21st Century

Expert history articles and analysis about the global events of the 21st century…

Video podcastNetflix’s The Crown: history and storytelling.

27 Christmas gift ideas for history lovers

History Behind the Headlines: Poverty, populism and The Crown.

Portrait of Jane Cowan.

My life in historyHead of conservation at Lincoln Cathedral.

David Tennant returns as the Doctor

Ranked: the best historical episodes of Doctor Who

Charles, Will and Harry from 'The Crown' compared to a real picture of Charles and William.

The Crown season 6 cast vs their real-life counterparts

A black and white photo of the American actress Janet Leigh, with a shadow of a chair on the wall behind her. She is looking forwards and screaming in shock.

Ninety years of horror: nine films that reflect society’s changing anxieties.

(Illustration by Hugh Cowling for BBC History Magazine)

Sportswashing: have nations always used sport to launder their reputations?.

Michael Wood on the ongoing legacy of slavery"Slavery’s effects are still working themselves out in our lives today".

Toy Story, starring cowboy Woody

10 milestones in Disney's 100-year history

Steamboat Willie, a mouse at the wheel

Cartoon century: a history of 100 years of Disney.

History Behind the Headlines: China spies, medieval tourism and more.

Is black history still being overlooked?.

An apparition on the stairs

Danny Robins' paranormal cold casesThe black monk of Pontefract.

Pupils at a primary school in London

Are black histories still being overlooked?

The striking, surrealism-influenced Radio Times cover shows the transmitter mast at Alexandra Palace

Radio Times at 100: a "vivid running commentary" on a century of British life

An illustration showing a graduate hat sitting on an empty bookshelf

Is history under threat at the UK’s universities?.

Illustration by Hugh Cowling

Artificial intelligence: a modern advance or an ancient nightmare?.

How should we see the NHS's history on its 75th anniversary?

Economies in meltdown: lessons from past financial crashes.

Ukrainian soldiers fire at Russian troops, May 2023

Serhii Plokhy on the Russia-Ukraine conflict“Putin’s misreading of history is a major contributing factor in how this war has progressed”.

Historical echoes of the Ukraine war.

Men kiss in a medieval illumination.

Are some LGBTQ histories being overlooked?.

East India Company officer James Tod travels through India in a 19th-century illustration

Opinion“History is currently being used for political purposes that have very little to do with the past”.

Prince Charles, aged 4, driving a toy car in the grounds of Balmoral Castle in Aberdeenshire, Scotland

King Charles IIIA life in pictures

Michael Wood on the coronation of Charles III"The symbolism of the royal promise still means something today".

Elizabeth II surveys troops in Brisbane, Australia during her 1977 silver jubilee tour. There has been increasing debate about the degree to which documents relating to the royal family should be open to the public (Photo by Tim Graham Photo Library via Getty Images)

The royal family and their right to privacy: who should have access to the records?.

A protester wearing a star badge at an anti-vaccination rally in Cardiff, 2021. The badge’s design deliberately evokes the star Jewish people were forced to wear in Nazi-occupied territories during the Second World War.

“Many, if not most, Nazi analogies are historically inaccurate”: Richard J Evans on the trouble with comparisons.

Fires burn in Baghdad following an attack on the Iraqi capital, March 2003. The motives for the war continue to spark controversy (Photo by Mirrorpix/Getty Images)

“The early 2000s was a strange era of fear and terror”: remembering the Iraq War 20 years on.

How ballroom dancing gripped Britain.