CATEGORIES

Britain's war on the slave ships

In the early 19th century, a Royal Navy squadron was sent to west Africa to hunt down ships carrying enslaved people to the Americas. The operation was hailed as an act of \"pure unselfish philanthropy\". Yet, writes Mary Wills, the reality was far more tangled

War and pieces

Far from idle pursuits, games have transformed the way societies have made sense of life and death, order and conflict for centuries. Kelly Clancy picks five examples that reveal how playtime has often been a serious business

"It had been a tiny triumph, but it had been a British triumph"

MAX HASTINGS talks to Rob Attar about a daring airborne raid that provided a much-needed boost to Britain's morale in the darkest days of the Second World War

"People began collapsing in the streets and dying on the pavements"

In 1943, a devastating famine claimed the lives of millions of people in the Indian province of Bengal. Kavita Puri (left) tells us why she's keen to ensure that the stories of those who endured the crisis are not forgotten

Lisbon in five places

From Roman colony to imperial epicentre, Portugal's capital has played many roles. BARRY HATTON highlights five sites that reveal the city's past and present glories

THE ANCIENT WORLD'S GREATEST CITY

When Alexander the Great founded a settlement at the junction of three continents in 331 BC, he created a metropolitan powerhouse that would shape global history. Islam Issa hails the genius of ancient Alexandria

"From Africa to the Indian subcontinent, imperialism has left a trail of damage"

MICHAEL WOOD ON...THE BANGLADESH LIBERATION WAR

"There was a general perception that Queen Victoria's mourning was neither normal nor acceptable”

JUDITH FLANDERS talks to Rebecca Franks about her new book, which delves into the customs surrounding dying, death and mourning in Victorian Britain

WHO SHOT JFK? WAS ELIZABETH I A MAN? DID ALIENS LAND AT ROSWELL?

Rob Attar investigates the enduring power of conspiracy theories

FIVE THINGS YOU (PROBABLY) DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT...The Vikings

Ryan Lavelle, who is teaching our new History Extra Academy course, shares five surprising facts about the raiders, pirates and traders from medieval Scandinavia

Eighteenth-century mushroom ketchup

ELEANOR BARNETT shares her instructions for making a flavourful sauce with roots in south-east Asia

Goodbye to the gilded age

JOHN JACOB WOOLF is won over by an exploration of the Edwardian era, which looks beyond the golden-era cliché to find a nation beset by a sense of unease

Towering achievement

NATHEN AMIN explores a 13th-century stronghold that was built to subdue independent-minded Welsh people, yet has since become a symbol of courage in the face of overwhelming odds

KNIGHTS! CAMERA! ACTION!

From the heroic glamour of Henry V to the heady nationalism of Braveheart, the medieval era has proven a rich source of material for film directors. Robert Bartlett charts Hollywood's long obsession with the Middle Ages

The Aztecs at war

RHIANNON DAVIES discovers why war was so important to the Mesoamerican people - and why they believed a badly cooked meal could prevent a soldier from shooting straight

A window onto England's soul

SARAH FOOT has high praise for a book that traces the evolution of English Christianity over the course of 1400 years, through the lives of its greatest thinkers

Ghosts of Germany's past

KATJA HOYER is impressed by a study of a nation's attempts to grapple with the crimes it perpetrated during the Second World War

The power of the few

Subhadra Das's first book catches two particular waves in current publishing.

The 'badass' icon

One of the problems with biography, if an author is not careful, is that it can quickly become hagiography.

THE GREAT WHEELBARROW CRAZE

In 1886, the nation was gripped by a bizarre trend that saw plucky Britons racing wheelbarrows across the country. David Musgrove takes up this strange-but-true story

SISTERS AT WAR

By the end of her reign, Mary I's relationship with her half-sister and successor, Elizabeth, was at an all-time low. But had the Tudor siblings always been such bitter enemies? Nicola Tallis reveals how the duo's bond was both broken and strengthened by events beyond their control

"Indigenous children were forcibly separated from their families"

HIDDEN HISTORIES... KAVITA PURI on the legacy of Canada's residential schools

ANNIVERSARIES

DANNY BIRD highlights events that took place in March in history

"People like to tell themselves that the origins of American independence were non-violent.But it's not true"

The Boston Tea Party is often cited as a model of peaceful civil protest. But, as reveals, on the 250th anniversary of this milestone in America's foundational story, it occurred against a backdrop of bloodshed

A Christmas feast

serves up festive classic favourites that graced dining tables during three eras of British history

THE RACE ACROSS THE ATLANTIC

In 1969, everyone from Prince Michael of Kent to Billy Butlin competed in a dash between London and New York aboard tandems, sedan chairs and jump jets recalls a madcap forerunner of Race Across the World

It is one of the most fascinating shows that I have ever seen

I’VE JUST RETURNED FROM A TRIP TO NEW YORK.

How do intractable conflicts come to an end?

The Israel-Gaza war is dominating the news at the moment, but rather than exploring its roots, I wanted to discuss other examples of seemingly intractable conflicts and how they come to an end. What examples from your research would you like to highlight?

The long death of the Roman republic

Julius Caesar’s murder is often seen as the event that ushered in the age of emperors. Yet structural weaknesses had plagued Rome’s republic long before his death

Up to 100 million Chinese became refugees in their own country

IF IT HADN’T BEEN FOR A JAPANESE SOLDIER needing a toilet break in July 1937, things could have been so different.