Asia

The Byzantines and a flamethrower

General ancient history

Q&A What was Greek fire?

Lieutenant-General Arthur Percival (far right) marches to the Japanese camp to surrender Singapore. (Photo by The Asahi Shimbun Premium via Getty Images)

Second World War

VJ Day: turning the tide in the east

Portrait of Saladin (1560) by Cristofano Dell Altissimo.

Why does Saladin have such an enduring reputation?

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

Scientists Frederic Joliot-Curie and his wife, Irene, at work in their Paris laboratory in December 1932. The couple were among a wide-ranging group of scientists whose work paved the way for the atomic bomb. (Photo by Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images)

Second World War

Hiroshima: the race to the atomic bomb

John Zubryzcki shares the story of the party-loving royals of the House of Jaipur, who turned to politics following Indian independence. (Image from Getty Images)

The transformation of India’s glamorous golden couple

Students study mathematics in Lahore in 1933

Revising the Raj

Representations of digits from the ninth century, 11th century and the present day

Digital revolution: the evolution of Hindu-Arabic numerals

With the Olympics underway in Tokyo, Chris Harding looks back at 1964 – the last time Japan hosted the competition. (Image by Getty Images)

How the 1964 Tokyo Olympics redefined Japan

Medal winners on a podium

Q&A Who won the first Olympic medal? And what was the prize before that?

Crown Prince Olav on his ice yacht (Getty Images)

From Hollywood to war heroes: 10 Olympians who were more famous outside sport

Mao Zedong applauds a parade of Red Guards in Tiananmen Square, Beijing. These young militants followed Mao’s call in early August 1966 to defend the party from a ‘white terror’. (Photo by Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images)

Reign of the red terror: Mao Zedong and the Cultural Revolution

Tokyo Olympics 1964: Yoshinori Sakai prepares to light the Olympic cauldron during the opening ceremony. Born on the day that the first atomic bomb fell on Hiroshima, he was a symbol of Japan’s postwar reconstruction and peace

Tokyo Olympics 1964: the Games that defined Japan

An Indian soldier, emaciated after internment by the Japanese, aboard the British hospital ship 'Oxfordshire' in 1945 (Keystone/Getty Images)

Second World War

The untold story of India’s WW2 prisoners of war

Professor Michael Wert responds to listener questions and online search queries about the samurai of feudal Japan. (Image by Getty Images)

Samurai: everything you wanted to know