Literature

'Sanditon' - an adaption of Jane Austen's unfinished novel of the same name – is currently airing in the UK on ITV. Pictured: Clara Brereton (played by Lily Sacofsky), Esther Denham (Charlotte Spencer), Lady Denham (Anne Reid) and Edward Denham (Jack Fox). (Photo by RED PLANET/ITV)

Your guide to Sanditon, Jane Austen’s last unfinished work

French actor Jean-Louis Trintignant holding the skull of Yorik

The wisdom of Shakespeare: 5 famous quotes explained

A portrait of William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare: a guide to the life of England’s greatest playwright

Poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Elizabeth Barrett Browning: your guide to the poet’s life, work and love

Eadwine the Scribe, c mid-12th century. (Ann Ronan Pictures/Print Collector/Getty Images)

A history of left-handed writing

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

Amelia Earhart, Princess Diana, Emmeline Pankhurst, Rosa Parks and Marie Curie. (Photo by Getty Images)

20 inspirational quotes from women through history for International Women’s Day

Fiona Sampson speaks about the extraordinary life of Elizabeth Barrett Browning. (Image by Getty Images)

Elizabeth Barrett Browning: poet, activist, trailblazer, runaway

Forgery was the dirty little secret of the Middle Ages. Levi Roach explains who counterfeited medieval manuscripts and why. (Image by Getty Images)

Medieval forgeries

Author Kate Mosse talks about her historical novel, The City of Tears. (Image by Getty Images)

Novelist Kate Mosse on The City of Tears

Historians have chosen their favourite historical novels.

22 of the best historical fiction novels to help you escape to the past

Actor Boris Karloff as Frankenstein's Monster in James Whale’s classic 1931 film. (Bettmann/Getty Images)

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein: the birth of a gothic monster

Lithograph portrait of Scottish poet Robert Burns. (Photo by Stock Montage/Getty Images)

7 facts about Robert Burns, Scotland’s national bard

‘Inkhorn’ was the term for an inkwell made out of a small horn and became a nickname for the new words being created by playwrights and poets, such as William Shakespeare. (Photo by GraphicaArtis/Getty Images)

The evolution of the English language

Extract from Domesday Book.

Your guide to the Domesday Book: the most important document in English history?