Asia

Combat helicopters fly over US troops during a search and destroy mission, South Vietnam. Despite their military might, argues Max Hastings, the Americans were doomed to fail during the Vietnam War. (Photo by Patrick Christain/Getty Images)

Max Hastings on Vietnam

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An illustration depicting the Heiji Insurrection of c1159 - one of the first samurai battles. (Photo by Alamy)

A brief history of samurai warfare

A Red Cross worker in the United States wears a mask to reduce the risk of contracting or spreading the disease in 1918. Though doctors didn’t initially understand the nature of the infectious agent, ‘social distancing’ helped slow the propagation of the flu. (Photo by Paul Thompson/FPG/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Spanish flu: the virus that changed the world

Traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange after the closing bell on 29 September 2008. A record 778 points were wiped off the Dow Jones that day, as the 2008 financial crisis pushed the world's banking system to the edge of collapse. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

The credit crunch: “It’s a story of hubris followed by a fall”

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"Queen Victoria was more than just a token ruler of India. Passionately interested in its people and culture, she intervened frequently in Indian politics," says Miles Taylor. (Photo by Time Life Pictures/Mansell/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

Queen Victoria’s Indians

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A New York opium den. Although US legislators cracked down on opiates in the early 20th century, organised crime networks continued to fuel the illegal trade in narcotics. (Photo by Getty Images)

Books interview with Lucy Inglis: “Opium has held mankind’s hand since the beginning”

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Australian PoWs in a camp at the Sumatran city of Pekanbaru, c1945. More than 80,000 forced labourers, including PoWs, died during the construction of Sumatran railway, most the victims of disease, starvation and maltreatment. (Photo by State Library of Victoria)

Second World War

The Sumatran Railway: The forgotten death railway

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Atomic bomb damage in the city of Hiroshima, 1945. The atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima on 6 August 1945 “razed and burnt around 70 per cent of all buildings”, according to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Second World War

Was the US justified in dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during the Second World War? You debate

Miniature from an Apocalypse of Cambrai depicting the opening of the sixth seal: an earthquake occurs and the sun becomes black. Municipal library, Cambrai, France. (Photo by Leemage/Corbis via Getty Images)

General ancient history

Written in the stars: 7 celestial events that may have changed history

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With its huge bell and five-storey pagoda, Sensoji Temple is one of Tokyo's most popular –and venerable – landmarks. (Photo by Mike Hewitt - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)

My favourite place: Tokyo, Japan

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Spies through the ages podcast

General ancient history

Spies through the ages

A reconstruction of a Theban painting from the Ancient Egyptian Dynasty XIX depicting a childbirth scene. The mother is seen being helped by her handmaidens and a midwife. Photo by DeAgostini/Getty Images)

7 surprising facts about the history of medicine

Troops in Korea, c1951. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)

Forging alliances: Britain and the US in the Korean War

US president Donald Trump and the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un shake hands at a summit in Singapore on 12 June 2018. (Photo by Handout/Getty Images)

The Trump-Kim summit: what did it really achieve?