10 Downing Street, the residence of the prime minister of the United Kingdom. (Photo by Getty Images)

Politics

(Photo by Alamy)

Brexit lessons from history

A painting depicting the Mexican-American War of 1846–48: battle of Buena Vista, also known as battle of Angostura. Since that traumatic war, the US-Mexico bilateral relationship "has experienced sharp ups-and-downs; but there have also been underlying continuities," says Professor Alan Knight. (Photo by Universal History Archive/Getty Images)

Peace, stability and pragmatism: a brief history of US-Mexico relations

Are we returning to an age of political extremes? (Illustration by Davide Bonazzi for BBC World Histories Magazine)

The big questionAre we returning to an age of political extremes?

Your guide to Karl Marx: who was he, what was the Communist Manifesto and why is he important?

Rutger Bregman. (Photo by Maartje ter Horst)

Rutger Bregman: historian in the news. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A cartoon from 'Punch' magazine (1903) titled 'Fidgety Joe', by Edward Linley Sambourne, depicting two parents representing the Duke of Devonshire and Arthur Balfour (centre), respective leaders of the Liberal Unionist and Conservative parties, trying to control their son, Joseph Chamberlain. In 1903, Joseph Chamberlain began his famous crusade for Imperial Preference – an issue which caused deep divisions in the government and ultimately paved the way for the Liberal Party's return to power in the 1906 general election. (Photo by Ann Ronan Pictures/Print Collector/Getty Images)

Brexit, the Corn Laws and the Common Market: a brief history of Britain’s trade deals

Married architects Alison and Peter Smithson at work, October 1961. The pair were architect members of the Independent Group and had an impact on the British urban scene via what became known as ‘New Brutalism’. (Photo by Davies/Evening Standard/Getty Images)

Who were the original Independent Group?

Why Churchill’s reputation is still on the line

Richard J Evans. (Photo by Fran Monks)

Eric Hobsbawm: history and politics. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A painting of America’s founding fathers inside the National Archives in Washington DC. (Photo by Visions of America/UIG via Getty Images)

A history of United States government shutdowns

In 1877, a major rebellion in Kyushu concentrated the opposition of conservative elements to the westernization of Japan. (Photo by Asian Art/Getty Images)

The story of modern Japan. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Sir Robert Peel (1788–1850) was a British statesman who twice served as Conservative prime minister, between 1834–35 and 1841–46. (Photo by General Photographic Agency/Getty Images)

5 facts about Sir Robert Peel

A British military post in a street in Dublin during the Easter Uprising, 1916. (Photo by ullstein picture via Getty Images)

The history of Ireland: 11 milestone moments

Photo of Enoch Powell being escorted by police

The Rivers of Blood speech: what was it and how did it divide Britain?

Winston Churchill. (Photo by Getty Images)

Did Churchill’s postwar speeches save the world?

Alexander Hamilton by John Trumbull. (Photo by Francis G. Mayer/Corbis/VCG via Getty Images)

Alexander Hamilton vs Thomas Jefferson: the rise and fall of America's founding fathers

Petra Kelly. “Through sheer force of will, Petra Kelly put green politics on the map. Her success in Germany in the 1980s inspired green parties across the world to shake things up,” says Caroline Lucas. (Photo by Schulze-Vorberg/ullstein bild via Getty Images)

My history hero: Caroline Lucas chooses Petra Kelly (1947–92). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Richard Evans. (Photo by Fran Monks for BBC History Magazine)

Books interview with Richard J Evans: “For Hobsbawm, communism was a matter of life and death”. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Mass meeting of Chartists on Kennington Common, London, 10 April 1848

9 places connected to the Chartism movement. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

British prime minister Theresa May leaves 10 Downing Street to attend PMQs, after she suffered a major defeat in parliament over her Brexit deal, 16 January 2019. (Photo by Alberto Pezzali/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

The historical significance of Theresa May’s Brexit defeat. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A painting depicting George Washington with British soldiers at Yorktown. In the final battle of the war at the siege of Yorktown, writes Jem Duducu, there were nearlyas many French soldiers and sailors as American rebels fighting for colonial independence. (Photo by: Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images)

American history myths: 7 things people get wrong

5 women who challenged the Westminster boys' club in the 18th century

10 terrible taxes in history

Malcolm X speaking at a rally, 29 June 1963.(Photo by Bettmann/Getty Images)

Black radicalism with Kehinde Andrews. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

c1935: Beatrice Shilling sits astride her Norton motorcycle. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images)

5 "bloody brilliant" 20th-century women

Politician and novelist Benjamin Disraeli was twice prime minister, and extended suffrage by introducing the 1867 Reform Act. (Photo by Jabez Hughes/Getty Images)

The LibraryMy history hero: Jacob Rees-Mogg chooses Benjamin Disraeli

In 1945 there were two million more ‘potential’ households than actual homes, in part exacerbated by the wartime damage to housing stock (Coventry, for example, lost one third of its homes in the Blitz). Here, displaced people in east London wait on the street. (Photo by Bert Hardy/Picture Post/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

A history of homelessness

What if JFK had lived?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Mike Leigh at the 67th Cannes Film Festival in 2014. (Photo by dpa picture alliance / Alamy Stock Photo)

Mike Leigh on Peterloo. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Winston Churchill, Josef Stalin and Franklin Roosevelt exchanged almost 700 messages during the Second World War. (Illustration by Hugh Cowling for BBC History Magazine)

Churchill, Stalin and Roosevelt: the big three’s war of words