The charge of the light, battle illustration

Military history

The Knights Templar: everything you wanted to know. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A missionary preaches to the Native Americans of Massachusetts, c1650. By now, colonists were imposing their values on the indigenous population, encouraging them to dress like the English – and worship the English God. (Photo by Ian Tyas/Keystone/Getty Images)

Britain's nuclear fearsHow has the UK prepared for Armageddon?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Charles V of Spain depicted on a 16th-century gold coin

Kwasi Kwarteng"Wars are bloody expensive – so the only way nations can buy what they need is by printing their own money". This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The USSR showcases its military might at the 1961 annual May Day parade in Red Square, Moscow. (Photo by Sovfoto/UIG via Getty Images)

Nuclear fall-out: how the USA & USSR became bitter enemies

Why we should remember…the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent

Victims of the February Revolution are carried through the Field of Mars in Petrograd

Russia's Civil WarWhy the 1917 uprisings descended into disaster. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Troops engaged in street fighting in the battle of Stalingrad,1942 (Photo from akg-images)

Second World War

The battle of Stalingrad: a German officer's account of WW2's bloodiest battle

President Reagan and General Secretary Gorbachev together

What brought a thaw in the Cold War?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Mongol and Mamluk cavalry clash in a 14th-century manuscript

How to repel a Mongol invasion: the success of Egypt’s Mamluk empire

Second World War allies Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin (left to right) at the Yalta Conference in February 1945. East and west would soon become bitter rivals, however

The Cold War: 9 key questions

President Truman, seen here in 1948

What was the Truman Doctrine?

Painting of the Battle of Blenheim

The battle of Blenheim: how did the Duke of Marlborough triumph on the Danube?

Pompey flees after the battle of Pharsalus

The battle of Pharsalus: how Julius Caesar defeated Pompey

First World War poets: everything you wanted to know. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Stalingrad: a soldier’s testimony. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Hannibal: Rome’s greatest nightmare. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Paratroopers over Dien Bien Phu

Dien Bien Phu: the battle that split Vietnam

The first Vietnam War. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

An emu stares into the camera

Q&AWhat was the Emu War?

Kavita Puri"Many south Asian diasporic families don’t know of their First World War links". This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A black-and-white photograph of men walking down a road lined with shops. They are armed with guns

The Irish Civil War: 100 years on. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Roger II of Sicily, depicted in an Arabic-style image in the Palatine Chapel of the Norman Palace in Palermo

Normans in AfricaThe 12th-century attempt to forge a north-African Norman kingdom. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

An illustration showing the effects of the Fugitive Slave Act, passed by Congress in 1850. The law aimed to make it easier for slaveholders to reclaim runaway ‘property’ in the free states, and contributed to rising political tension. (Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty images)

The story of the American Civil War32 key moments in the landmark conflict

Painting showing the surrender at Yorktown – a man on a horse moves between two lines of cavalry

When and how did the American Revolution end?

The battle of Brooklyn (aka the battle of Long Island), 27 August 1776

American Revolutionary War: the 9 battles that made the United States

David Stirling: SAS hero or fraud?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A portrait of silversmith Paul Revere, with his head resting on his hand.

19 key figures of the American Revolution, from royals to revolutionaries

A fierce clash between colonists and British troops in Boston on 5 March 1770

The American Revolution: your guide to the 18th-century war of independence

Austrian crown prince Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie

The shot that sparked the First World War. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

October 1876: General Nelson Miles talking with Chief Sitting Bull after the army's defeat at Little Bighorn

The battle of Little Bighorn: what happened at 'Custer's last stand'?