Period

Murder: a legal history.

HMT Empire Windrush arrives at Tilbury Docks

Bound for Britain: your guide to the arrival of HMT Empire Windrush

Edward I. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Reassessing Edward I: battle-hungry aggressor or dutiful conqueror?.

The untold story of India’s WW2 prisoners of war.

Matilda (circa 1031-1083) was Queen Consort of William the Conqueror. (Photo by The Print Collector/Getty Images)

Norman women: the power behind the thrones.

The merits of meritocracy.

Coronation of King Edward III. (Ann Ronan Pictures/Print Collector/Getty Images)

7 medieval kings of England you should know about

Margaret of Anjou married Henry VI of England in 1445

Margaret of Anjou: a brief guide to the 'She-Wolf of France'

Fridtjof Nansen: Explorer, scientist, writer, humanitarian

The first great polar expedition: Fridtjof Nansen’s 1888 traverse of the Greenland Ice Sheet.

Elizabeth Woodville with her husband, Edward IV. According to one medieval document, their marriage only came about “by Sorcerie and Wichecrafte, committed by the said Elizabeth, and her Moder Jaquett Duchess of Bedford”. (Photo by Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

Medieval royal witches: from Elizabeth Woodville to Queen Joan of Navarre

The Enlightenment: everything you wanted to know.

African Europeans.

A depiction of athletes in the torch race, ancient Olympics

What were the ancient Olympics like? Take a visit to the Games of 436 BC

Women secret agents in Nazi-occupied France.

French cuirassiers charging a British infantry square at the battle of Waterloo, 1815 (1906). From Cassell's Illustrated History of England, Vol. V. (Cassell and Company Limited, London, Paris, New York, Melbourne). Artist P Jazet. (Photo by The Print Collector/Getty Images)

How the French won the battle of Waterloo (or think they did)

A photograph of President John Quincy Adams

Q&AWhat’s the oldest photo of a US president?

Colour portrait of Jane Austen (1775–1817) drawn by her sister Cassandra. Dated 1810. (Photo by Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images)

Jane Austen: a guide to her life, books and death – plus 8 fascinating facts

A man digs a grave in Sarajevo for victims of the war in Bosnia, 1992

Yugoslavia: why shared Slavic identity couldn’t save an idealised nation from fracture and bloodshed.

"Make love not midnight snacks": a social history of slimming clubs.

Boat diplomacy: Froissart's 'Chronicles' show Richard II acceding to many of the rebels' demands at Mile End, 14 June 1381. The speed with which the rebels flooded London wrong-footed the king's advisors. (Photo by Alamy)

Revealed: the true identity of the rebels of the Peasants' Revolt.

Censorship, contradiction & controversy: a decade in the life of DH Lawrence.

The battle of Stoke Field – German mercenary Martin Schwarz made a famous last stand in the thick of the fighting even as other elements of the rebel army turned and fled

The battle of Stoke Field, 1487 – the real last battle of the Wars of the Roses

Who was Britain’s greatest prime minister? Episode 9: Secrets of being a successful leader.

A portrait of William Barnes. The accomplished linguist wanted to adopt a form of English purged of foreign imports

QuizWould you be able to speak in National English?.

A c1850 satirical illustration of King John signing Magna Charta. (Photo by the Print Collector/Getty Images)

Is 15 June 1215 the true date of Magna Carta? Two historians debate.

Actor Errol Flynn as Robin Hood in the film 'The Adventures of Robin Hood', 1938. (Photo by Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images)

What's the most accurate Robin Hood film?

Unearthing Britain’s prehistoric secrets.

Henry V’s greatest victory (and it wasn't at the battle of Agincourt).

Titanic: everything you wanted to know.

What can we learn from past catastrophes?.