Military history

The battle of Moscow, 1942. The German invasion of the Soviet Union, launched on 22 June 1941, was the largest military operation in history. (Photo by Art Media/Print Collector/Getty Images)

Second World War

Operation Barbarossa: 9 popular myths busted

Soldiers of the 77th Infantry Division in Okinawa listen to news of Nazi Germany's surrender. (Photo by ullstein bild/ullstein bild via Getty Images)

Second World War

The battle for Okinawa: one Marine’s story

A portrait of Napoleon Bonaparte fleeing from the battlefield of Waterloo (18 June 1815) after his defeat by the British under Wellington and the Prussians commanded by Blucher. A print from 'Le Patriote Illustre'. (Photo by The Print Collector/Print Collector/Getty Images)

What is the significance of Waterloo?

A portrait of the Duke of Wellington at the battle of Waterloo (18 June 1815) during the Napoleonic Wars. Although Waterloo was "undeniably the most pivotal battle of this campaign", it was not the final battle against France, says Jem Duducu. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

7 things you (probably) didn’t know about the Napoleonic Wars

Members of the Home Guard train racing pigeons as messengers in Blackburn, July 1940. Soon, carrier birds like this would be supplying vital intelligence on German arms factories and troop movements in occupied Europe. (Photo by Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Second World War

The pigeons’ war on Hitler

Royal at arms: In a 14th-century manuscript, Henry III (left) is shown fighting his nobles during the Second Baron's War (1264–67). This was both a revolutionary war and, from the perceptive of Henry's foes, a religious conflict. (Image by Bridgeman)

The barons’ crusade: why rebel lords waged holy war against Henry III

British soldiers guard an oil pipeline, leading from Iraq to Palestine, at the Kishon river, in what is now Israel, in 1941. When Baghdad was retaken, the flow of oil was restored. (Image by Bridgeman)

Second World War

The (forgotten) Iraq war

French cuirassiers charging a British infantry square at the battle of Waterloo, 1815 (1906). From Cassell's Illustrated History of England, Vol. V. (Cassell and Company Limited, London, Paris, New York, Melbourne). Artist P Jazet. (Photo by The Print Collector/Getty Images)

How the French won Waterloo (or think they did)

Portrait of Sultan Saladin (1566-1568) by artist Cristofano Dell'Altissimo (1525-1605) (Photo by Getty Images)

The life of Saladin

A portrait of Charles Edward Stuart, aka 'Bonnie Prince Charlie'. (Photo by National Galleries Of Scotland/Getty Images)

10 things you (probably) didn’t know about Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Jacobites

Tom Hanks, Matt Damon and Edward Burns in 'Saving Private Ryan' (1998), directed by Steven Spielberg. (Photo by Dreamworks LLC /Paramount Pictures)

Second World War

D-Day on screen: 5 TV and film depictions of the Second World War operation

6 June 1944: American troops during the Allied invasion of France on D-Day (Photo by Getty Images)

Second World War

A new view of D-Day

Troops from the 48th Royal Marines at Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer on Juno Beach, Normandy, France, during the D-Day landings, 6 June 1944. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Second World War

Your guide to D-Day: what happened, how many casualties were there, and what did it accomplish?

(Image by Bettmann/Getty)

10 photographs that made history

A painting depicts a 14th-century sea battle

Medieval inspiration: what the fantasy genre owes to the 14th century