Asia

A lithographic Victorian trade card promoting the Forepaugh circus' new white elephant, Buffalo, New York, circa 1880. (Photo by Transcendental Graphics/Getty Images)

Q&A Why do we say ‘white elephant’?

Charles Sobhraj (centre) pictured in 2011, while trying to sue the Nepalese government for unlawful imprisonment

The real history of The Serpent: the true story of Charles Sobhraj

100 women who changed the world

Women’s history podcasts: 18 HistoryExtra episodes not to miss

In this lecture, Michael Wood uses the stories of five individuals from across the centuries to cast light on China’s rich and varied history

General ancient history

Voices of China

US marines advance up Iwo Jima's beaches

Second World War

The battle for Iwo Jima: why did it happen and why was it so hard fought?

Graham Hutchings discusses how China was convulsed by the communist revolution of 1949. (Image by Getty Images)

Chaos & communism: China’s 1949 revolution

Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones responds to listener questions and popular internet search queries about one of the dominant powers of the ancient world, the Persian empire. (Image by Getty Images)

General ancient history

The Persian empire: everything you wanted to know

Photo of Queen Victoria

Queen Victoria: how and why did she become Empress of India?

English cavalry attacking the Sikh at the Battle of Aliwal

Victoria the warrior queen

Illustration of the charge of the Light Brigade at Balaclava during the Crimean War

Victorians and war: which conflicts were fought during the Victorian era?

Priya Satia explores how historians helped advance the British empire, only to later become critics of imperialism. (Image by Getty Images)

How historians helped build the British empire

The city Bhaktapur looming over the Kathmandu valley

The hippy trail: a pan-Asian journey through history

Muslim women embrace after Ramadan ends, 2012

“Does every generation have to prove itself in Britain?” Kavita Puri on the experiences of South Asians in Britain

Kavita Puri on the HistoryExtra podcast

Was the 1990s a golden age for British South Asians?

An East India Company official riding on an elephant

The East India Company: how a trading corporation became an imperial ruler