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From a clairvoyant chicken to a fake Shakespeare: 8 hoaxes that fooled Georgian Britain. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

How did communism conquer China?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Olaf Tryggvason: life of the week. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Episode 4“You can’t kill and maim with impunity”: the powerful legacy of Nuremberg. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A cartoon shows a big, textured single‑celled organism emerging from a petri dish and reaching toward the Grim Reaper, who steps back in surprise against a yellow background.

What was the greatest invention in history? 9 experts share their opinions. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The death of Adolf Hitler. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A glass dessert dish holds a creamy mixture with visible fruit pieces, topped with whole gooseberries and a small sprig of mint

Episode 5Gooseberry Fool. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A colourful surreal collage set against a purple background. It features a large green alligator head on the left, a honey dipper dripping honey, a sliced lemon, a classical-style illustration of a person drinking from a jug, a small brown‑and‑white weasel, a long piale pink condom, and reddish‑brown pods with bright red and black seeds

14 weird contraception methods from history: from weasel testicles to fish bladder condoms. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Ancient Greek manuscript page with worn edges and faded ink, viewed under imaging light.

This ancient New Testament manuscript was covered in “ghost text.” Now, scientists have recovered its lost words. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A medieval-style illustration of plague victims being examined is overlaid with the text “Sunday Series: Black Death” (Photos via Getty)

Series 8 The Black Death. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Two overlapping circular portraits on a green background. The left circle contains a black‑and‑white photo of a person in a military-style uniform sitting at a desk and speaking on a telephone. The right circle shows a colour photo of a person with medium-length hair looking toward the camera.

Churchill called him the greatest British general of the war – so why isn't he better remembered?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Colour portrait of Princess Elizabeth standing in an ornate room at Buckingham Palace, wearing a light dress and pearl necklace, hands clasped.

Second World War

After two world wars, monarchies across the world collapsed. Why did Britain's survive?

David Attenborough and the evolution of nature documentaries. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Do secret societies really rule the world?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

General History

Quiz of the weekAt what age did Margaret Beaufort give birth to Henry Tudor?

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History crossword1 May. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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General History

Can you solve our history crossword of the week?8 May

Four women in military uniform celebrate VE Day by waving Union Jack flags from an open-top jeep surrounded by cheering crowds. The joyful scene takes place in a city street lined with large stone buildings, as onlookers smile and gather around the vehicle.

Second World War

A brief guide to VE Day

Black-and-white portrait of a young John F Kennedy in US Navy uniform, facing forward.

Second World War

JFK's brother was destined for the presidency. Then a tragedy struck that changed American history

A mixed group of men and women in early‑20th‑century clothing gather around a table set with dishes, with a bearded man seated at the centre of the group.

Did Rasputin really bring down the Tsars? The truth behind the dark legend of the Russian mystic. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Medieval illustration of two men playing chess across from each other with a chessboard between them.

Bold moves? This historian says chess battled racism in the Middle Ages. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A worker's eye-view of ancient Rome. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Niccolò Machiavelli: life of the week. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Episode 3Did the Nazis get a fair trial?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A pyramid with several tiers displays figures in historical clothing arranged by level, topped by a golden palace and a robed figure seated before it, symbolising a social hierarchy.

"Today, the defenders of the Enlightenment are in retreat". This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A top-down view shows a metal dish filled with a rich, red curry containing chunks of meat, garnished with a sprig of cilantro

Episode 4Balti. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

How to pull off a Georgian dinner party. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A bronze Greek warrior statue and a costumed hoplite stand against a sunset sky with tall grass and stylised golden olive branches.

Nude inspections, thigh flashers and fights to the death: 15 things you need to know about the Spartans. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A detailed medieval painting of chaotic scenes of death and destruction is overlaid with the text “Black Death” and “Episode Three” (Photo via Getty)

Episode 3The long shadow of the Black Death. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A medieval-style scene of people carrying bodies during the plague is overlaid with the text “Black Death” and “Episode Two” (Photo via Getty)

Episode 2Fear and faith: coping with the Black Death. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.