Period

A 1950s illustration of Vladimir Lenin on the sealed train between Switzerland and Russian. (Alamy)

10 ways to start a revolution. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The school leaving age: what can we learn from history?

A painting of a shipwreck

Hard lives on the high seas. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

An engraving showing chimneys emitting smoke during the Industrial Revolution

Can history help halt the runaway train?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Civil rights leader Martin Luther King

Martin Luther King: A drum major for justice. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The 14th-century Gough Map

The Gough Map: a map of medieval Britain

History holidays: French fancy

An aerial view of Wilton House

Going Dutch: the Glorious Revolution of 1688. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

West Kent Territorial Army

One hundred years of voluntary service. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

My history hero: Hubert Butler (1900–1991). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A view of Machu Picchu, Peru

General ancient history

The LibraryImperial marvels

ilver penny of King Alfred

The real Alfred the Great. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Henry VIII, Princess Mary and William Somers

Playing the fool: Tudor jesters. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

English historian Edward Gibbon (1737-94), author of 'The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'. (Photo by Rischgitz/Getty Images)

The decline and fall of the British Empire. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The statue Worker and Kolkhoz Woman in Moscow, Russia. (Photo by Getty Images)

Communist Moscow. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Map of Bayham Park from ‘Repton’s Landscape Gardening and Landscape Architecture’ by JC Loudon. (Photo by The Life Picture Collection/Getty Images)

John Claudius Loudon (1783–1843). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The myth of native-bashing. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Archaeologist Howard Carter removing oils from the

Revelations in the Valley of the Kings: what has been found since King Tut’s coffin?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Tutankhamun: behind the mask. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Statue of the great philosopher Confucius in Shanghai. Taken at the Shanghai Wen Miao, also known as the Shanghai Confucian Temple. (Photo by Getty Images)

The legacy of Confucius. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The Duke of Wellington. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The LibraryPivotal points of WWII. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Scout Troop

Baden-Powell, Scouting and the British empire. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A flight of Vickers Wellington long-range bombers, used by the Royal Air Force to undertake raids into Germany and elsewhere, 8 February 1940. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)

Second World War bomber boys. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Antique print of the Boston Massacre from the American Revolutionary, by Paul Revere (American, 1734-1818) (hand-colored engraving), 1770. The title of the print is 'The Bloody Massacre perpetrated in King Street Boston on March 5th 1770 by a party of the 29th Reg't'. (Photo by GraphicaArtis/Getty Images)

The plot to kidnap King George III. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The members of Captain Scott's ill-fated expedition to the South Pole. (Photo by Bettmann via Getty Images)

Scott of the Antarctic: a true British hero?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Scenes From The Great War 100 Years On

The Somme: a terrible learning curve. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A Roman auxiliary fort just south of Hadrian's Wall (Getty Images)

How Roman was Britain?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

William of Orange landing with his army at Torbay, Devon, 5 November 1688. (Photo by Ann Ronan Pictures/Print Collector/Getty Images)

A not so bloodless revolution. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The 10 worst Britons in history