General Modern

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Confronting evils.

Confronting evils . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The Battle of Lepanto between Holy League soldiers and Ottoman troops

The battle of Lepanto: when Ottoman forces clashed with Christians

A replica of the Koh-i-Noor in Bangalore in 2002

Desired, stolen, cursed: the history of the Koh-i-Noor diamond

Podcast Mary Beard Transcript

A history of nakedness in art: Mary Beard on her new BBC series Shock of the Nude

John F Kennedy and Richard Nixon

Does history show that age affects US presidents’ performance? Plus, how old is too old?

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Historian Mary Beard at the Oxford Literary Festival 2019. (Photo by David Levenson/Getty Images)

Mary Beard on the nude in western art . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Democratic presidential candidates Birch Bayh, Jimmy Carter, Fred R Harris, Milton Shapp take on the press during the Iowa Democratic Caucus on 11 January 1976. (Photo by NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images)

A brief history of the US Democratic Party

Members of the royal family at an event marking the centenary of the Royal Air Force. (Photo by TOLGA AKMEN/AFP via Getty Images)

Opposing the royals: a brief history of republicanism in Britain

Portrait of John Bingham, 7th Earl of Lucan (Lord Lucan), who disappeared in 1974 following a bloody homicide

The curious case of Lord Lucan + 10 other mysterious disappearances from history

Princess Margaret wearing a fur coat

The Queen’s “rebel sister”: 13 facts about Princess Margaret

Illustation of a pope

Holy smoke, antipopes and power struggles: a guide to popes and the papacy

Queen Victoria with Prince Albert and their children in 1846. After a painting by F Winterhalter. Victoria’s husband, Albert, “carved out for the crown a moral kind of authority as the nation’s first and model family,” says Sarah Gristwood. (Photo by Culture Club/Getty Images)

Retaining the royals: why has the British monarchy survived – and thrived?

Three monarchs who stepped down through history: Kaiser Wilhem II; Anne of Cleves; and James VII and II. (Images by Getty)

Retiring royals: 9 rulers and royals who stepped down through history

Ayatollah Khomeini

General ancient history

A brief history of Iran

David Bowie and Twiggy

David Bowie’s life in pictures