Early comic panel illustration

England

Rushton Triangular Lodge was ostensibly a warrener's lodge but the biblical references that adorn its three exterior walls tell a different story. (Photo English Heritage/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

History explorer: Catholic resistance to Elizabeth I. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The orphan hero who fought at Trafalgar. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

This engraving by William Hogarth shows the final instalment of a sequence of artworks called 'The Four Stages of Cruelty' (1751). In it, the fictional Tom Nero is being dissected for anatomical studies at Cutlerian theatre near Newgate prison after being hanged for murder. Nero looks like the Dead-Alive, as though he can see and smell his own executed body on the dissection table. The chief physician sits in the centre on a high-backed chair, resembling a high court judge. He is surrounded by various medical men, including penal surgeons, who did gallows work. The skeletons of dissected criminals were usually refused a Christian burial and so were displayed as specimens, as can be seen top left and top right. (Photo by Guildhall Library/Getty Images)

Surviving the gallows: the Georgian hangings that didn't go to plan

The colonial secrets of Britain’s stately homes

How did the Reformation impact Jews?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Scrooge and Marley's ghost

Q&AWhy do we say ‘Bah Humbug’ and what does it mean?

David Olusoga“Desks went from a niche furniture item to the work station of millions”. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Thomas Cromwell, Tudor statesman and 'alter rex'.

Your guide to Cardinal Wolsey, Tudor statesman and prince of the church

Henry VI of England. (Photo by iStock/Getty Images)

Henry VI may have had a "sex coach" - plus 4 more curious facts about his life

The future King George VI playing at the Wimbledon tennis championships, 1926

How George VI's sheer ordinariness made him the darling of the nation

A 14th-century illustration showing medieval butchery. (Photo by Prisma/UIG via Getty Images)

The medieval marketplace: a time traveller’s guide to shopping in the Middle Ages

Shakespeare: everything you wanted to know. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Claudia Jones at the Brixton offices of 'The West Indian Gazette'

Black British historyBritain's black trailblazers

Bernard Cornwell on The Last Kingdom’s finale and the next Sharpe. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Your guide to...debtors' prisons

Neil Oliver

Life lessons from history: Neil Oliver on searching the ancient past for timeless wisdom. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Diana, Princess of Wales, played by Emma Corrin in Netflix's 'The Crown'

The Crown S4 E6 real history: Charles and Diana’s 1983 royal tour of Australia & the start of ‘Dianamania’

Gillian Anderson as Margaret Thatcher in season 4 of 'The Crown'

The Crown S4 E5 real history: Michael Fagan’s Buckingham Palace break-in and the Falklands crisis

Olivia Colman as Queen Elizabeth II and Josh O'Connor as Prince Charles in season 4 of ‘The Crown’

The Crown S4 E4 real history: mothers in the spotlight and the ‘favourite’ royal child

Emma Corrin as Lady Diana Spencer on her wedding day in season 4 of 'The Crown'

The Crown S4 E3 real history: Diana’s struggles, the ‘G’ & ‘F’ bracelet, and a royal engagement

Emma Corrin as Diana and Tobias Menzies as Prince Philip in season 4 of 'The Crown'

The Crown S4 E2 real history: what are the Balmoral tests?

Statue of King Alfred the Great in leafy Trinity Church Square, Southwark. It is thought to be the oldest statue in London.

Q&AWhat’s the oldest statue in London?

A portrait of Cnut holding a sceptre. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Cnut: the great Dane. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Buckingham Palace on VE Day in 1945

7 facts about Buckingham Palace

Women in black: the surprising history of widows. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Katherine Willoughby in an 18th-century engraving after a Hans Holbein the Younger portrait. In 1546 the prospect of her marrying England's ageing King Henry VIII was causing tongues to wag in diplomatic circles. (Photo by Print Collector/Getty Images)

A seventh wife for Henry VIII? The story of Katherine Willoughby

Buckingham Palace intruder Michael Fagan

Buckingham Palace intruder Michael Fagan: what happened and why did he break in?

The White Ship disaster

The White Ship disaster"The most disastrous moment in British maritime history". This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The White Ship: a medieval royal tragedy. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The arrest of Guy Fawkes. (Photo by Culture Club/Getty Images)

Alternate history: what if… the gunpowder plot had succeeded?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.