Military history

Photo of Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie

Q&A How did the world go to war in 1914?

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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 Library Mao: the legend of the Long March

Picture depicting the Battle of Waterloo

Q&A Who was the bravest man at Waterloo?

Watercolour painting of the Battle of Agincourt

Q&A Who paid for the arrows in the Battle of Agincourt?

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

Q&A What 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

A depiction of the battle of Naseby

Did Roundheads and Cavaliers really dress so differently?

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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

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First World War

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

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First World War

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

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

Pillage of Jerusalem

Crusading for God and gold

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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.