21st Century

Expert history articles and analysis about the global events of the 21st century…

A still from American-made war epic All Quiet on the Western Front

All Quiet On The Western FrontWhy its lessons still matter today

Writing the history of the modern monarchy. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Queen Elizabeth II sends her first Tweet during a visit to the 'Information Age' Exhibition at the Science Museum on October 24, 2014 in London, England. (Photo by Chris Jackson/Getty Images)

How did the world change during Queen Elizabeth II's reign?

Princess Diana in 1994, attending an event at London’s Serpentine Gallery (left), and Elizabeth Debicki as Diana, portraying the same moment in the so-called 'revenge dress' in The Crown

Free-spirited drama or fake news? How The Crown morphed from ‘safe’ territory to controversy. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Are period dramas damaging history?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Where is The Crown filmed? The Netflix drama’s locations and their royal links

President Reagan laughs following a joke by Queen Elizabeth, who commented on the lousy California weather she had experienced since her arrival to the States. The British Queen is delivering a brief address during a state dinner held at the De Young Museum in San Francisco. (Picture by Bettmann/Getty Images)

Queen Elizabeth's relationships with US presidents

Dominic West as Prince Charles and Elizabeth Debicki as Diana in season 5 of The Crown

Opinion“If scholars can’t write accurate histories of the Queen’s reign, drama is what we’ll continue to rely on”. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

War and Conflict, Malaya, pic: 1953, British troops of the Special Air Service (SAS) with a helicopter, having been dropped off in the jungle in search of bandits (Photo by Popperfoto via Getty Images/Getty Images)

In a nutshellThe history of the SAS

Afghan fighters on top of a destroyed Soviet helicopter, 1980 (Photo by Alain Dejean/Sygma via Getty Images)

War without end: conflict in Afghanistan, from the Cold War Soviet invasion to the Taliban. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Ian McEwan on writing historical novels. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Russian men called up to fight attend a ceremony to mark their departure

Russia-Ukraine conflictHow the latest developments echo the Second World War. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Hilary Mantel, pictured in Oxford in 2017

Hilary Mantel remembered“She changed the way we think about history”. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The election of Giorgia Meloni as Italy’s first female prime minister

The rise of Giorgia Meloni“It makes plain the strange way a dictator has retained a positive image in many sectors of Italian society”. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Sara Forbes Bonetta (seated besides her husband James Davies was brought to England in the late 1840s by a Navy captain. Presented to Queen Victoria, she impressed the monarch so much that Victoria became her godmother

Black History MonthWhat is it, historians on its relevance, plus 7 articles you should read

Prince Charles in 1969

King Charles IIIThe life of the reigning king

Front door of No 10 Downing Street, the official residence of the British prime minister

From Walpole to TrussLessons from the 300-year history of the British prime minister. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Episode 8What can history tell us about its future?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Boris Johnson announces his resignation as leader of the Conservative party

Behind the newsWhy PMs get the push. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Gone with the Wind: how a 1936 novel explains modern America. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Montage of five British prime ministers: David Lloyd George, Neville Chamberlain, Anthony Eden, James Callaghan and Margaret Thatcher

Prime ministersFive of the greatest downfalls of the past 100 years. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Book cover of George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four

Nineteen Eighty-Four: to the future or to the past?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Video: Dan David History Prize 2022

Discovering a lost royal battleship. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The Queen's century of change. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Buzz Aldrin salutes the US flag during the 1969 lunar landing

How has the world changed during the reign of Elizabeth II?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Queen Elizabeth II, in March 2022 - the year of her platinum jubilee (Photo by Getty Images)

Britain's golden jubilees: from George III to Elizabeth II. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Eurovision: a political history. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Video games at 50: a cultural history. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Peter Caddick-Adams

Peter Caddick-Adams on the laws of war“Russian politicians and military figures behind the awful events unfolding in Ukraine will, one day, be brought to justice”. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.