20th Century - Getty Images

20th Century

The librarian who stole KGB secrets. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

On 27 May 1954, Sir Winston Churchill addresses a meeting of the Women’s Conservative Association. Nearly a decade after leading Britain through the Second World War, the prime minister remained a commanding figure in British politics and public life.

Second World War

It was Operation Unthinkable: Churchill's "impossible" plan to start World War 3

The improbable alliance that defeated Hitler. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A black and white photograph showing a young boy playing with two girls in the sand

"Imagine starting a life with so little": the stories of South Asians in Britain. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Five partitions that shaped South Asia. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The REAL history behind 'All Creatures Great and Small'. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

In December 1929, investigator and ghost hunter Harry Price demonstrates an electric control device he designed to monitor a medium’s movements during séances. (Photo by Alamy)

When a Victorian ghost hunter investigated Britain’s most haunted house, this is what he found

Malcolm X: life of the week. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Frogmore Cottage and Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz

Your history guide to Frogmore Cottage: who has lived there before?

A portrait of F Scott Fitzgerald, author of The Great Gatsby who evoked the glamour and restlessness of the Art Deco era in his fiction.

Glitz, glamour and Gatsby? Not quite. Here’s why the Art Deco movement is darker than you think

Reagan's plan to 'make America great again'. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Aneurin Bevan: life of the week. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Two men stand next to each other holding large guns. They are dressed in black suits and ties with sunglasses and are standing against a blue and black background. Above them, the words "MIB: MEN IN BLACK" are written

Gray Barker: UFO conspiracy theorist. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Andrew Carnegie (1835–1919), the Scottish-American industrialist who built a steel empire in the late 19th century, speaks with colleagues in this photograph. Renowned for both his business success and later philanthropy, Carnegie championed education, libraries, and scientific advancement as part of his belief in the philanthropy. (Photo by Getty Images)

History’s smallest billionaire? Meet the tiny titan who was, briefly, the richest man alive

Author/veterinarian Dr. James Alfred Wight (pen name James Herriot) holding up a black cat that he is examining at his veterinary surgery. (Photo by Ian Cook/Getty Images)

Who was the real James Herriot?The true story behind All Creatures Great and Small

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

On 27 January 1943, ARP wardens attend the funeral of victims killed in a daylight bombing raid — including several children and teachers. Such scenes were tragically common during the Second World War, as civilian areas remained vulnerable to Luftwaffe attacks despite improved air defences.

Second World War

Why were these British Second World War burials draped with Nazi flags?

America in Korea: a failed occupation?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The real Miss Moneypennys: the secret history of Britain's female spies. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

On 31 August 1939, children from Chelsea line up with their belongings, ready to be evacuated from London as war looms. Part of a nationwide effort to move civilians — especially children — to safety, the evacuation began just days before Britain entered the Second World War.

Second World War

The biggest misconceptions about WW2 evacuees? This historian has the answers

Wages for housework: the daring 1970s campaign that challenged women's roles

How the Cold War made the modern world. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Katya Adler and Rita Levi-Montalcini

My history heroKatya Adler chooses Rita Levi-Montalcini. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Soviet dissidents who challenged the Kremlin

English author Agatha Christie, pictured at a dinner in 1957. By this time, she was one of the world’s best-selling writers, renowned for her detective fiction featuring characters such as Hercule Poirot.

A real Thursday Murder Club? How a team of crime fiction writers tried to save the genre (and solve crimes)

A black and white photograph shows a group of Japanese military men on a train, while some young women prepare to get on the carriage. A young woman looks back over her shoulder

Kavita Puri on VJ Day: "We don't talk about the war in Asia – which was a messy, complicated conflict". This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Why the Maginot Line couldn't save France in WW2. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The spy next door: Moscow's century-long plot to infiltrate the west. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Dame Stephanie Shirley and Tommy Flowers

My history heroDame Stephanie Shirley chooses Tommy Flowers

On 10 March 1945, Tokyo residents who lost their homes in the devastating US air raid gather amid the ruins. Known as Operation Meetinghouse, the raid was the most destructive bombing in history, part of a wider firebombing campaign during the Pacific War. (Photo by Getty Images)

Second World War

Before the atomic bombs, the USA hit Japan with one of the most overlooked (but deadly) campaigns in WW2