Pain behind the Pleasure: the Italian Social Republic
Salò was Mussolini’s German-backed experiment in ‘real Fascism’ and fine living. Italians find it hard to come to terms with its legacy.
Second World War
The Sinking of Japan
An island nation with few resources, Japan was in a precarious enough position when it declared war on the United States in December 1941. That its powerful navy failed to learn the lessons of previous conflicts made matters even worse.
Boris Johnson's Abuse of Churchill
In using Churchill to justify his Brexit campaign, Boris Johnson 'paints a barbarically simplified and ill-informed picture of what Churchill stood for'.
The First Dambusters
On its 75th anniversary, Philip Weir remembers Britain’s first attempt to smash a major hydroelectric dam: the bombardment of Genoa in 1941.
The Children’s War
Juliet Gardiner discusses a new exhibition on the experiences of children in the Second World War, which opens at the Imperial War Museum on March 18th.
Churchill and the Reality of Politics in Wartime Britain
Mihir Bose challenges the perception of Winston Churchill as a demi-god who was essential to Britain's war effort.
Muslims in Hitler's War
The Nazis believed that Islamic forces would prove crucial wartime allies. But, as David Motadel shows, the Muslim world was unwilling to be swayed by the Third Reich's advances.
HMS Glorious: History of a Sinking and a Controversy
On 8 June 1940, British aircraft carrier HMS Glorious was sunk. Philip Weir revisits the controversy surrounding the mysterious events of that fateful day.
Saved From Dunkirk
Roger Hudson detailes how 122,000 French troops were evacuated from Dunkirk to Britain in May 1940.
‘Bugsy’ Siegel and the plot to assassinate Göring
Larry Gragg investigates the evidence behind ‘Bugsy’ Siegel’s claim that he planned to kill the high-ranking Nazi in 1939.