Africa

A plaque which decorated the palace of the Benin Obas, The Obas butchers sacrificing a cow, the most prestigious animal sacrifice

Benin: a kingdom cast in bronze, brought to ruin by Britain

This statue of Arsinoe II identified her with the goddess Isis – thanks, in part, to the so-called ‘Isis knot’ on her right shoulder – so exploiting Egyptian tradition to strengthen her image (© Getty)

The female ‘kings’ of ancient Egypt

Eugene Rogan answers listener questions on one of history’s most powerful and long lasting empires. (Image from Getty Images)

First World War

The Ottoman empire: everything you wanted to know

Lucy Bland discusses the childhood experiences of babies fathered by African-American GIs stationed in Britain during the Second World War. (Image from Getty Images)

Second World War

Wartime Britain’s mixed-race babies

Alex Renton shares the story of his own family’s involvement in the slave trade, and considers how best to deal with this unwanted inheritance. (Image from Getty Images)

The slave trade: a family history

Photo of a crocodile

Q&A Why do we say 'crocodile tears'?

Bronwen Everill discusses the Benin Bronzes

The battle over the Benin Bronzes

Raphael Cormack discusses the golden age of Cairo’s nightlife scene in the 1920s, and some of the enterprising women who dominated it. (Image by Getty Images)

The glamour & danger of Cairo’s 1920s nightlife scene

circa 1942: Men of the 7th British Armoured Division, known as the Desert Rats, sitting on a field gun before the fall of Tobruk in the North African Campaign. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Second World War

Tobruk: 8 facts about the WW2 confrontation in North Africa

From Roman emperors and medieval saints to enslaved people, Olivette Otele charts the long history of Africans in Europe

African Europeans

Bust of Germanicus, Roman General

In the footsteps of Germanicus – a Roman General’s journey to Egypt

Apartheid road sign

Your guide to apartheid in South Africa

Welfare campaigner Emily Hobhouse

History hero Anita Anand chooses Emily Hobhouse (1860–1926)

A bust of Queen Nefertiti of Ancient Egypt. (Photo by Oliver Lang/AFP/Getty Images)

Your guide to Egypt’s sun queen Nefertiti

Pod DD_Verena Krebs WL

Medieval Ethiopia’s diplomatic missions