Period

Australian PoWs in a camp at the Sumatran city of Pekanbaru, c1945. More than 80,000 forced labourers, including PoWs, died during the construction of Sumatran railway, most the victims of disease, starvation and maltreatment. (Photo by State Library of Victoria)

The Sumatran Railway: the forgotten death railway. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The ‘Princes in the Tower’: Edward V and his younger brother Richard, Duke of York, disappeared in mysterious circumstances following the death of their father, King Edward IV. (The Print Collector/Print Collector/Getty Images)

6 notorious unsolved crimes from history. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

British former field marshal Douglas Haig, inspects poppies before Armistice Day, October 1922. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Remembering the First World War: blood, poppies and poetry. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Allied soldiers with captured prisoners of war after the battle of Amiens during the First World War, 1918. (Photo by Authenticated News/Archive Photos/Getty Images)

Remembering the battle of Amiens. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Islam’s struggle with modernity podcast

Islam’s struggle with modernity. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Agincourt was one of the major battles of the Hundred Years' War.

Agincourt: medieval England's finest hour?

Portrait of Jane Seymour, third wife of Henry VIII, 1536. (Photo by Imagno/Getty Images)

Henry VIII's six wives in a different light. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Toilette of a Roman Lady. Found in the collection of Museo del Prado, Madrid. (Photo by Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

What did they wear in Ancient Rome?

Illustration by Glen McBeth

Did castle defenders pour boiling oil on their assailants during a medieval siege?

Comprising a large semi-circle of heavy woollen cloth, the Roman toga was a deeply impractical garment. (Photo By DEA/A.DE GREGORIO/De Agostini via Getty Images)

Q&ADid Ancient Roman togas have pockets?

A photograph of a crowd in Berlin celebrating Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany's proclamation of war against Great Britain, August 1914. (Photo by Historica Graphica Collection/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

The Library1914: Countdown to catastrophe. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The LibraryHow King Henry I made and blew a fortune. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Britain’s foreign policy secrets. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Photograph by Heinrich Hoffmann of Hitler and architects visiting the construction site of the Berghof around Christmas 1935. From left to right: Leonhard Gall, Gerdy Troost, Hitler, and Wilhelm Brückner, Hitler’s chief adjutant. (United States National Archives, College Park, Maryland)

Second World War

Where did Adolf Hitler live? The homes of the führer and how they were used as Nazi propaganda

Portrait of Richard III, dated 15th century. (Photo by Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images)

Treachery at Bosworth: what really brought down Richard III. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Members of the Palmers Green and Winchmore Hill LNER (London and North Eastern Railway) LDV (Local Defence Volunteers) dressed in their civilian clothes march along a platform passing a steam locomotive on 1 July 1940 in London. (Photo by Harry Todd/Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

The Dad’s Army guide to defending Britain. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

(Photo by Katie Edwards/Alamy Stock Photo)

Do we really live in a less charitable society than 50 years ago?

Podcast with Jonathan Ruffle

The Tommies' final acts. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Penshurst house

The LibraryHighlights of medieval Britain. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

An engraving showing the story of the Three Living and the Three Dead

Inside the medieval mind. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Catholics in Elizabethan England. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

An introduction to the Black Death

A chocolate house in Georgian times. Coffee and chocolate houses were popular, and served as clubs and meeting places for business (© TopFoto)

The Georgian origins of our obsession with chocolate. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Rethinking 20th-century Britain. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The history of birthday presents dates back to the Roman period. (Photo by Lambert/Fototrove/Getty Images Plus)

Q&AWhen did people start giving birthday presents?

Coca cola bottles from the 1990s

From Velcro to Viagra: 10 products that were invented by accident. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A photograph of Nelson Mandela. Peter Hain told the History Extra podcast about the South African leader’s remarkable achievements in the face of tremendous adversity. (Photo by Allan Tannenbaum/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images)

Peter Hain on Nelson Mandela: “A symbol for good leadership in the world”. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The blue-robed Henry VII pictured performing a variety of tasks at the Tower of London following his accession to the throne, in a contemporary illustration. (Universal History Archive/Getty Images)

Bosworth: the dawn of the Tudors. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Nelson Mandela podcast

Nelson Mandela’s extraordinary life. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Nelson Mandela

Mandela: the 20th century’s greatest leader?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.