Period

The trial of Lady Chatterley’s Lover: how the 'obscene' book caused a moral storm

Margaret Thatcher surrounded by British soldiers of the 1st Battalion, Royal Hampshire Regiment, during a surprise visit to the Falkland Islands, January 1983. Britain has "ceased to be a nation in retreat," declared the prime minister in the wake of the victory over Argentine forces.

How the Falklands War fired up Britain. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Illustration by Davide Bonazzi.

The WW2 obsession: why the world can't move on from 1945. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

In pictures: Soviet cosmonauts and the birth of the space age

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

1651, Charles Prince of Wales (1630 - 1685) (later King Charles II of England) meets Sir Henry Lee near Oxford during the Civil War, while escaping after the Battle of Worcester.

How Charles II put Britain back together after the Civil War. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Billy Fullerton, gang chief of the Glasgow gang the Billy Boys

Who were the real Billy Boys, the Glasgow gang in Peaky Blinders?

William Dalrymple on the East India Company. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

War criminal? William the Conqueror shown on horseback in the Bayeux Tapestry. The king's Harrying of the North was a military success but a human catastrophe – one that even appalled chroniclers traditionally sympathetic to the Norman regime. (Photo by Bridgeman)

Was William the Conqueror a war criminal? The brutal story of the Harrying of the North

A cartoon from 1862 shows a pair 'garroters' attacking a victim. (Photo by The Cartoon Collector/Print Collector/Getty Images)

Gangs and knife-crime fears: how has Britain responded through history?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Black and white portrait image of Cardinal John Henry Newman.

Who was Cardinal John Henry Newman?

Giant of literature: A page from the 'Beowulf' manuscript. The story is fictional but some of the characters within it were real people, and others were believed to be the ancestors of Anglo-Saxon and Danish kings. (Photo by Alamy)

Beowulf: The Anglo-Saxons' action hero

Half-timbered medieval cottages, Water Street, Lavenham, Suffolk, England, (Photo by Getty Images)

History explorerA wealth of history: Laversham, Sulfolk

William Dalrymple is an award-winning writer and historian based in India. (Photo by Bikramjt Bose)

“This was a corporation that could topple kings”: William Dalrymple on the East India Company. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

British journalist Tom Wintringham (1898–1949), the candidate for the Christian Socialist Commonwealth Party. (Photo by Haywood Magee/Picture Post/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

History heroPeter Tatchell chooses Tom Wintringham (1898–1949). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Catherine the Great: fact and fiction. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Cardinal John Henry Newman

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

The murder of Thomas Becket

Q&A: What happened to the assassins who killed Thomas Becket?

Queen Elizabeth II

The differences between UK and US governments: a brief guide

This 1867 magazine illustration shows a group of children preparing for Halloween. (Photo by American Stock/Getty Images)

The origins of Halloween: tricks, treats and cobbled streets. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev (1818-1883) (Photo by Getty Images)

Orlando Figes on the transformation of Europe. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

On 20 July 1969, Lunar Module 'Eagle' touched down gently on the Sea of Tranquility on the moon. (Photo by NASA/Newsmakers via Getty Images)

From ‘moon-germs’ to motion sickness: health and safety on NASA’s 1969 lunar landing mission. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

5 reasons why the King James version of the Bible matters. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Henry Hemming.

Fake news in World War Two. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A portrait of George V's wife, Queen Mary, who was born Princess Mary of Teck.

Was Queen Mary, wife of George V, a kleptomaniac?

Cariad Lloyd, Suzannah Lipscomb and Greg Jenner

"A history podcast for people who don't like history": Greg Jenner on his new podcast You’re Dead To Me. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The Temple Scroll, from the Dead Sea Scrolls

General ancient history

Digging for the Bible: 10 key discoveries from the Holy Land

In 1992, Betty Boothroyd was voted in as Speaker of the House of Commons, with cross-party support by 372 votes to 238, asking the House “to elect me for what I am, not for what I was born”. (Photo by Tom Stoddart/Getty Images)

A brief history of the Speakers of the House of Commons. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A portrait of prime minister Lord Frederick North. His government was the first to be brought down by a vote of no confidence, in 1782. (Photo by Culture Club/Getty Images)

Vote of no confidence: a brief history. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Four figures in a boat, including the ibis-headed god Thoth and the scarab-headed god Khepri

8 ancient Egyptian gods and goddesses you might not know about