Period

A new history of multicultural Britain.

A red and black illustration showing a large wolf jumping up, above a man laying on the floor. Around the central wolf, there are several others

Spectral beasts and hounds of hell: a spooky history of Britain's ghost dogs.

Research into Adolf Hitler's DNA has thrown up some extraordinary insights into the Nazi dictator’s private life. (Images by Getty Images)

Second World War

“We analysed Hitler’s DNA – and what we discovered made us gasp”

This 1865 image shows Giuseppe Garibaldi at Caprera, the veteran revolutionary whose campaigns made him a hero of the Italian unification movement. Celebrated across Europe, Garibaldi became the enduring symbol of Italy’s struggle for independence and national unity.

History’s sexiest revolutionary? Meet the mesmerising general whose charms helped win a war

An illustration showing a large white building with a triangular roof and columns. In front of it, there is an open gate with chains and several padlocks hanging from the left hand side

Who should decide the stories museums tell?.

Who was REALLY buried at Sutton Hoo? The secrets behind the famous helmet.

General History

Quiz of the weekWhat was the codename for Winston Churchill's plan to attack the Soviet Union?

Still of astronaut in 'Once Upon a Time in Space'

History TV and radio in the UK: what's on our screens this week?

Who stole the Tudor crown?.

This late 16th-century portrait by John de Critz depicts Sir Francis Walsingham (c.1532–1590), Queen Elizabeth I’s spymaster. A shrewd diplomat and master of espionage, Walsingham built the intelligence network that helped safeguard the Tudor state from plots and foreign threats.

Elizabeth I’s shadowy spy network was tasked with uncovering secret conspiracies. Here’s what it found

The librarian who stole KGB secrets.

Shea Whigham as Roscoe Conkling in the Netflix series Death by Lightning, beside a portrait of the real Conkling.

Who was Roscoe Conkling? The real story of how US politics’ ‘spoils system’ met its match

Episode 1 The VIKING king of England: the story of King Cnut and the Danish conquest of 1016.

On 27 May 1954, Sir Winston Churchill addresses a meeting of the Women’s Conservative Association. Nearly a decade after leading Britain through the Second World War, the prime minister remained a commanding figure in British politics and public life.

Second World War

It was Operation Unthinkable: Churchill's "impossible" plan to start World War 3

Nellie Bly: life of the week.

The improbable alliance that defeated Hitler.

I met two survivors of the Women's Orchestra of Auschwitz. This is their story.

Remember, remember: the legacy of the Gunpowder Plot.

This 1876 portrait by shows Frederick Douglass (1818–1895), the formerly enslaved man who became one of America’s leading abolitionists, orators, and reformers.

Frederick Douglass escaped enslavement in 1838 – but here's why he was still far from true freedom

A black and white photograph showing a young boy playing with two girls in the sand

"Imagine starting a life with so little": the stories of South Asians in Britain.

Defendants at the Nuremberg Trials listen to proceedings in 1946. In the front row sit Hermann Göring, Rudolf Hess, Joachim von Ribbentrop, Wilhelm Keitel, and Ernst Kaltenbrunner; behind them are Karl Dönitz, Erich Raeder, Baldur von Schirach, and Fritz Sauckel. Together they represent the senior leadership of the Nazi regime held to account for its crimes.

Second World War

“I hope I would have defended the Nazis at Nuremberg”

Hermann Göring in his office at the Reichstag, where he served as a leading figure of the Nazi regime. As Hitler’s deputy and head of the Luftwaffe, Göring wielded immense power during the Third Reich, later facing prosecution for war crimes at Nuremberg.

Second World War

Who was Hermann Göring? The truth about Hitler’s drug-fuelled enforcer who met his downfall at Nuremberg

Hermann Göring testifies in his own defense at the Nuremberg Trials in 1946. Once a leading figure of the Nazi regime, Göring faced prosecution alongside other high-ranking officials for war crimes and crimes against humanity in the aftermath of the Second World War.

Second World War

The Nuremberg Trials: the real history behind the post-WW2 tribunal that brought Nazi leaders to justice

Was Robin Hood ACTUALLY real? The history explained.

Five partitions that shaped South Asia.

A side-by-side comparison of the real Lucretia Garfield, alongside how she is seen in the Netflix series Death by Lightning.

Who was the real Lucretia Garfield? Inside the forgotten life of a fleeting First Lady

Chester Arthur as played by Nick Offerman in Netflix drama Death by Lightning, and a photo of the real Chester Arthur

Who was the real Chester Arthur – and what was his relationship with James Garfield?

US President James Garfiled as played by Michael Shannon in Netflix drama Death by Lightning, and a photo of the real James Garfield

Who was the real James Garfield, ‘the man from Ohio’ and doomed president of Death by Lightning?

A collage of Matthew Macfadyen as Charles Guiteau in Netflix series Death by Lightning, alongside a portrait of the real Charles Guiteau.

Death by Lightning real history: the true story of Charles Guiteau and a president’s assassination

This 3rd-century AD Roman mosaic shows two murmillones — gladiators named Symmachus and Maternus — locked in combat as their trainers watch from the arena’s edge.

Think you know what an ancient Roman gladiator looked like? The reality will make you think again