Military history

8 May 1945: Crowds celebrate VE Day in London, at the end of World War 2. (Photo by Picture Post/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

“Hooray! The war is ended”: 5 people’s recollections of VE Day

Expelled Germans leaving Poland's western territories

“The war without an end”: what happened in Europe after VE Day?

Ill mannered discussions: Chinese leader General Chiang Kai-shek, US president Franklin D Roosevelt and British prime minister Winston Churchill meet at the Cairo Conference in November 1943. (Photo by Getty Images)

VE Day at 75 Preparing for peace: why WW2 felt like a war without an end

Detail of the carved portal of Hylestad stave church, 12th century. (Photo by Werner Forman/Universal Images Group/Getty Images)

5 forgotten Viking battles that shaped Britain’s destiny

Flying the flag: A sailor signals a merchant ship in the Thames Estuary, 1939. Allied maritime capacity was paramount in the final victory. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images)

Second World War

WW2: Why did the Allies win the Second World War?

Crowds in Piccadilly Circus in London celebrate VE Day

Countdown to VE Day: the week World War 2 ended in Europe

Edward the Confessor

10 things you (probably) didn’t know about the Anglo-Saxons

Harold Godwinson is proclaimed king of England in the Bayeux Tapestry. It may have been commissioned by a Norman but this magnificent artwork repeatedly acknowledges the English leader’s piety and courage. (Photo by Universal History Archive/Getty Images)

Editor's pick 11 fascinating articles on the Normans you can read right now

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Illustration of Alexander the Great marching to war (Illustration by Sue Gent_

What if… Alexander the Great had lived longer? . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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American soldiers head towards the French coast, June 1944. (Photo by Getty Images)

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

Hollow victory: Charles de Gaulle, leader of the Free French, attends Paris VE Day celebrations. But many faced privation and uncertainty as the war drew to a close. (Photo by Getty Images)

VE Day at 75 The bitter taste of victory: why May 1945 was not a time of celebration for everyone

A depiction of the Norman army, from the Bayeux Tapestry

Everything you wanted to know about the 1066 Norman invasion and the battle of Hastings – but were afraid to ask

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Illustration of Elizabeth I in a cage

What if... The Spanish Armada had landed? . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Illustration of Boudica, victorious over the Romans

What if… Boudica had defeated the Romans? . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

An oil portrait of Charlemagne (c747–814), King of the Franks, by 15th/16th-century artist Albrecht Durer. (Photo by Archive Photos/Getty Images)

The legacy of Charlemagne: how the king of the Franks continues to cast a shadow over Europe