Middle East

Towards the end of the third century BC, the First Emperor of China sought to make his new state immortal by shielding it with what would be the earliest predecessor to the Great Wall. (Photo by Jean-Luc PETIT/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)

General ancient history

A brief history of border walls – from 2,000 BC to Trump’s Mexico wall

Max Adams. (Photo by Kona Macphee/Royal Literary Fund)

Remarkable women through history

"The Knights Templare were able to flight across all terrains. They were the equivalent of the SAS, the Navy SEALS or the French Foreign Legion," says Dan Jones. (Alamy)

The Library The rise and fall of the Knights Templar

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A counting of goats and rams in cuneiform script, ancient Ngirsu, Iraq, 2360 BC. (DEA / G. DAGLI ORTI/De Agostini/Getty Images)

Cuneiform: 6 things you (probably) didn’t know about the world’s oldest writing system

Four soliders of the 36th Sikhs, various ranks, 1896. The regiment was led in January 1897 to occupy the Samana posts, says Captain Jay Singh-Sohal. (Reproduced with permission from australiansikhheritage.com)

The battle of Saragarhi: When 21 Sikh soldiers stood against 10,000 men

History Extra’s top 10 podcast episodes

Islam’s struggle with modernity podcast

Islam’s struggle with modernity

Illustration by Glen McBeth

Did castle defenders pour boiling oil on their assailants during a medieval siege?

Illustration by Joey Guidone

The big question: has terrorism ever achieved its aims?

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

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

This painting in Kensington Palace shows a group standing on a balustrade. Among them are George I’s two Turkish grooms of the chamber, ‘Mustapha’ and ‘Mohamed’. (Photo by Steve Vidler/Alamy Stock Photo)

Tales of the Turk

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A scene from ’Othello’ by William Shakespeare, published in 1622. The play “seems to have been influenced by Anglo-Moroccan relations that reached their high point in the summer of 1600,” writes Brotton. (Culture Club/Getty Images)

Elizabethan England’s relationship with the Islamic world

Turkish artillery of the Ottoman Empire during the First World War. (Buyenlarge/Getty Images)

6 things you (probably) didn’t know about the Ottoman Empire