Social history

A late 18th-century painting of British and French sailors going head-to-head at war

The uncommon lives of common sailors

Dan Jones. (Photograph by Steve Sayers)

Exclusive podcast Dan Jones on the human stories of the crusades

Mary Toft, perpetrator of the 1726 hoax – in which she appeared to give birth to rabbits

The woman who gave birth to rabbits? How Mary Toft’s hoax captured Georgian society

Painting of Masons building a pillar in a church

General Early Modern

Your guide to... the Freemasons

ROMAN CHART

What are Roman numerals, where do they come from and how do you read them?

The Pilgrim fathers arrive at Plymouth, Massachusetts on board the Mayflower. (Photo by Harold M. Lambert/Kean Collection/Archive Photos/Getty Images)

“They decided that God must be leading them to North America”: the Puritans journey to the Mayflower

Some of the 5,000 Jewish and non-Aryan German child refugees, the 'Kindertransport', arriving in England at Harwich from Germany, 2 December 1938. (Photo by Getty Images)

Second World War

Revisiting the Kindertransport

The tomb of Pharaoh Djoser, built at Saqqara

General ancient history

Timeline: the evolution of ancient empires

As seen in this early 19th-century depiction of an initiation, Masons have long used secrecy to

A history of Freemasonry: from Enlightenment ideals to satanic conspiracy stories

A fresco from the Villa of the Vettii in Pompeii. Painted before the catastrophic eruption of Versuvius, these frescoes were uncovered from beneath layers of volcanic ash and pumice. (Photo by In Pictures Ltd./Corbis via Getty Images)

A brief guide to Pompeii, plus 8 fascinating facts about the ancient Roman city

Pectoral ornament in the form of a double headed serpent, Aztec/ Mixtec, c 1400/1521 (Photo by Getty Images)

Everything you ever wanted to know about the Aztecs, but were afraid to ask

Dominic Sandbrook

Exclusive podcast Dominic Sandbrook on the 1980s

A meeting of early 19th century Freemasons in which the an apprentice or candidate is introduced to the lodge (Photo by Alamy)

The story of the Freemasons

The pilgrim fathers

Your guide to the Pilgrim Fathers, plus 6 interesting facts

Afua Hirsch with the Samburu people, Kenya

Africa’s cultural liberation