The charge of the light, battle illustration

Military history

Picture depicting the Battle of Waterloo

Q&AWho was the bravest man at Waterloo?

Watercolour painting of the Battle of Agincourt

Q&AWho paid for the arrows in the Battle of Agincourt?

Picture of the charge of the 4th Hussars at the battle of Friedland

Q&AWhat were hussar regiments?

1,138: The number of London children recorded as dying of “teeth” in 1685. (Illustration: James Albon for BBC History Magazine)

History’s most surprising statistics

A depiction of the battle of Naseby

Did Roundheads and Cavaliers really dress so differently?

Army recruits take the oath in White City, London, December 1914. “Creating an army more or less from scratch was a recipe for disastrous losses,” claims Niall Ferguson. (Getty Images)

“Britain should have stayed out of the First World War” says Niall Ferguson

A recruitment poster used during the First World War, c1915.

Why Britain was right to go to war in 1914

First World War

Gary Sheffield on First World War debate: 'A German victory would have been a disaster for Britain'

First World War

Niall Ferguson: “Britain should have stayed out of First World War”

Paxman on World War One

Pillage of Jerusalem

Crusading for God and gold

Troops on a night raid during the First World War

Jeremy Paxman: "The war finished Britain off in many respects"

Is Blackadder bad for First World War history?

Khudadad Khan

My history hero: Khudadad Khan (1888-1971)

This detail from the Gundestrup Cauldron – a richly decorated silver vessel thought to date from the second-century BC – depicts a Celtic god or druid surrounded by beasts. (Werner Forman/Universal Images Group/Getty Images)

The genius of the Celts

Chinese irregular cavalry and infantry from the north-western provinces move towards the front during the 1894–95 war

China's wars

Renewed debate over battle of Hastings location

Sport offered the two sides the perfect stage on which to get one over on the 'enemy', says Dominic Sandbrook. Pictured here is a queue for a football match between Arsenal and Dynamo Moscow. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

The Cold War in your living room

"Nobody could have held their nerve in Normandy like Monty did," says Al Murray of the wartime general. (Photo by Mark Kauffman/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

My history hero: Bernard Montgomery

Books interview: Margaret MacMillan on the First World War

© Imperial War Museum

Q&AHow old was the youngest known soldier to fight in WW1?

First World War

Slang and swear words 'helped soldiers survive the First World War'

1914: Why Britain had to go to war

My history hero: Robert Baden Powell (1857–1941)

Cold War culture and the path to the First World War

Were the pulverised bones of soldiers and horses who died at the battle of Waterloo sold as soil fertiliser?

Diary of the judge who hated Hitler to be published for first time

First World War

First World War drama The Wipers Times an instant hit with viewers

Researchers go into battle to test Bronze Age weapons

First World War

Your 60-second guide to Ypres