Culture

Dr Rory Naismith answers listener questions on Britain in the early Middle Ages. (Image from Getty Images)

Early Medieval Britain: everything you wanted to know

Walter Scott: an engraving after a painting by Sir Thomas Lawrence of the Scottish poet and novelist Sir Walter Scott

Walter Scott: the man who invented Scotland

Laurence Olivier pictured in New York, 1933. “In my young mind he was theatrical royalty – almost a kind of monarch,” says Steven Berkoff. (Image by Getty Images)

History hero Steven Berkoff chooses Laurence Olivier (1907–89)

Martin Johnes tackles listener questions about the history of modern Wales, from the Industrial Revolution to devolution. (Image from Getty Images)

Modern Welsh history: everything you wanted to know

Alex Renton shares the story of his own family’s involvement in the slave trade, and considers how best to deal with this unwanted inheritance. (Image from Getty Images)

The slave trade: a family history

Tokyo Olympics 1964: Yoshinori Sakai prepares to light the Olympic cauldron during the opening ceremony. Born on the day that the first atomic bomb fell on Hiroshima, he was a symbol of Japan’s postwar reconstruction and peace

Tokyo Olympics 1964: the Games that defined Japan

From players who captivated audiences to composers who pushed boundaries, Susan Tomes explores the history of the piano. (Image from Getty Images)

The piano: a musical history

Bronwen Everill discusses the Benin Bronzes

The battle over the Benin Bronzes

Claude-Joseph Rouget de Lisle

Q&A Who wrote the French national anthem?

Ritchie Robertson responds to listener questions on the intellectual and philosophical movement that swept Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries. (Image by Getty Images)

The Enlightenment: everything you wanted to know

A man digs a grave in Sarajevo for victims of the war in Bosnia, 1992

Yugoslavia: why shared Slavic identity couldn’t save an idealised nation from fracture and bloodshed

Basilica of San Vitale, Ravenna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy (Photo by Alamy)

Ravenna: from Roman powerhouse to artistic hub

Tokyo 2020 Olympic Torch Arrives Japan

Q&A Have the Olympic Games ever been cancelled?

A young girl reading a book. We recently asked our Twitter followers which historical fiction book inspired them as a child. (Photo by Terry Vine via Getty Images)

Historical fiction recommendations for children: the best history books for kids

Play Reading

Anne Hathaway, Hamnet and Judith: who were William Shakespeare’s family?