The charge of the light, battle illustration

Military history

The battle of Agincourt, 1415

True-to-scale battle numbers and 15th-century life: look inside the revamped Agincourt museum

Sir Max Hastings: “While the Dambuster raid’s strategic impact was almost nil, its propaganda value was immense”. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Crusaders defeat the Turks at Dorylaeum in 1097, as shown in a 14th-century illumination

Crusaders: did they fight for God or gold?

Poles watch the first of the German invasion planes over Warsaw, 1939. (Photo by Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)

Poland, 1939: World War Two begins. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Adolf Hitler watches German troops march in central Poland

Roger Moorhouse: How Hitler’s diplomatic miscalculation led to WW2. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Engraving depicting Chinese opium smokers in a saloon

What caused the First Opium War?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The siege of Sevastopol

Q&AWhy did Britain fight the Crimean War?

The Pearl Harbour attack

Second World War

The 11 most significant battles of WW2

Four soliders of the 36th Sikhs, various ranks, 1896. The regiment was led in January 1897 to occupy the Samana posts, says Captain Jay Singh-Sohal. (Reproduced with permission from australiansikhheritage.com)

The battle of Saragarhi: when 21 Sikh soldiers stood against 10,000 men

William of Orange at the battle of the Boyne

Q&AWhen was England last successfully invaded by a foreign power?

Soldiers standing on the western front during WW2

Second World War

10 things you (probably) didn’t know about the Second World War

In 1358, women finally gained full knightly acceptance in England when they began to be admitted to chivalric orders. (Photo by Eugene Antonov/iStock/Getty Images Plus)

Q&ACould a woman become a knight in medieval times?

US soldiers in Vietnam

From the Napoleonic Wars to Vietnam and Iraq: a history of war trauma. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A sculpture dedicated to King Leonidas of the Spartans in Thermopylae, Greece. (Photo by iStock/Getty Images Plus)

Q&AWere there really only 300 Spartans at the Battle of Thermopylae?

US infantrymen in snowdrifts

Second World War

Q&AWhy is Hitler's Ardennes campaign called the battle of the Bulge?

A depiction of the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh (10 September 1547), the last formal battle between England and Scotland. (Photo by Print Collector/Getty Images)

Q&AWhen was the last battle between England and Scotland?

Professor Dame Janet L Nelson

Charlemagne: medieval empire builder. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Illustrations by Ian Morris.

The Civil War cross-dressers: the women who swapped dresses for breeches

An illustration of the battle of Agincourt. By attacking over unsuitable ground, Charles d’Albret “doomed his army”, says Rupert Matthews. (Photo by Historica Graphica Collection/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

The top 10 military blunders in history. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The four-month Siege of Malta.

The Great Siege of Malta, 1565: the crusaders' last stand

The Peterloo Massacre

The Peterloo Massacre: how a peaceful protest turned into bloody chaos. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Winston Churchill, Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin, seated from left to right, in Yalta for the 'Big Three' Conference. In February 1945, British diplomats were already joking that it was actually a conference of the ‘Big Two-and-a-Half’. (Photo by Keystone Features/Getty Images)

WW2: When Britain stood (not quite) alone. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Winston Churchill gives his famous 'V for Victory' sign while addressing crowds from the balcony of City Hall in Sheffield, November 1941. Churchill's "inspirational" wartime speeches "galvanised the country and became part of our national lexicon", says historian Dr Nick Lloyd. (Photo by Capt. Horton/ Imperial War Museums via Getty Images)

Debate: Is British history too fixated with the story of the world wars?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The battle for Okinawa: one Marine’s story. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A portrait of Napoleon Bonaparte fleeing from the battlefield of Waterloo (18 June 1815) after his defeat by the British under Wellington and the Prussians commanded by Blucher. A print from 'Le Patriote Illustre'. (Photo by The Print Collector/Print Collector/Getty Images)

What is the significance of Waterloo?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Members of the Home Guard train racing pigeons as messengers in Blackburn, July 1940. Soon, carrier birds like this would be supplying vital intelligence on German arms factories and troop movements in occupied Europe. (Photo by Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

The pigeons’ war on Hitler. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The (forgotten) Iraq war. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The life of Saladin. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Tom Hanks, Matt Damon and Edward Burns in 'Saving Private Ryan' (1998), directed by Steven Spielberg. (Photo by Dreamworks LLC /Paramount Pictures)

Second World War

D-Day on screen: 5 TV and film depictions of the Second World War operation

A new view of D-Day. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.