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A relief at the World Heritage site of Xanadu in Inner Mongolia, China. (Photo by Dreamstime)

My favourite place: Xanadu, China

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President Ronald Reagan at Durenberger Republican convention rally, 1982. (Photo by Universal History Archive/Getty Images)

My history hero: Ronald Reagan (1911–2004) . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

An illustration of HMS Intrepid, under the command of Irish explorer Captain Francis Leopold McClintock, trapped in pack ice in Baffin Bay, c1853. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Opinion Why the British love a plucky loser

An illustration of Victoria Woodhull addressing a congressional committee on the benefits of women's suffrage, 1871. (Photo by Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images)

The Library The one-woman revolution

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The Romanovs, 1913: Nicholas II with his wife and children. (Photo by Universal History Archive/Getty Images)

Books interview with Simon Sebag Montefiore: The Romanovs . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

An illustration of Henry VIII and his second wife, Anne Boleyn. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Not such a prude after all: the secrets of Henry VIII’s love life

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Michael Wood on… Oxford’s Cecil Rhodes statue . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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The battle over Henry VIII’s will . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Roman women on a fresco from Pompeii

Q&A Could women in Ancient Rome hold any power?

16th century engraving depicting a man with leprosy

Q&A How did doctors treat leprosy?

Aquatic Centre Ferry Dock, Vancouver, Canada. (Photo by Getty Images)

My favourite place: Vancouver, Canada

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The Beatles perform onstage at the Cavern Club, Liverpool in February 1961. (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

History explorer: the swinging sixties . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A coffin containing the skeleton of King Richard III sitting in repose inside Leicester Cathedral. (Photo by Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images)

Are we blinded by our love of history?

A portrait of the author Leo Tolstoy on his 80th birthday. (Photo by Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

A brief history of War and Peace

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Mario Lanza c1950. (Photo by Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images)

My history hero: Mario Lanza (1921-59) . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.