The charge of the light, battle illustration

Military history

Paris became a charnel house during the St Bartholomew’s Day massacre, as shown in this painting by François Dubois (Photo By DEA / G. DAGLI ORTI/De Agostini via Getty Images)

General Early Modern

Catholics vs HuguenotsYour guide to the French Wars of Religion

A uniformed US soldier plants American flags at gravesites on Memorial Day

Memorial DayA brief history

Illustration by Laurie Avon

Medieval warfare: five deceptive ways to win a battle.

A formal portrait of Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig on horseback at Poperinghe. Haig was Commander-in-Chief of the Western Front, 1915 - 1918, 12 September 1917.

First World War

10 WW1 generals you should know about

Illustration of King Richard I, on horseback, in the Holy Land, by Henry Justice Ford (Photo by The History Emporium / Alamy Stock Photo)

What if...Richard the Lionheart had recaptured Jerusalem?.

Picture of Throrolf slaying Earl Hring

The battle of Brunanburh: the forgotten fight that changed British history

WW2 the big questions: the early years of the conflict.

Life in the trenches: everything you wanted to know.

Nuclear apocalypse in Britain.

Disciplining the “scum of the Earth”.

Wrens help transport a torpedo to a submarine in Portsmouth, 1943. The WRNS was viewed as the most exclusive of the women’s auxiliary services (Photo by Lt. J A Hampton/ Imperial War Museums via Getty Images)

Second World War

Wrens at warLife in the Women's Royal Naval Service in WW2

Britain’s WW2 home front: everything you wanted to know.

The Iraq War, 20 years on.

Pupils in a museum

General History

QuizHow well do you know Year 9 history?

In partnership with Pearson

Orthodox monks (backed by Russia) and Catholic clerics (backed by France) both tried to stake their claim to Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre

Why did the Crimean War start?

Applying economic pressure and blocking bulky Russian exports helped win the war, says Professor Lambert

OpinionProfessor Andrew Lambert on the Crimean War's legacy.

Roger Fenton’s assistant, Marcus Sparling, poses with their mobile ‘Photographic Van’

The major innovations of the Crimean War.

Portrayal of the Charge of the Light Brigade

The Charge of the Light BrigadeWho blundered in the Valley of Death?

The Queen distributing the Crimea Medal, Horseguards Parade, London, c1850s, (1888).

How did the Crimean War end?.

The Battle of Sinop.

8 battles that shaped the Crimean War.

The Charge of the Light Brigade during the Battle of Balaclava, 1854. Artist Hayes, Michael Angelo (1820-1877).

The Crimean WarA timeline of key moments

Soldiers in the Crimean War

Your ultimate guide to the Crimean War

A painting of Hannibal leading his men into Italy in 218 BC, seated on top a war elephant (Photo by Peter Horree / Alamy Stock Photo)

What if...Hannibal had taken Rome?.

Sat in his Spitfire adorned with Figaro the Cat is decorated Second World War fighter pilot Ian Gleed, who had to hide his homosexuality (Photo by Royal Air Force Official Photographer/ Imperial War Museums via Getty Images)

Second World War

Hiding in plain sightThe prejudice and tolerance of homosexuality in WW2 armed forces

A painting shows Napoleon’s retreat from Moscow in October 1812. Tens of thousands of his troops perished over the winter months that followed

What if…Napoleon had defeated Russia?.

Mavia of Tanukh, illustration by Lynn Hatzius

Mavia Of TanukhWarrior queen of Arabia.

Refusing to fight in WW2.

The commandos head off in José Ferrer’s Cockleshell Heroes (1955)

Second World War

Cockleshell Heroes: the real story of WW2's Operation Frankton

Alexander the Great dressed as a Byzantine emperor

The remarkable afterlife of Alexander the Great.

Cover illustration from Le Petit Journal, 1908, showing Ferdinand I of Bulgaria declaring independence (centre) and Franz Joseph I of Austria Hungary seizing Bosnia and Herzegovina from a forlorn-looking Ottoman sultan, Abdülhamid II (Photo by Archives Charmet / Alamy Images)

Divided they fell: how war, revolution and sectarianism led to the end of the Ottoman empire.