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General Modern

Historians Sam Willis (left) and James Daybell. "We challenged ourselves to write the histories of things we weren't necessarily even sure had a history," says Willis. (Photo by David Hampton for BBC History Magazine)

Books interview with Sam Willis and James Daybell: "Everything has a history. And we mean absolutely everything".

The LibraryIan Kershaw on the trials of writing modern history.

Traders on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange after the closing bell on 29 September 2008. A record 778 points were wiped off the Dow Jones that day, as the 2008 financial crisis pushed the world's banking system to the edge of collapse. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

The credit crunch: "It's a story of hubris followed by a fall".

When we conduct historical research, we encounter terms and concepts that are familiar to us in the present. Yet we should not assume that these concepts possessed the same meaning in the past as they do now, says Dean Blackburn. (Image by Shawshots / Alamy Stock Photo)

5 tips for historical research: from uncovering local history to plotting your family tree.

The march for Catalan Independence held in Barcelona, 11 September 2014 (Photo by Jordi Elias Grassot/Alamy)

Scots and Catalans.

Dan Jones on the secrets of popular history

Dan Jones on the secrets of popular history.

A portrait of Abraham Lincoln

Lincoln's funniest jokes

Islam’s struggle with modernity podcast

Islam’s struggle with modernity.

(Photo by Katie Edwards/Alamy Stock Photo)

Do we really live in a less charitable society than 50 years ago?

Coca cola bottles from the 1990s

From Velcro to Viagra: 10 products that were invented by accident.

While young ladies may have been daydreaming of handsome film stars such as Cary Grant, pictured here kissing the cheek of Ingrid Bergman in a publicity still for the 1946 film ‘Notorious’, agony aunts were keen to bring them back down to earth. (Photo by John Springer Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)

How to be a man: tips from 1930s agony aunts.

A Campaign for Homosexual Equality rally held in London’s Trafalgar Square in 1974. The Sexual Offences Act of 1967 helped pave the way for activism such as this in the 1970s, says Florence Sutcliffe-Braithwaite. (Corbis via Getty Images)

The 1967 Sexual Offences Act: a landmark moment in the history of British homosexuality.

Kate Middleton: a thoroughly modern mum.

Spies through the ages podcast

Spies through the ages.

Ireland podcast

Ireland’s past and present.

A man sneezes into a handkerchief, c1936. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images)

General History

6 facts about the history of hay fever

Sherwood Forest podcast

Sherwood Forest through the ages.

Michael Fish makes his first televised weather forecast in 1974. (Photo by Press Association)

4 facts about the history of the weather forecast

National debt podcast

The national debt dilemma.

Troops in Korea, c1951. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)

Forging alliances: Britain and the US in the Korean War.

(Getty Images)

Why has Britain decided to leave the EU?.

US president Donald Trump and the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un shake hands at a summit in Singapore on 12 June 2018. (Photo by Handout/Getty Images)

The Trump-Kim summit of June 2018: what did it really achieve?.

The city of Bern, Switzerland. "I lived in Bern as a young lecturer, and I still feel positive about its effect on my life and writing," says Seán Williams. (Photo by Chinnaphong Mungsiri via Getty Images)

My favourite place: Bern, Switzerland

Grenfell Tower: from hope to tragedy.

London traffic. (Photo by Popper Ltd./ullstein bild via Getty Images)

The history of Britain’s roads

America's changing dream.

Bearded Victorian man. (Photo by Getty Images)

A brief history of beards

Charles Lindbergh, photographed alongside the ‘Spirit of St. Louis’.

A pioneering flight: Charles Lindbergh’s transatlantic crossing.

My favourite place: Bruges, Belgium

My history hero: Aled Jones chooses Freddie Mercury (1946–91).