Russia

John F Kennedy with US Army officials during the Cuban missile crisis

“We are eyeball to eyeball, and I think the other fellow just blinked”: how the Cuban Missile Crisis escalated

Ruined buildings in the village of Mitlino, one of at least 20 settlements evacuated after the Mayak explosion. Radioactive particles spread across an estimated area of over 23,000 sq km (SVF2/Getty Images)

Before Chernobyl: the secrets that paved the way for disaster

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As the world’s best athletes congregate in Tokyo for the 29th Summer Games, David Goldblatt answers your questions on the history of the Olympics. (Image from Getty Images)

Olympic history: everything you wanted to know . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

An 18th Century cartoon satirises reactions to Louis XVI's attempt tp flee France. The french Revolution shows what can happen when the state fails on a catastrophic scale

Are revolutions doomed to failure?

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A colourised portrait of Anton Chekhov, from 1901

History hero William Boyd chooses Anton Chekhov (1860–1904) . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Jane Rogoyska explains how more than 20,000 Polish prisoners-of-war were murdered on Stalin’s orders in 1940, and explores the decades-long coverup that followed. (Image by Getty Images)

Uncovering the truth about WW2’s Katyn massacre . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Serhii Plokhy discusses the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, and reveals just how close the world came to nuclear disaster. (Image by Getty Images)

How close to nuclear war did the Cuban Missile Crisis get? . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Happier days: The tsar and his family pose for a portrait in c1910, years before he was swept from power and murdered. Maria, Olga and Tatiana (left to right) are at the back. Alexandra and Nicholas are seated with Alexey at their feet. Anastasia is far right. (Photo by Getty Images)

The last days of the Romanovs: could George V have saved the family?

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Linda Colley explores how written constitutions, together with warfare, forged the modern world. (Image by Getty Images)

How constitutions changed the world . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Jonathan Dimbleby revisits the dramatic, murderous struggle between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union

Barbarossa: Hitler’s greatest gamble . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Vladimir Ilyich Ulianov

Vladimir Lenin and his lust for power

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Sean McMeekin discusses his revisionist new history of the Second World War, which places Josef Stalin at the centre of the conflict. (Image by Getty Images)

Stalin: the real victor of WW2 . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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In 1961 cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first man to journey into space. Stephen Walker delves into the supercharged battle between the Soviets and Americans to reach this milestone. (Image by Getty Images)

Sending the first man into space . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Police lead away a suffragettes, arrested for chaining herself to the railings of Buckingham Palace

Female activism: 10 remarkable protests from around the world

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Michael Goodman responds to your questions on the decades of geopolitical tension that shaped relations between east and west in the second half of the 20th century. (Image by Getty Images)

The Cold War: everything you wanted to know . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.