American history

Holly leaf and berry.

Christmas quiz 2011

American golfer Bobby Jones practising his swing on the roof of the Savoy Hotel in London. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)

My history hero: Robert Tyre Jones (1902–71)

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1492: The Year Our World Began

Portrait of physician Elizabeth Blackwell. (Photo by Time Life Pictures/Timepix/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

My history hero: Elizabeth Blackwell (1821-1910)

The origins of slavery

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The American Crucible: Slavery, Emancipation and Human Rights

Richard Nixon at the White House with his family following his resignation as president, 9 August 1974. (Photo by Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

A big day in history: Richard Nixon makes his final address as president of the United States

Illustration by Jonty Clark

Ye olde travel guide: New Orleans 1858

An aerial view of Kandahar Province, Afghanistan. Geography has been

The surprisingly long history of humanity’s political development

The Edinburgh memorial to Scots who fought in the Union army. Erected in 1893, it shows a former slave gazing up at Abraham Lincoln. (Getty Images)

Lincoln’s British enemies

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Second World War

America, Hitler and the UN: How the Allies Won World War II and Forged a Peace

A re-enactment of the American Civil War. The conflict looms large in the US psyche 150 years after if began. (Getty Images)

Civil rights and the Civil War

Two women from South America. Six centuries ago South American civilisations matched the west in some respects. (Getty Images)

The wonder of the west

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Washington: A Life

British prime minister Edward Heath with Olympic gold medal winner Mary Peters. (Bettmann/Getty Images)

Communist sport: Cold War copycats