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Georgian

Winston Graham's Poldark novels remind us of aspects of the past that might otherwise remain in the shadows, says Hannah Greig. (Image credit: Mammoth screen/BBC)

The real history behind 'Poldark' series three: episode nine

George Warleggan. (Image credit: BBC/Mammoth Screen/Robert Viglasky)

The real history behind 'Poldark' series three: episode eight

In the recent episode of Poldark, Dwight Enys once more displayed modern medical skill. (Image credit: Mammoth Screen / BBC)

The real history behind 'Poldark' series three: episode seven

'Poldark' character Aunt Agatha (left) draws our attention to the often-ignored figure of the 18th-century spinster, says Hannah Greig. (Image credit: BBC/Mammoth Screen/Robert Viglasky)

The real history behind 'Poldark' series three: episode six

Napoleon Bonaparte at the Battle of Rivoli

Napoleon Bonaparte's greatest triumphs and disasters

Ironbridge over the river Severn in Telford, England. (Getty Images)

History explorer: The power of British iron. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Ross Poldark takes on a dangerous mission to liberate his friend Dwight from Quimper prison in France. Quimper was a real prison, which was "notorious for its terrible conditions", says historian Hannah Greig. (BBC/Mammoth Screen/Robert Viglasky)

The real history behind ‘Poldark’ series three: episode five

George Warleggan begins to gain power as a Justice of the Peace in the third series of 'Poldark'. (Mammoth Screen/BBC)

The real history behind ‘Poldark’ series three: episode four

Ross Poldark travels to Republican France in the latest episode of the BBC drama. France was a 'brutal and dangerous' place to be at the time, says historian Hannah Greig. (BBC/Mammoth Screen)

The real history behind 'Poldark' series three: episode three

Sam and Drake Carne. (Mammoth Screen/BBC)

The real history behind ‘Poldark’ series three: episode two

Austen’s influences: Lucy Worsley on the author’s life and work. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Jane Austen and Tudor London. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A painting depicting an experiment in an English school on a bird in an air pump, 1768. National Gallery, London. (Photo by Photo12/UIG via Getty Images)

How Europe won the race to prosperity

The real history behind 'Poldark' series three: episode one

A brief history of... the Derby

Should historical place names be changed to fit modern values? Historians debate

Elizabeth Fry visiting Newgate Prison, 1926. (Photo by The Print Collector/Print Collector/Getty Images)

Elizabeth Fry: the great reformer

Portico entrance of Oxford's famous Ashmolean Museum. (Dreamstime)

History explorerThe history of British museums. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The operation

John Hunter and the horrors of 18th-century surgery

Terracotta vicar and Moses, c1770, in the Victoria And Albert Museum, London. (Photo by DeAgostini/Getty Images)

Vicars on the liquor

From bats and brawls to new links between colonies: the origins of Australian cricket

Bribes, gifts and scandal: 7 stories of corruption that shocked Britain

A revolutionary engineer and Victoria’s Indian confidant. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Bombay, the East India Company's port on the Malabar Coast of India, 1755. Company trading vessels are depicted in the foreground and quayside warehouses and buildings behind. (Photo by Ann Ronan Pictures/Print Collector/Getty Images)

The chaotic conquest of India

The Duke of Wellington and his ‘Dearest Georgy’

James Sadler: From pastry cook to first English aeronaut. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Parson's Lodge Battery in Rosia Bay, Gibraltar. (Getty Images)

My favourite place: Gibraltar

View of Algiers with mediterranean galleys, published in Johannes van Keulen's Dutch Atlas, 1709. (Photo by Culture Club/Getty Images)

When Britons were slaves in Africa

History quiz - daughters and dukes. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

5 facts you (probably) didn’t know about Nelson’s navy