Period

The orphan hero who fought at Trafalgar. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

England’s sporting obsession. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

This engraving by William Hogarth shows the final instalment of a sequence of artworks called 'The Four Stages of Cruelty' (1751). In it, the fictional Tom Nero is being dissected for anatomical studies at Cutlerian theatre near Newgate prison after being hanged for murder. Nero looks like the Dead-Alive, as though he can see and smell his own executed body on the dissection table. The chief physician sits in the centre on a high-backed chair, resembling a high court judge. He is surrounded by various medical men, including penal surgeons, who did gallows work. The skeletons of dissected criminals were usually refused a Christian burial and so were displayed as specimens, as can be seen top left and top right. (Photo by Guildhall Library/Getty Images)

Surviving the gallows: the Georgian hangings that didn't go to plan

The Huguenots vs France: who were the Huguenots and what did they believe?

The colonial secrets of Britain’s stately homes

'Fifth Sun: A New History of the Aztecs' by Camilla Townsend

New take on Aztec history revealed as winner of the 2020 Cundill History Prize

How did the Reformation impact Jews?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Even the ancient Egyptian played board games – this fresco from the tomb of Nefertari shows the queen playing Senet

8 of the best historical board games for history lovers

Scrooge and Marley's ghost

Q&AWhy do we say ‘Bah Humbug’ and what does it mean?

Princess Elizabeth (the future Queen Elizabeth II) and Princess Margaret as Prince Charming and Cinderella in a 1941 pantomime

Q&AWhat are the origins of the Christmas pantomime?

'Merry Christmas' Victorian illustration of Santa Claus holding toys and blowing on a trumpet, chromolithograph, 1915. (Illustration by GraphicaArtis/Getty Images)

Father Christmas and Santa Claus: a brief history of two Christmas champions

Ethiopia 1935: The real history behind The Shadow King. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

David Olusoga“Desks went from a niche furniture item to the work station of millions”. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Zwarte Piet: the history behind the Christmas controversy

Illustration showing Roman Saturnalia banquet. (Photo by Alamy)

Saturnalia: the origins of the debauched Roman 'Christmas'

Second World War

Caught off guard: why didn't America see Pearl Harbor coming?

The ‘lost’ city of Atlantis. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A 19th-century engraving of Francis Grose

History heroSusie Dent chooses Francis Grose (1731–1791)

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

Looking for Egypt’s lost tombs. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Robert Harris on V2, historical fiction and WW2. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Thomas Cromwell, Tudor statesman and 'alter rex'.

Your guide to Cardinal Wolsey, Tudor statesman and prince of the church

A Victorian Christmas

What was Christmas like in the Victorian era?

Rosa Parks being fingerprinted after her arrest

Rosa Parks refuses to give up her seat: what happened next?

British mystery writer Agatha Christie, c1926.

The mysterious disappearance of Agatha Christie

Henry VI of England. (Photo by iStock/Getty Images)

Henry VI may have had a "sex coach" - plus 4 more curious facts about his life

2020: The historians’ verdict. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and British prime minister Sir Winston Churchill, meeting during the Casablanca conference in 1943. (Photo by AFP/Getty Images)

Second World War

Churchill and D-Day: did the prime minister oppose the Normandy landings?

Laurence ReesHitler and Stalin: The Tyrants and the Second World War. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Chess players in the 14th century

Ancient board games: which ones did people play for fun in the past?