Crime and punishment

Jane Rogoyska explains how more than 20,000 Polish prisoners-of-war were murdered on Stalin’s orders in 1940, and explores the decades-long coverup that followed. (Image by Getty Images)

Second World War

Uncovering the truth about WW2’s Katyn massacre

Historian Timothy Hickman answers listener questions about the ban on booze in 1920s America, from speakeasies and moonshine to Al Capone’s shady dealings. (Image by Getty Images)

Prohibition: everything you wanted to know

Alcohol is poured away into a New York sewer during the prohibition era, c1920

Prohibition quiz: how much do you know about the US ban on booze?

British troops guard a wall during the Irish War of Independence, which bears a nationalist message

The Irish Republican Army: a brief guide

Nathen Amin discusses the plots and conspiracies that threatened to unseat Henry VII from his throne. (Illustration by Eleanor Taylor)

The pretenders who threatened Henry VII’s crown

Joanna Bourke explores what ideas about ‘evil women’ can tell us about societal values through history. (Image by Getty Images)

Why are we fascinated by ‘evil women’?

Four knights hack Thomas Becket to death

Europe’s greatest martyr: how Thomas Becket rose from the dead

17th century engraving showing the execution by hanging of four witches. (Photo by Fototeca Gilardi/Getty Images)

Quiz: Would you have been accused of witchcraft?

Elaine Farrell shares the stories of Irish women incarcerated in the 19th century, from daily prison routines to relationships with staff and contact with the outside world. (Image by Getty Images)

Women prisoners in 19th-century Ireland

Charles Sobhraj (centre) pictured in 2011, while trying to sue the Nepalese government for unlawful imprisonment

The real history of The Serpent: the true story of Charles Sobhraj

In 1910 Lydia Harvey seemed to disappear. Julia Laite delves into her story – one of exploitation, sex and the vagaries of justice – and the trial that brought it to light.

Traffickers on trial: the sensational case of Lydia Harvey

Shrabani Basu talks about a miscarriage of justice that exposed the racial tensions of Edwardian England and captured the imagination of the creator of Sherlock Holmes. (Image by Getty Images)

Hate mail & mutilated horses: Conan Doyle investigates

An undated image of George Edalji. (Image credit: Cheslyn Hay Local History Society)

George Edalji and the Great Wyrley killings: a real-life Sherlock Holmes mystery

John Withington discusses history’s most notorious political killings – from the first known assassination to the plots to kill Franz Ferdinand and JFK. (Image by Getty Images)

General ancient history

Assassinations: from the ancient world to JFK

Dr Amanda McVitty explains what treason meant in the medieval era, and why its consequences were particularly brutal. (Image by Getty Images)

Why treason was so unforgivable in the Middle Ages