Period

A c1870 engraving of diamond miners in Brazil in c1800. Despite abolitionists' best efforts, British companies used slaves in their South American mines until the 1880s. (Getty Images)

Britain’s slaves in Latin America

British ordinance workers put the final touches to anti-aircraft gun barrels, c1940. (Photo by Hudson/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)

A colossus at war

Britain's decision to join the Common Market made front page news in the early Seventies. (Photo by Douglas Miller/Keystone/Getty Images)

A big day in history: the debate on whether Britain should join the European Community

Premium

A portrait of the great lexicographer Samuel Johnson.

My history hero: Samuel Johnson (1709-84) . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A scene from Edmund Spenser's 'Shepherd's Calendar' (1597). The concept of 'society' entered the English language in the 16th century, and its influence was soon being felt in all corners of the nation. (Culture Club/Getty Images)

The Library The Elizabethan big society

Premium

Illustration by Jonty Clark.

Ye olde travel guide: Acre AD 1272 . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Premium

podcast-logo_v4_31-21a6c69

Mystery and drama with the Romans and the Elizabethans . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Premium

podcast-logo_v4_31-21a6c69

Latin American slavery and historical hair . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Memorabilia-Final-2-a770de5

You’d be a mug to sneer at royal wedding souvenirs

the-hare-with-amber-eyes-cb951f4

The Hare with Amber Eyes: A Hidden Inheritance

The Edinburgh memorial to Scots who fought in the Union army. Erected in 1893, it shows a former slave gazing up at Abraham Lincoln. (Getty Images)

Lincoln’s British enemies

Premium

Illustration by Jonty Clark

Ye olde travel guide: St Petersburg 1725 . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

past-laugh_17-5086700

The wise rabbi

Spain’s maritime decline

Main_0-de4f549

Q&A: Why didn’t Britain attempt to hinder Italy’s 1935 invasion of Abyssinia by preventing the Italian fleet from using the Suez Canal?