Dockers unloading wine barrels

Social history

Two Hitler Youth who have surrendered to Allied Forces, Germany, 1945. (Photo by © CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)

First World War

Innocence under fire: how children were used in warfare of the past

US secretary of state William Seward (seated left) signs the agreement to buy Alaska from Russia in 1867

America’s hidden empire: the USA's forgotten imperial expansion.

Illustration showing the traders who made a fortune during the wake of the Black Death

Merchants of doom: the traders who profited from the Black Death.

From Meiji to modernity: how Japan reinvented itself through the 20th century.

Workers lower the bodywork of a Standard Vanguard car onto its chassis in a factory

Britain’s motor city: how Coventry's car industry roared to greatness – then went into reverse.

German troops on horseback cross a bridge during the Poland campaign

The brutal blitzkrieg: the 1939 invasion of Poland.

Illustration depicting the migration of people across the world

How has migration changed the world?.

Pompeii: a remarkable window into ancient Roman life.

Joep de Beer of Holland throws a javelin at the Stoke Mandeville Games

Q&AWhen and where were the first Paralympics held?

William Wallace on trial in 1305

William Wallace: who was the Scottish rebel who defied Edward I?

Before Chernobyl: the secrets that paved the way for disaster.

'The Journey of the Magi' by Benozzo Gozzoli, commissioned by Piero the Gouty for the Palazzo Medici Riccardi. It features his son Lorenzo, who would become known as Lorenzo the Magnificent, as one of the three kings

“They were on a level with today’s billionaires” – your guide to the Medici: bankers to the Pope, rulers of Florence, patrons of the Renaissance

Benin Bronzes at the British Museum In London

What are the Benin Bronzes and why are they important? Explore the significance of the controversial treasures

Thomas Crapper started a plumbing business in Chelsea in 1861 and pioneered some of the most revolutionary designs of sanitary engineering in the 19th century – but he didn't 'invent' the toilet

The legend of Thomas Crapper, the man who didn't invent the toilet

A phantasmagoria by Belgian entertainer Etienne-Gaspard Robert, whose stage name was Etienne Robertson, 1797. (Photo by Kean Collection/Archive Photos/Getty Images)

Phantasmagoria: creating the ‘ghosts’ of the Enlightenment.

Brazilian peacekeepers under UN command in Haiti during general election 2006

When should countries intervene in others’ affairs?

Illustration representing various empires across history

General ancient history

Have empires ever been a force for good?

An architectural grotesque of a woman displaying her vulva

How naughty was the past? The hidden depths of the medieval church

Robespierre’s brutal downfall.

How should we teach the slave trade?.

Building utopia after WW1.

Portraits, power and royal wigs.

Meeting in Tenochtitlan between Hernan Cortes

Two worlds collide: Spanish conquistadors and Aztecs

The transformation of India’s glamorous golden couple.

Women munition workers stacking a reserve of shell castings during WWI

Young guns: the women and children of WW1 munitions factories.

Emma Dabiri"William Cuffay's story is more relevant now than ever".

A hard-fought history of trespass.

LectureNiall Ferguson on the politics of catastrophe.

Q&A: What was the punishment of being ‘burnt in the hand’?.

Olympic history: everything you wanted to know.