CATEGORIES

EVERYTHING YOU WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT POMPEII

Dr Sophie Hay answers key questions about the doomed Roman city and the ongoing efforts to understand the lives of its residents

6 DUNKIRK THINGS YOU (PROBABLY) DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT

Military historian James Holland shares some lesser-known facts about the evacuation at Dunkirk, and the fighting that led up to it...

How J Edgar Hoover secretly ruled America

The long-serving director of the FBI sat at the centre of a web of surveillance and information gathering for nearly five decades. But how did he come to wield so much power? And why were his agents so feared?

M24 CHAFFEE LIGHT TANK

The US Army M24 Chaffee light tank first saw service in WWII with the Allies in December 1944

DÜNKIRCHEN 1940: THE GERMAN VIEW OF DUNKIRK

FOR THE BRITISH, DUNKIRK WAS ONE OF THE DEFINING BATTLES OF WWII, THE ARMADA OF 'LITTLE BOATS' SYMBOLISING COURAGE AND DEFIANCE AS THEY RESCUED THE BRITISH EXPEDITIONARY FORCE. BUT HOW DID THE GERMANS VIEW IT?

KUTUZOV: A LIFE IN WAR AND PEACE

FACT-CHECKING THE HERO STATUS OF FIELD MARSHAL KUTUZOV, WHO FOR HALF A CENTURY SERVED IN ALMOST EVERY MAJOR CONFLICT IN WHICH RUSSIA TOOK PART

WWII THIS MONTH...SEPTEMBER 1942

To commemorate 80 years since the Second World War, History of War will be taking a look at some of the key events taking place during each month of the conflict

TRENTON

The battered Americans hatch a bold plan to turn the tide of the War of Independence

ROME'S GRAND STRATEGY

"THE ROMANS DID DO SERIOUS STRATEGIC THINKING, THEY DID EXECUTE A SERIOUS LONG-TERM STRATEGY. AND THEY MAINTAINED IT FOR 500 YEARS"

WOMEN & WAR

A new exhibition at Biggin Hill Memorial Museum commemorates women's contribution to the RAF and the defence of the United Kingdom during the darkest hours of World War II

The Suez Crisis begins

I 'n early November 1956 the Suez Canal in Egypt was choked with ships. But these vessels weren't sailing down the 120-mile waterway that connected the Mediterranean and the Red Sea.

MODERN ANTI-TANK WEAPONS

Rapidly advancing technology has fuelled new generations of infantry and aerial anti-tank weapons

CHANGING PERCEPTIONS

Two years after their last collaboration, digital artist Marina Amaral and historian Dan Jones have joined forces once again, this time bringing together a range of colourised images that explore women's lives between 1850-1960

THE LAST DAYS OF POMPEII

We chart the terrifying events of AD 79 that saw Pompeii transformed from a bustling Roman city into an ash-covered hellscape of death and destruction...

The South Sea Bubble

The South Sea Bubble was a period of speculation frenzy and collapse on the British stock market, revolving around the fate of a single company. For years, the South Sea Company had been at the centre of a complex and tangled web of financial manoeuvrings; deliberately obfuscated dealings around selling shares and government debt; the exploitation of publicity and hype to inflate stock prices; as well as bribery, corruption and the slave trade.

THE MYSTERY OF MISS LAMOND

IN THE FIRST INSTALMENT OF HER NEW MONTHLY COLUMN, CRIME HISTORIAN DR NELL DARBY INVESTIGATES A LEGAL CASE THAT PUT A PRIVATE EYE'S REPUTATION ON THE LINE

LIFE BEFORE THE CATASTROPHE

Pre-eruption Pompeii was a busy and affluent place to live, and where new building projects were transforming the local landscape

EMERGING FROM THE ASH

Pompeii's eventual rediscovery led it to become one of the world's greatest archaeological marvels - and a site visited by millions

AXIS SALLY: TRUE STORY OF AN ALL-AMERICAN TRAITOR

A troubled child, failed Broadway actress, impressionable lover and Nazi propagandist, Mildred Gillars' life is an American tale that descends into the darkest depths of betrayal

Heroes of the Victoria Cross: PATRICK ANTHONY PORTEOUS

Amid the disastrous Dieppe Raid of August 1942, this 24-year-old officer took command of a depleted unit, saved a comrade, and led a charge against enemy positions

INSIDE THE FORTIFIED CHURCHES OF TRANSYLVANIA

Standing on the hilltops of the Transylvanian countryside, the mighty fortified churches protected their citizens throughout centuries of Tatar and Ottoman invasion

TIMELINE OF...ANTI-TANK WEAPONS

Over the course of a century, armed forces around the world produce a variety of weapons and devices to counter the evolution of armoured warfare

PORTUGAL'S FORGOTTEN COLONIAL WAR

While the US and allies fought the Viet Cong's guerrilla campaign, Portugal mounted its own counter-insurgency in its colonial possessions in Angola and Mozambique. This largely overlooked conflict witnessed one of Africa's last major wars of independence from European colonialism

WWI TAKING ON THE FIRST TANKS

On the morning of 15 September 1916 the British Army altered the course of land warfare forever, deploying 49 Mark I tanks into the Battle of the Somme. This new technology quickly necessitated strong counter-measures

WWII PANZERFAUSTS & PIATs

As highly manoeuvrable armoured units gained huge success on the battlefields of Europe and beyond, increasingly accurate and powerful weapons were put into the hands of infantrymen

COLD WAR ROCKET-POWERED PRECISION

Since the end of World War Il tanks and the weapons designed to destroy them have been locked in a deadly race for dominance on the battlefield

The World Was His Lobster

Derek Lamb looks back over the the long career of versatile and popular actor George Cole

Heritage Highlights

From bell ringing to balloons, and flowers to football, Claire Saul samples some great ideas for days out this month

Ratty Not Tatty

Simon Stabler hops on board the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway, to offer a brief history of the narrow-gauge line that is affectionately known as the La’al Ratty

PINBALL WIZARDS

Margaret Mather visits a former working men’s club in Nuneaton, Warwickshire to play her way through Europe’s largest public collection of pinball machines