England

The Last Kingdom season 4

The Last Kingdom S4 E7 review: a royal funeral, the abuse of power, and a little artistic licence

Oscar Skagerberg as Bjorgulf in 'The Last Kingdom' season 4

The Last Kingdom S4 E5 review: “This has to rank among the more gruesome episodes of the season, if not the series”

Ewan Mitchell as Osferth, Mark Rowley as Finan and Aenas Fedaravicius as Sihtric. (Photo by Adrienn Szabo courtesy of Netflix)

The Last Kingdom S4 E6 review: a mysterious medieval ‘Sickness’ leaves its mark

Illustration by Luke Waller for BBC History Magazine.

Æthelwold: Alfred the Great’s rebel nephew

Timothy Innes as King Edward and Alexander Dreymon as Uhtred

Who were the key players in the struggle to succeed Alfred the Great?

The Last Kingdom series 4

The Last Kingdom S4 E3 review: moments of introspection remind us of history’s “shared humanity”

'The Last Kingdom' season 4 episode 1

The Last Kingdom S4 E1 review: will Alfred’s legacy come tumbling down?

'The Last Kingdom' season 4

The Last Kingdom S4 E2 review: winds of change and dramatic father-son relations

An early 14th-century portrait of 10th-century leader Edward the Elder

Who was Edward the Elder? A brief guide to the Anglo-Saxon king

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A Viking sword with silver and gold hilt, from Dyback, Skane. (Photo by CM Dixon/Print Collector/Getty Images)

How England rode the Viking storm . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Cousins at war: King Stephen is shown holding a falcon in a miniature from 1253. His battle with his cousin Matilda for the English crown plunged the realm into a long civil war. (Photo by Alamy)

The Anarchy: how bloody was Stephen and Matilda’s medieval battle for the English crown?

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British author Bernard Cornwell, author of 'The Last Kingdom'

Bernard Cornwell on writing historical fiction and his blockbuster series The Last Kingdom: your questions answered . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

great fire 4

Great Fire of London quiz – how much do you know?

The renowned poet Lord Byron has gone down in history for being “mad, bad and dangerous to know”. But his ancestors were hardly paragons of virtue. (Image by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Adultery, elopement and incest: the scandalous sex lives of the 18th-century Byrons

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The scandalous Byrons . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.