21st Century

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

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

21st CenturyvideoKing Charles IIIA life in pictures

Membership

Michael Wood on the coronation of Charles III"The symbolism of the royal promise still means something today". This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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)

Membership

The royal family and their right to privacy: who should have access to the records?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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.

Membership

“Many, if not most, Nazi analogies are historically inaccurate”: Richard J Evans on the trouble with comparisons. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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)

Membership

“The early 2000s was a strange era of fear and terror”: remembering the Iraq War 20 years on. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Membership

How ballroom dancing gripped Britain. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A montage of images, including: Ukrainians in Rome protest against the Russian invasion; 2: Chinese Nationalist leader Chiang Kai- shek (right) in 1949, when he retreated to Taiwan; 3: The future Queen Elizabeth II and King Charles III, 1950; 4: Former chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng and prime minister Liz Truss, October 2022

Membership

2022: The historians’ view. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

20th Century

Q&AWhy did NORAD begin tracking Santa Claus in the Cold War?

Catherine Nixey, Rana Mitter and Michael Wood, photographed by Fran Monks for BBC History Magazine

Membership

"A vintage year for history books": historians choose their best books of 2022. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

21st Century

"Superbly written” story of women’s experiences of slavery wins the 2022 Cundill History Prize

Membership

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

Argentinian midfielder Mario Kempes celebrates a goal in the 1978 football World Cup final between hosts Argentina and Netherlands

General Modern

Sportswashing: a historical perspective on a current trend

David Dimbleby commands the studio during the May 1997 general election

Membership

BBC at 100Into the digital age. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A still from American-made war epic All Quiet on the Western Front

20th Century

All Quiet On The Western FrontWhy its lessons still matter today

Membership

Writing the history of the modern monarchy. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Princess Diana in 1994, attending an event at London’s Serpentine Gallery (left), and Elizabeth Debicki as Diana, portraying the same moment in the so-called 'revenge dress' in The Crown

Membership

Free-spirited drama or fake news? How The Crown morphed from ‘safe’ territory to controversy. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Membership

Are period dramas damaging history?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

21st Century

Where is The Crown filmed? The Netflix drama’s locations and their royal links

President Reagan laughs following a joke by Queen Elizabeth, who commented on the lousy California weather she had experienced since her arrival to the States. The British Queen is delivering a brief address during a state dinner held at the De Young Museum in San Francisco. (Picture by Bettmann/Getty Images)

20th Century

Queen Elizabeth's relationships with US presidents

Dominic West as Prince Charles and Elizabeth Debicki as Diana in season 5 of The Crown

Membership

Opinion“If scholars can’t write accurate histories of the Queen’s reign, drama is what we’ll continue to rely on”. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

War and Conflict, Malaya, pic: 1953, British troops of the Special Air Service (SAS) with a helicopter, having been dropped off in the jungle in search of bandits (Photo by Popperfoto via Getty Images/Getty Images)

20th Century

In a nutshellThe history of the SAS

Afghan fighters on top of a destroyed Soviet helicopter, 1980 (Photo by Alain Dejean/Sygma via Getty Images)

Membership

War without end: conflict in Afghanistan, from the Cold War Soviet invasion to the Taliban. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Membership

Ian McEwan on writing historical novels. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Russian men called up to fight attend a ceremony to mark their departure

Membership

Russia-Ukraine conflictHow the latest developments echo the Second World War. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Hilary Mantel, pictured in Oxford in 2017

Membership

Hilary Mantel remembered“She changed the way we think about history”. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The election of Giorgia Meloni as Italy’s first female prime minister

Membership

The rise of Giorgia Meloni“It makes plain the strange way a dictator has retained a positive image in many sectors of Italian society”. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Sara Forbes Bonetta (seated besides her husband James Davies was brought to England in the late 1840s by a Navy captain. Presented to Queen Victoria, she impressed the monarch so much that Victoria became her godmother

20th Century

Black History MonthWhat is it, historians on its relevance, plus 7 articles you should read

Prince Charles in 1969

20th Century

King Charles IIIThe life of the reigning king

Front door of No 10 Downing Street, the official residence of the British prime minister

Membership

From Walpole to TrussLessons from the 300-year history of the British prime minister. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Membership

Episode 8What can history tell us about its future?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

You're currently on page 5

Prev Page

Next Page