The charge of the light, battle illustration

Military history

A view of Þingvellir National Park in western Iceland. It was here, in AD 930, that Viking settlers established the first pan-Icelandic assembly – possibly the oldest parliamentary body in the world. (© Dreamstime)

Vikings: A land without kings. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Photo of Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie

Q&AHow did the world go to war in 1914?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Escaping the Blitz and recording the First World War. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A group of survivors from the Long March after their arrival in Shenxi in 1934. (Photo by Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images)

The LibraryMao: the legend of the Long March. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Picture depicting the Battle of Waterloo

Q&AWho was the bravest man at Waterloo?

Watercolour painting of the Battle of Agincourt

Q&AWho paid for the arrows in the Battle of Agincourt?

Picture of the charge of the 4th Hussars at the battle of Friedland

Q&AWhat were hussar regiments?

1,138: The number of London children recorded as dying of “teeth” in 1685. (Illustration: James Albon for BBC History Magazine)

History’s most surprising statistics. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A depiction of the battle of Naseby

Did Roundheads and Cavaliers really dress so differently?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Army recruits take the oath in White City, London, December 1914. “Creating an army more or less from scratch was a recipe for disastrous losses,” claims Niall Ferguson. (Getty Images)

“Britain should have stayed out of the First World War” says Niall Ferguson. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A recruitment poster used during the First World War, c1915.

Why Britain was right to go to war in 1914. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

First World War

Gary Sheffield on First World War debate: 'A German victory would have been a disaster for Britain'

First World War

Niall Ferguson: “Britain should have stayed out of First World War”

Paxman on World War One. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Pillage of Jerusalem

Crusading for God and gold. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Troops on a night raid during the First World War

Jeremy Paxman: "The war finished Britain off in many respects". This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Is Blackadder bad for First World War history?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Khudadad Khan

My history hero: Khudadad Khan (1888-1971). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

This detail from the Gundestrup Cauldron – a richly decorated silver vessel thought to date from the second-century BC – depicts a Celtic god or druid surrounded by beasts. (Werner Forman/Universal Images Group/Getty Images)

The genius of the Celts. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Chinese irregular cavalry and infantry from the north-western provinces move towards the front during the 1894–95 war

China's wars

Renewed debate over battle of Hastings location

Sport offered the two sides the perfect stage on which to get one over on the 'enemy', says Dominic Sandbrook. Pictured here is a queue for a football match between Arsenal and Dynamo Moscow. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

The Cold War in your living room. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

"Nobody could have held their nerve in Normandy like Monty did," says Al Murray of the wartime general. (Photo by Mark Kauffman/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images)

My history hero: Bernard Montgomery. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Books interview: Margaret MacMillan on the First World War. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

© Imperial War Museum

Q&AHow old was the youngest known soldier to fight in WW1?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

First World War

Slang and swear words 'helped soldiers survive the First World War'

1914: Why Britain had to go to war. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

My history hero: Robert Baden Powell (1857–1941). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Cold War culture and the path to the First World War. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Were the pulverised bones of soldiers and horses who died at the battle of Waterloo sold as soil fertiliser?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.