Politics

The Acts of Union was signed in 1706 and 1707, creating the Kingdom of Great Britain. (Photo by The Print Collector/Print Collector/Getty Images)

The historical differences between Scottish and English Law, and what it means for Brexit

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Neil MacGregor photographed in London. “It seemed a good juncture, as Britain sets to leave the EU and operate alone on the world stage, to get a sense of how other countries view us,” he says. (Image by Chris McAndrew)

Neil MacGregor: “A consistent element of Britain’s image has been the lonely fighter standing against foreign tyranny” . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Engraving depicting Chinese opium smokers in a saloon

What caused the First Opium War?

Protester Blocking Tanks Approaching Tiananmen Square

Why China has forgotten ‘Tank Man’? Remembering the 1989 Tiananmen Square demonstrations

An illustration showing interior of the House of Commons

9 things you didn’t know about the history of parliament

Franklin D Roosevelt and Sir Winston Churchill

Secrets of Churchill’s War Rooms

The Peterloo Massacre of 16 August 1819 was the bloodiest political event of the 19th century on English soil. Troops under the authority of the Lancashire and Cheshire magistrates attacked and dispersed a rally of some 50,000 reformers on St Peter’s Field, Manchester. (Photo by Rischgitz/Getty Images)

Peterloo: the English uprising

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Peterloo Massacre, Manchester, England, 16 August 1819. (Photo by Ann Ronan Picture Library / Heritage Images)

Peterloo: the story of a massacre . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

18 August 1819: British soldiers charging the crowd at St Peter's Fields, Manchester, during a meeting called in support of political reform. (Photo by Spencer Arnold Collection/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

A “more shocking” massacre? How we might have overestimated the Peterloo crowds

Dire straits: Beggars are depicted in a woodcut. In the 16th century, waves of crop failures persuaded the government to place poor relief on the statute book. (Image by Bridgeman)

Taxing the rich to feed the poor in the 17th century: the world’s first welfare state

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Cavalry charge into a crowd of protesters at St Peter's Field, Manchester, as depicted in an 1819 engraving. What followed was the worst violence ever to occur at a political meeting in Britain. (Picture by Alamy)

The Peterloo Massacre: what did it achieve? . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

One of the earliest and most famous examples of extremism comes from ancient Rome. Starting in 264 BC and continuing for more than a century, Rome engaged in a series of wars with neighbouring Carthage. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

A brief history of extremism – from ancient Rome to al Qaeda

Illustration by Davide Bonazzi

Have nuclear weapons helped to maintain global peace?

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(Photo by Westend61/Roman Märzinger/Getty Images)

The Zinoviev Letter conspiracy . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Prime ministers Robert Walpole and Boris Johnson

From Walpole to Boris: a brief history of Eton College and the 20 prime ministers it has produced