Period

Nationalism: everything you wanted to know.

From dodos to 'lost' tribes: a history of extinction.

Dame Stephanie Shirley and Tommy Flowers

My history heroDame Stephanie Shirley chooses Tommy Flowers

On 10 March 1945, Tokyo residents who lost their homes in the devastating US air raid gather amid the ruins. Known as Operation Meetinghouse, the raid was the most destructive bombing in history, part of a wider firebombing campaign during the Pacific War. (Photo by Getty Images)

Second World War

Before the atomic bombs, the USA hit Japan with one of the most overlooked (but deadly) campaigns in WW2

An illustration of a woman in a gold and red dress walking on a tightrope while balancing a pair of scales on her head. The scales hold an angel on one side and a devil on the other. Behind her on the tightrope, there is a cat. Below her, there is a town and a factory, with some houses submerged in water

Michael Wood on lessons on good government from medieval Siena.

In Conversation at Kew Gardens giveaway Terms & Conditions

A close up image of the eye of a black horse

Medieval warhorses: 5 moments horsepower changed the course of history.

Europe's last pagans.

This stone relief from the palace of Ashurbanipal at Nineveh (668–627 BC) shows the Assyrian king leading a lion hunt — a dramatic display of dominance that reinforced royal authority in the Late Assyrian Empire.

General ancient history

Would you kidnap a god? This ancient Mesopotamian empire did – and for a genius reason

VJ Day and the story of women's football: history behind the headlines.

Ilustration of a pair of hands holding a book called 'Summer Reading 2025'. There is a bookshelf in the background

General History

28 of the best history summer reads for 2025

On a green background, there is a sketch of a human pyramid of people in togas, all balancing fruit on their heads, arms and feet

Be neighbourly like a Pompeian.

A sketch shows two topless men wearing pale shorts fighting each other in a boxing ring

From a lion-taming lightweight to the Muscular Maids: 5 Victorian boxing sensations you need to know about.

The tangled legacies of two Americas.

The Paris Commune: everything you wanted to know.

A woman stands next to a plough, with a house in the distance behind her. A man is standing next to the house

“The motors of the wagon train”: meet the forgotten women who upended gender norms to win the Wild West

VJ Day: why don't we talk about WW2 in Asia?.

Statue of Mesopotamian king Ashurbanipal

General ancient history

He tried to conquer knowledge itself – instead this ancient Mesopotamian king resorted to rule with terror

Many brightly coloured teacups with triangular handles sit on top of a white table. To the left, one of them is being picked up. The person is wearing a green bracelet on the arm they are using to hold the cup

Designs for life: the lasting impact of Art Deco.

Zoot suits, mashers & New Romantics: the evolution of the dandy.

Purple and yellow banner with the text 'Turning Points in British History'

Turning points in British history.

Woodcut of a man swimming in a river, while another man stands on the bank

The most common accidental way to die in Tudor England reveals surprising truths about daily life

Maria of Modena: life of the week.

A woman dressed in a ruffled dress and spotted robe holds a young child in a white, lacy dress and cap

Maria of Modena: The queen who started a revolution.

Arson, murder and goddesses: secrets of a Seventh Wonder of the Ancient World.

Frontier life: everything you wanted to know.

American physicist J Robert Oppenheimer arrives at Orly Airport in Paris to lecture at the Faculté des Sciences. Once a leading figure in the Manhattan Project, Oppenheimer’s postwar career was marked by international engagement and growing controversy. (Photo by Getty Images)

Second World War

How Nazi secrets triggered the ultimate moral dilemma – and led to Oppenheimer’s atomic bomb

Forgotten stories from South Asian history.

This illustration from the Codex Manesse (c.1300) shows Konrad von Altstetten, a Swiss ministerial, reclining with his beloved after a hunt. The lavish manuscript, compiled in Heidelberg, preserves the courtly poetry and romantic ideals of the German medieval nobility. (Photo by Getty Images)

Wandering womanisers? These charismatic bards took the medieval world (and its women) by storm

Was the atomic bomb necessary to end war with Japan?.