The tsar and his family pose for a portrait in c1910, years before he was swept from power and murdered. Maria, Olga and Tatiana (left to right) are at the back. Alexandra and Nicholas are seated with Alexey at their feet. Anastasia is far right. (Photo by Getty Images)

The last days of the Romanovs: could George V have saved the family?

Zdeněk Burian’s painting from 1952 offers a sympathetic portrayal of Neanderthals practising cannibalism. Self-assurance, even contentment, emanate from “It appears as a calm response to death, rather than murderous carnage,” writes Rebecca Wragg Sykes. (Photo by Time Life Pictures/Mansell/The LIFE Picture Collection via Getty Images)

Neanderthal in the mirror: our changing perceptions of these ancient humans.

British troops guard a wall during the Irish War of Independence, which bears a nationalist message

The Irish Republican Army: a brief guide

A 12th-century Celtic round tower at Clonmacnoise, County Offaly

“The power of the Irish over the Britons is great”: Fergal Keane on Britain's Irish roots.

Women fighters of the Jewish resistance with Judy Batalion

Women fighters of the Jewish resistance.

How constitutions changed the world.

A German sailor signals Bismarck during manoeuvres in the western Atlantic, some time before the British gave chase. The maimed battleship sank below the waves on 27 May 1941

Second World War

The sinking of the Bismarck: a cat and mouse chase across the Atlantic

How Machiavellian was Machiavelli?.

French cuirassiers charging a British infantry square at the battle of Waterloo, 1815 (1906). From Cassell's 'Illustrated History of England, Vol. V' (Cassell and Company Limited, London, Paris, New York, Melbourne). Artist P Jazet. (Photo by The Print Collector/Getty Images)

QuizBattle of Waterloo.

The battle of Waterloo: 10 key questions answered

Two garden gnomes on grass

A brief history of garden gnomes

Barbarossa: Hitler’s greatest gamble.

Roland Philipps tells the story of Mathilde Carré

Traitor or triple agent? The WW2 spy Mathilde Carré.

17th century engraving showing the execution by hanging of four witches. (Photo by Fototeca Gilardi/Getty Images)

QuizWould you have been accused of witchcraft?.

Leonardo da Vinci’s private life.

Leonardo: bringing Da Vinci to the screen.

Aidan Turner as Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo: the real history behind the new Renaissance drama

Drawing of an old and young man, possibly Salai, by Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci’s private relationships: what's known?

Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo

Leonardo & Michelangelo: rivalry and inspiration

Unravelling the Bayeux Tapestry HistoryExtra podcast series title card

Unravelling the Bayeux TapestryEpisode 5: What now?.

Women prisoners in 19th-century Ireland.

Troops pictured during the Gallipoli campaign of the First World War

First World War

Gallipoli: 5 reasons why the First World War campaign was a failure

Leonardo da Vinci’s full-scale cartoon drawing of Isabella d’Este

Leonardo da Vinci's patrons: the people who paid for the masterpieces

Mutiny at sea: the forgotten story of murder and brutality aboard HMS Wager