Period

Why the Maginot Line couldn't save France in WW2. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Illustration of Emma of Normandy and two of her children

King and Conqueror’s most gruesome death should never have happened and would be “totally out of character”

Crime fiction history: everything you wanted to know. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

This 13th-century illustration from the Chronique d’Outremer shows the departure of the Templars. While rooted in the eastern Crusades, such imagery also echoed in the Northern Crusades, where the Teutonic Knights led campaigns to Christianise the pagan Baltic. expanding the crusading ideal far beyond Jerusalem.

The clever medieval trick that destroyed the last stand of stubborn paganism in Europe

James Monroe served as the fifth president of the United States (1817–1825). His name is most famously linked to the Monroe Doctrine, asserting US opposition to European interference in the Americas, a cornerstone of 19th-century foreign policy.

Is this the secret to understanding US foreign policy? How a powerful doctrine from 1823 reshaped America

How Christianity came to dominate the Roman world. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

This 1877 painting by Oscar Wergeland depicts Norwegian settlers arriving in Iceland in 872. Fleeing the unification of Norway under Harald Fairhair, these early migrants laid the foundations of a unique Norse society on the island’s volcanic shores.

Could you survive on the Vikings’ furthest frontier? Here’s the dark reality of Norse life on the edge

A drawing of a king holding a crown on his head, against a black and white image of a church

Far away from England, the mystery of Harold Godwinson's lost crown might have just been solved

A man wearing a blue jumper and black trousers stands in front on a large mural of an airport

Kavita Puri's hidden histories: "A UK museum that tells the long, rich history of migration is long overdue". This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The spy next door: Moscow's century-long plot to infiltrate the west. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

This illustrated map traces the route of Venetian merchant Marco Polo along the Silk Road to China in the 13th century. His travels opened up new vistas of Asia to Europe and became one of the most influential accounts of the medieval world.

Step onto the medieval Silk Road and you'll witness its intense wonders – and its hidden horror

What if Harold died at Stamford Bridge, not Hastings?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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

A man in a grey T shirt and blue jeans sits with his arms crossed, facing the camera. He has dark curly hair and wears glasses

Jonathan Healey: “A connection was made between the rarefied world of the royal court and the politics of the street”. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Britain and the Caribbean: from slavery to Black Lives Matter. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A woman in a grey cloak holds a swaddled infant to her shoulder

Edith the Fair: the life of Harold Godwinson’s first wife

Luther Ford as Tostig Godwinson in BBC drama King and Conqueror

How Tostig Godwinson’s brotherly betrayal hastened the fall of the Anglo-Saxons

Juliet Stevenson as Emma of Normandy in BBC drama King and Conqueror (Photo via BBC)

Emma of Normandy: not just a two-time queen consort of England

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as William the Conqueror in BBC Norman Conquest drama King and Conqueror

How historically accurate is King and Conqueror? Here’s the real history that should have happened

This posthumous portrait of William I, known as the Conqueror, was painted c.1590–1610 and is held by the National Portrait Gallery, London. Though created centuries after his death, it reflects early modern interest in the legacy of England’s first Norman monarch. (Photo by Getty Images)

Meet the real William the Conqueror, the Duke of Normandy who reshaped England

Illustrations of Harold Godwinson and William the Conqueror

How well did Harold Godwinson and William the Conqueror know each other prior to the battle of Hastings?

A collage of four images, depicting four different kings against a blue background

1066: who was the rightful king?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Shakespeare didn't do the Norman Conquest, but the Bayeux Tapestry did, so where does that leave the BBC's King and Conqueror?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Nationalism: everything you wanted to know. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

From dodos to 'lost' tribes: a history of extinction. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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

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