Historian Steven Gunn uncovers what thousands of fatal accidents can tell us about everyday existence in 16th-century England ...

Historian Linda Paterson explores the rise of the troubadours – the poetic performers who turned love, politics and desire ...

Historian Bettany Hughes reveals what growing up in the ancient Roman Empire was really like – from knucklebones and wooden ...

This is how a royal Frankish dynasty turned flowing locks into a political weapon, and why cutting them could mean deadly ...

Behind the myth of the Minotaur lies the ancient Minoan civilisation – a culture steeped in ritual, rich in symbolism, and ...

That weapon – and the bombs dropped so soon after on Hiroshima and Nagasaki – are often credited to the Manhattan Project, ...

Home Period General History Quiz of the week: what was the estimated amount of money stolen during the Great Train Robbery?

Names like Odin and Thor are commonly known. But if can’t tell your Aesir from your Vanir, or don’t know what animals pulled Freyja’s chariot, or which of the gods and goddesses survived Ragnarök, ...

When Victoria ascended the throne in 1837, the British Empire was a loose assortment of colonies mostly accrued for reasons of trade. By the time of her death nearly 64 years later, the Empire had ...

Read everything you need to know about the Second World War, by exploring our WWII archives of in-depth history articles, podcasts, slideshows and more.

Lasting six years and one day, the Second World War started on 1 September 1939 with Hitler's invasion of Poland and ended with the Japanese surrender on 2 September 1945. Here, we trace the timeline ...