Period

Premium

Neil MacGregor photographed in London. “It seemed a good juncture, as Britain sets to leave the EU and operate alone on the world stage, to get a sense of how other countries view us,” he says. (Image by Chris McAndrew)

Neil MacGregor: “A consistent element of Britain’s image has been the lonely fighter standing against foreign tyranny” . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Courtiers dancing La Volta in a scene from 1953 film The Sword And The Rose

Strictly shocking: the dances that shook the world

A 16th-century portrait of Mary, Queen of Scots. (Photo by The Print Collector/Print Collector/Getty Images)

Mary, Queen of Scots: the real history behind the film

Premium

Poles watch the first of the German invasion planes over Warsaw, 1939. (Photo by Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)

Poland, 1939: World War Two begins . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Adolf Hitler watches German troops march in central Poland

Roger Moorhouse: How Hitler’s diplomatic miscalculation led to WW2

A photo which was believed to be of the Loch Ness Monster

The quest for the Loch Ness Monster

Premium

Brendan Simms photographed by Ian Farrell

Hitler’s war with Anglo-America . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Engraving depicting Chinese opium smokers in a saloon

What caused the First Opium War?

Premium

The magnificent gilded Shwedagon Pagoda, claimed to be 2,500 years old, dominates central Yangon, Myanmar's largest city. (Patrick Foto/Getty Images)

Explore Yangon, Myanmar: City of Golden Pagodas . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The siege of Sevastopol

Q&A Why did Britain fight the Crimean War?

American business magnate JD Rockefeller sits at a desk

Q&A Who was the first billionaire?

Robin Hood statue outside Nottingham Castle (Photo by Getty)

The many faces of Robin Hood

Men play kemari ball game

Q&A Who played the sport of kemari?

The card game cribbage

General Early Modern

Q&A Why do we say ‘level pegging’?

Premium

The engine houses of Botallack mine in Cornwall

A visit to Botallack Mine, Cornwall . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.