Crime and punishment - Getty Images

Crime and punishment

Late 19th and early 20th-century 'lock-up mugshots' show style-conscious villains staring down the camera

Who were the real Peaky Blinders?

A medieval manuscript scene depicting three robed figures with pale, gaunt faces standing side by side. To their right, a hooded figure in a long robe lifts a club or staff in a striking pose. The background is plain parchment with several lines of Latin script written above the figures.

It was medieval England's worst antisemitic massacre. Here's what happened next. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A black‑and‑white portrait photograph of a person wearing large round glasses, a collared shirt, and a leather jacket rests on top of an aged folder with a string‑tie closure, placed on a wooden surface.

I wrote a letter to the world's most famous terrorist – and nothing could have prepared me for his reply. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A collage featuring portraits of several historical figures linked to infamous crimes, including a Victorian woman at the center, a mustached man in period clothing, a Renaissance-era woman in ornate dress, and another older figure in a hat. Behind them are a chalk-style body outline on a blue textured background and an old multi‑story building with arched windows

History's most notorious crime scenes: from Lizzie Borden's lair to HH Holmes's 'murder castle'. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The relentless rise of the mafia: a grisly tale of extortion, execution and Don Corleone. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A seated person wearing an elaborate costume poses with one hand resting on their face. They wear a large, ornate headdress with wing‑like extensions and pearls, and a richly decorated outfit with detailed embroidery and an eagle motif on the chest.

"It wasn't very open about its queer connections": the hidden history of the National Trust. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Why do we still ban books?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A black and white illustration showing two men dressed in dark clothing and hats sitting in a rowing boat. One of them sits halfway in the boat, holding the oars. The other is leant over the front of the boat and is pulling the body of a woman out of the water. Behind them is a bridge with two large arches underneath it

He's the Victorian serial killer you've never heard of – and we may now know who he was. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

An illustration showing a royal purple robe being lifted from the ground, with some dust being swept under it with a dustpan and brush

The prince and the brothel: 6 scandals that rocked the British monarchy. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

An outline of a woman sitting at a typewriter is placed over three newspaper clippings

From maniacal horses to bat-men on the moon: 14 strange newspaper headlines from history. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Episode 1The MILLION pound forgery | Mrs Rudd vs the Perreaus. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A collage of images showing a woman in a red and brown dress, with her arms around a small child to her left. Behind them is a large building, some ships and a crowd of people

Meet the incredible woman who saved Portugal's Jews. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

An image of a man and an old image of a young woman in a venn diagram style

She defied the Nazis and paid the ultimate price: why I'm in awe of Sophie Scholl's courage. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A sketch showing a woman surrounded by men. One man is putting a hood over her head and another is reading from a book next to her

These are four of the most brutal Victorian murders. Were women really the perpetrators?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A collage of a man in Nazi uniform in front of a large building

I've just been inside a Nazi monster's mansion – and what I found there was deeply haunting. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Fake news and the Dreyfus affair: the media-fuelled scandal that divided France. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Defendants at the Nuremberg Trials listen to proceedings in 1946. In the front row sit Hermann Göring, Rudolf Hess, Joachim von Ribbentrop, Wilhelm Keitel, and Ernst Kaltenbrunner; behind them are Karl Dönitz, Erich Raeder, Baldur von Schirach, and Fritz Sauckel. Together they represent the senior leadership of the Nazi regime held to account for its crimes.

Second World War

“I hope I would have defended the Nazis at Nuremberg”

A man in medieval attire hands another man an arrow

Was there a real Sheriff of Nottingham?

A woman dressed in a grey top and a green and orange bandana holds a black and white photograph of a young man against her chin. She stands in front of a plain, yellow wall

The Srebrenica massacre: the worst atrocity committed on European soil since the Second World War. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Illustration of a demon breathing fire with springs on his shoes jumping and scaring two women

Spring-Heeled Jack: the fire-breathing phantom that terrorised Victorian England

A fairy in a green dress balances on the palm of a hand with a yellow background

Don’t fear the fairies – but do allow a little enchantment into your life. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Scotland's season of the witch. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Illustration of soldiers in medieval armour killing peasant women

Why it was more dangerous to steal a loaf of bread than commit murder in medieval England

The "outwardly respectable" man who had a body in his basement: how the Dr Crippen case shocked Britain. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Tudor angels of death: the 16th-century obsession with female killers. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Gilles de Rais, accused of murdering at least 140 children in 15th-century France

Was Gilles de Rais really history’s first recorded serial killer?

Ruth Ellis and her friend Desmond Cussen

The true story of Ruth Ellis and the hanging that rocked a nation

The Forty Elephants gang with an inset of Diamond Annie

Who were the real Forty Elephants? The true story of Mary Carr and the all-woman crime gang

An illustration of the future King Edward VI of England with his whipping boy (Photo by Chronicle/Alamy Stock Photo)

“Literally whipped”: the boys who took the beatings meant for royal bottoms

John F Kennedy in 1960 (left) and would-be assassin Richard Pavlick

The JFK assassination attempt you’ve never heard of