Feature

Autocrats have deployed automatons as weapons since antiquity, not just in myth but in reality. 

Having survived the rigours of the First World War, soldiers faced the return to civilian life. For some, it presented an even greater challenge.

Often lost behind stories of kings, queens, bishops and saints, what was life like for an Anglo-Saxon woman below the upper ranks of society?

Vladimir Lenin, the leader of the Bolshevik Revolution, was an armed prophet who adopted the characteristics of Machiavelli’s lion and fox.

For the lesser-known members of the great Tudor dynasties, loyalties were divided. Should you support your king, queen or family?

Two imperial ventures, in the same Middle East town a century apart, reveal the similarities – and differences – in the exercise of power.

The modern belief that the Middle Ages was a time of ignorance and superstition means that we often end up believing fantastic stories, too, as the tale of a Czech preacher and his emperor demonstrates.

The prime minister at the time of Napoleon’s defeat was a keen observer of European politics. His government sought a balance of power on the Continent, but with minimal British engagement.

As the Battle of Britain raged overhead, the nation’s women were urged to salvage metal for the war effort. But was it just propaganda?