Buzz Aldrin Poses next To The U.S. flag On Moon

American history

Illustration by Jonty Clark

Ye olde travel guide: New Orleans 1858. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The surprisingly long history of humanity's political development

Lincoln’s British enemies. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Civil rights and the Civil War. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Two women from South America. Six centuries ago South American civilisations matched the west in some respects. (Getty Images)

The wonder of the west

Communist sport: Cold War copycats. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

BBC History Magazine

The American ‘Occupation’ of Britain: Three films

American author Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835-1910) who wrote under the pseudonym of Mark Twain, standing outside on a porch. (Photo by Time Life Pictures/Mansell/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

Mark Twain: America’s historical conscience?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Q&AWhat is the origin of the phrase ‘going postal’, meaning ‘going berserk’?

Zulu wars and American presidents, past and present. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Ancient civilisations and Victorian shopping. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

New US citizens celebrate after taking the oath at a US District Court for the Central District of California naturalisation ceremony, 2007. (Photo by Anne Cusack/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

Simon Schama on American history. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Antique print of the Boston Massacre from the American Revolutionary, by Paul Revere (American, 1734-1818) (hand-colored engraving), 1770. The title of the print is 'The Bloody Massacre perpetrated in King Street Boston on March 5th 1770 by a party of the 29th Reg't'. (Photo by GraphicaArtis/Getty Images)

The plot to kidnap King George III. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.