Asia

Simon was found with his whiskers burned off and hurt by four pieces of shrapnel. The medical officer thought he wouldn’t survive the night (Photo by Keystone Pictures USA / Alamy Stock Photo)

10 top cats in history

New issue World 17 800x530

Issue 17 of BBC World Histories is out now

Dornier 217 bombers of the Luftwaffe bomb London during the Battle of Britain. "The crucial role of the RAF in denying the Germans control of the air in 1940 and therefore persuading Hitler to abandon his invasion plans is so well known that it might seem almost sacrilegious to question it, " says Sean Lang. "But was it solely responsible for saving Britain from invasion? Not quite." (Photo by Central Press/Getty Images)

9 of the most overrated battles in history (and one underrated one)

Striking machinists at Dagenham's Ford plant. (Photo by Getty Images)

Back on Planet Earth: what world did Neil Armstrong leave behind in 1969?

An illustration of the battle of Agincourt. By attacking over unsuitable ground, Charles d’Albret “doomed his army”, says Rupert Matthews. (Photo by Historica Graphica Collection/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

The top 10 military blunders in history

The US–China trade war feels as if it’s blown up very suddenly, but a long and unhappy history of trade between China and the west is still well-remembered in Beijing. Rana Mitter examines the history. (Illustration by Kate Hazell for BBC World Histories Magazine)

Trading blows: Rana Mitter on the US-China Trade War

Soldiers of the 77th Infantry Division in Okinawa listen to news of Nazi Germany's surrender. (Photo by ullstein bild/ullstein bild via Getty Images)

Second World War

The battle for Okinawa: one Marine’s story

Portrait of Sultan Saladin (1566-1568) by artist Cristofano Dell'Altissimo (1525-1605) (Photo by Getty Images)

The life of Saladin

(Image by Bettmann/Getty)

10 photographs that made history

Troubled waters: American soldiers rest on a decorative bridge during the crucial, bloody battle for Saipan in the Pacific Ocean. Victory put Japan in range of the US heavy bombers. (Photo by Peter Stackpole/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

Second World War

Beyond Normandy: the global war

A fragment from the 'Alexander Mosaic', c100 BC, showing Alexander the Great in battle against the Persian king Darius III. (Photo by: Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images)

6 things you (probably) didn’t know about Alexander the Great

Historian and geographer Jared Diamond

Books interview with Jared Diamond: “With countries, as with people, crises attract attention”

Japanese troops celebrate the capture of a British artillery position, Hong Kong, December 1941 (Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images)

The lion and the rising sun: Britain and Japan’s 400-year relationship

Two American soldiers wait for the second wave of combat helicopters of the 1st Air Cavalry Division during Operation Pershing during the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War defined America in the second half of the 20th century. (Photo by Patrick Christain/Getty Images)

7 things you might not know about the Vietnam War