The charge of the light, battle illustration

Military history

Ukraine: the WW2 roots of today's conflict. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, US President Bill Clinton, Russian President Boris Yeltsin, and French President Jacques Chirac at the NATO Summit in May 1997

Nato, Russia, and the history of the post-WW2 tensions. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Two boys uncover a cache of food during Ukraine’s Holodomor famine, c1934

“Russia has always refused to let Ukraine go”: Keith Lowe on the long roots of today’s crisis. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The American Revolutionary War: everything you wanted to know. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Russian civil war, 1919

General History

Russia-Ukraine crisis: 9 milestone moments in history that explain today’s invasion

German soldiers watch a farmhouse they have burned during the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941

Second World War

The eastern front in WW2: how it all went wrong for the Germans

The battle of Fishguard: the last invasion of mainland Britain

Sweyn Forkbeard, king of Denmark and the first Viking king of England (Photo by Getty)

How Sweyn Forkbeard became the first Viking king of England. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A Roman soldier stands on guard during a re-enaction at Birdoswald Roman fort in Carlisle

Roman legions: the backbone of the Roman military

In partnership with Expeditions Rome

Painting of Bonnie Prince Charlie

Bonnie Prince Charlie: Scottish superhero or Italian coward?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Soldiers from Mao Zedong’s Red Army assemble in Yan’an, Shaanxi province, 1936 (Photo by Getty)

The Chinese Civil War: a guide to the conflict and the rise of Mao Zedong

The Immortals shown holding long spears on a frieze from the palace of Darius the Great

General ancient history

The Persian Immortals: the feared elite guard of the Achaemenid empire

A depiction of the French and Indian War, with George Washington on horseback

A guide to the Seven Years’ War

Residents of Palermo, Sicily, line the streets to greet the American Sherman tanks after the town had surrendered to the Allies

The battle for Sicily: breaking into Fortress Europe. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Women who served in WW2. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Sketch of the battle of Blore Heath, howing the final disastrous charge of the Lancastrians

9 battles that shaped the Wars of the Roses – from St Albans to Tewkesbury

Photo showing a snowy Wounded Knee, where US troops massacred the Lakota Sioux, with bodies visible in the foreground

The massacre at Wounded Knee: why did the US Army attack the Lakota Sioux?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The 1993 film ‘Schindler’s List’. (AF Archive/Alamy Stock Photo)

Second World War

7 must-see WW2 films, from Schindler’s List to Letters from Iwo Jima

The Spanish Armada which threatened England in July 1588. (Photo by Ann Ronan Pictures/Print Collector/Getty Images)

Turning points1588: The Spanish Armada. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Watercolor Painting Depicting Battle of Agincourt (Photo by © Historical Picture Archive/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)

Turning points1415: The battle of Agincourt. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Part four in our 20-part series looking at decisive moments of the last 1,000 years in British history explores 1150–1199

Turning points1171: The English invasion of Ireland. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Thomas Kendrick: MI6 spymaster who helped win WW2. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A 15th-century manuscript depicts soldiers using crossbows during the Battle of Crecy in 1346

A short history of long-distance warfare. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Yugoslavia: the beginning of the end. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

What happened to Britain’s lost Roman legion?

Photo of members of the Versailles Conference

First World War

Your guide to the Treaty of Versailles

US heavyweight boxing champ Joe Louis receives a medal during WW2

From Joe Lewis to Audrey Hepburn: 10 famous faces of WW2. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Soviet infantrymen charge in a counter offensive during the battle of Moscow, 1941.

The 1941 battle of Moscow: how successful was Operation Typhoon?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Pearl Harbor aftermath: the fallout from the attack. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The USS West Virginia burns at Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941

What if…Japan hadn't attacked Pearl Harbor. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.