Cold War

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

Spy plane photos revealed that missile bases were being built on Cuba, prompting the crisis. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

What if... The Cuban Missile Crisis escalated?

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

Trevor Barnes details the 1960s operation to uncover the infamous Portland Spy Ring – one of the most dangerous KGB espionage networks ever to operate in the UK. (Image by Getty Images)

Hunting down the Portland Spy Ring

Simon Hall explores why Fidel Castro’s visit to New York City in 1960 shaped the rest of the decade. (Image by Getty Images)

Castro and the trip that shaped the 1960s

The Hughes Glomar Explorer was a salvage vessel disguised as a mining ship, designed to secretly recover Soviet sub K-129

Project Azorian: the Cold War CIA mission to snatch Soviet nuclear sub K-129 from the sea floor

American citizens Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, following their arrest by the FBI 1950. They were convicted of passing infomation to the Soviets and executed in 1953

The secrets and lies of Cold War spies

A missionary preaches to the Native Americans of Massachusetts, c1650. By now, colonists were imposing their values on the indigenous population, encouraging them to dress like the English – and worship the English God. (Photo by Ian Tyas/Keystone/Getty Images)

Britain’s nuclear fears: preparing for armageddon

Dag Hammarskjöld

The mysterious death of Dag Hammarskjöld: a Cold War killing?

Ernest Bevin

Second World War

Ernest Bevin: working-class warrior

Berlin Wall

The Berlin Wall: everything you need to know

In need of some summer reading inspiration? Check out our list of favourite biographies, era-spanning epics and much else besides. (Photo by Goodluz/Alamy Stock Photo)

Summer reads 2020: the best history books to take on holiday (or staycation)

Astronaut Buzz Aldrin on the moon's surface

The history of the moon landing: everything you need to know

President Kennedy gives a televised speech, 22 October 1962. (Photo by Getty Images)

The Cuban Missile Crisis: everything you wanted to know

A mushroom cloud produced by the explosion of a hydrogen bomb during Operation Ivy, an American nuclear test that took place in 1952. (SSPL/Getty Images)

How have nuclear weapons shaped global politics? 10 key moments in the post-war atomic world