The charge of the light, battle illustration

Military history

The battle of Stoke Field – German mercenary Martin Schwarz made a famous last stand in the thick of the fighting even as other elements of the rebel army turned and fled

The battle of Stoke Field, 1487 – the real last battle of the Wars of the Roses

Britain’s secret Jewish commandos. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Bodiam Castle. (Getty Images)

How to build a medieval castle: 9 top tips

Henry I proclaims Matilda as his heir

Your guide to the Anarchy, the bloody battle between Stephen and Matilda

The German battleship Bismarck of the German Kriegsmarine during early World War II

Second World War

Bismarck: why was the WW2 German battleship so feared? Plus 9 things you didn’t know about its only mission

US NATO Army on training in Germany

Able Archer 83: the Nato war-game that nearly spelled nuclear disaster. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Entrance to Lincoln Castle. (Dreamstime)

Lincoln: the battle that gave birth to medieval England. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Italian prisoners of war being escorted under armed guard to work on a farm, September 1941. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)

Second World War

Prisoners of war in Britain during WW2: where were they held?

Samurai: everything you wanted to know. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Portrait of Sarah Gristwood for BBC History Magazine

History explorer: Tewkesbury Abbey and four more places linked to the Wars of the Roses. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Once allies, Adolf Hitler and Ernst Röhm (sitting to his left) had a colossal falling out over ideology

The Night of the Long Knives: the bloody purge that secured Hitler's power

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

Soldiers from the Women's Royal Army Corps

Second World War

A brief guide to VE Day

This caricature of those meetings depicts proceedings turning to chaos, thanks to the arrival of Napoleon – freshly escaped from his exile on Elba before 'the cake' (Europe) has even been cut

Europe after Napoleon: what the Congress of Vienna meant for the coalition powers

Napoleon's planned invasion of England: what went wrong?

Napoleon Bonaparte on his deathbed. (Photo by Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Image)

What killed Napoleon Bonaparte?

Painting of Napoleon in St Helena

Napoleon on St Helena: how exile became the French emperor's last battle

Napoleon is apprehended by French soldiers on his return from Elba. Rather than take him to Paris in chains, the soldiers joined him

Napoleon's comeback: from exile on Elba to the Hundred Days

An early 19th-century painting of Napoleon Bonaparte

Q&AWhere is Napoleon buried?

Napoleon Bonaparte

Napoleon Bonaparte: facts about his life, death and career

How close to nuclear war did the Cuban Missile Crisis get?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The storming of the Bastille, 14 July 1789, as depicted by artist Charles Thévenin

Napoleon’s chance: why the French Revolution was Bonaparte's big break

Women fighters of the Jewish resistance with Judy Batalion

Women fighters of the Jewish resistance. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

How constitutions changed the world. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Britain’s nuclear past: the fallout from the High Explosive Research programme

French cuirassiers charging a British infantry square at the battle of Waterloo, 1815 (1906). From Cassell's 'Illustrated History of England, Vol. V' (Cassell and Company Limited, London, Paris, New York, Melbourne). Artist P Jazet. (Photo by The Print Collector/Getty Images)

QuizBattle of Waterloo. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The battle of Waterloo: 10 key questions answered

Barbarossa: Hitler’s greatest gamble. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The battle of Towton during the War of the Roses, 1461. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

The Wars of the Roses: the 15th-century clash of kings that heralded the dawn of the Tudor dynasty

Miniature depicting scenes from the Battle of Tewkesbury, where Edward IV defeated the Lancastrian forces of Margaret of Anjou

How Edward IV reclaimed his throne at the battle of Tewkesbury