Victorian

The industrial revolution increased the amount of work available for both the old and the young. The welfare of child workers, in particular, suffered from the effects of long and consecutive days of employment, says Emma Griffin. (SSPL/Getty Images)

The industrial revolution: an age of opportunity

The call for the First Crusade was initially made by Pope Urban (pictured) in 1095. (Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images)

Britain and Islam: a matter of faith

An illustration depicting the battle of Naseby, arguably one of the most significant land battles in British history. (Ann Ronan Pictures/Print Collector/Getty Images)

20 important battles that shaped Britain

Premium

Where history happened: the circus in Britain . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Premium

A portrait of the brilliant pianist and composer Clara Schumann.

My history hero: Clara Schumann (1819-96) . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Gold miners in California in 1849. The gold rush sparked one of the greatest mass migrations in American history. (Universal History Archive/Getty Images)

A big day in history: A speck of glitter triggers the California Gold Rush

Crack illustration.

Q&A: Where does the word ‘crack’, describing military units, originate?

Study2_hi_res-1_web-fc3eefc

The Wallace Collection, Hertford House, London

Premium

An illustration from 'A Picture History of Railways' by C Hamilton Ellis, showing a filled wagon and a horse on a railway line. Railways were originally intended to move goods. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

A rail revolution: Dan Snow on the meteoric rise of British railways . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Winston Churchill, former prime minister of the United Kingdom, gives his 'victory' sign while making a polling day tour of his constituency during an election. (Getty Images)

Are these the most overrated people in history?

George Frederick Handel married opera's passion with the respectability of biblical texts, says Tim Blanning. (Photo by The Print Collector/Print Collector/Getty Images)

10 milestones in the history of western music

Premium

John Linnell's 1816 portrait of Cornish engineer Richard Trevithick. His high-pressure steam engine

My history hero: Richard Trevithick (1771-1833) . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

'Resurrectionists', or grave robbers, stealing a corpse from a cemetery to be sold for anatomical study and dissection, c1840. (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

The Victorian trade in dead bodies

Premium

Robert Louis Stevenson, the 19th-century English poet and novelist perhaps best known for his books 'Treasure Island' and the 'Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

My history hero: Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-94) . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The Uganda railway, which links Uganda and Kenya with the Indian Ocean port of Mombasa in Kenya, was built during the period of British control of East Africa. (SSPL/Getty Images)

The dark side of abolitionism