The Cultural Revolution: A People's History
Mao Zedong’s brutal campaign to purify Communist China, which began in the early 1960s, resulted in a decade of chaos that has left an indelible stain on the nation’s politics.
History Today
The Great Fire of London
The rebuilding of London required an image of what had been lost. Kate Wiles shares one such survey from 1669.
Verdun: The Killing Field
The epic German offensive to take the strategically crucial fortress in north-east France reached its bloody end in September 1916. Robert Foley looks at how and why Erich von Falkenhayn, the Chief of the German General Staff, sought to break the deadlock on the Western Front.
Burning Books
As the holders of both our cultural and personal memories, books seem sacred and their destruction, no matter the cause, is always shocking.
Portrait of the Author as a Historian: Penelope Fitzgerald
The Booker Prize-winning writer eschewed autobiographical novels for historical fiction in a bid to resolve the porous distinction between objective and subjective history, writes Alexander Lee.
Botswana after Independence
Since gaining independence Botswana’s history has not been without turmoil, but the country has emerged as a model African state.
Cecil Beaton: Through a Glass, Lightly
The photographer, designer and aesthete Cecil Beaton brought a distinctly historical awareness to the realm of fashion.
The Opium King
South-East Asia’s ‘Golden Triangle’ dominated the world’s opium production during the 1980s. David Hutt reveals how a young soldier from north Burma took on the United States government to become the region’s most notorious drug lord.
Florentine Family Feuds
The ‘middle Medici’ – two popes, two dukes, two bastards and a future queen of France – are too often left out of the dynasty’s history. Catherine Fletcher addresses that gap.
The Largest Pyramid in the World
Hidden beneath a hill in Cholula, Mexico lies the biggest pyramid ever built.