Central intelligence

JONATHAN KWAN is swept along by a colourful and authoritative exploration of Europe's geographic heartland

Red dawn

RICHARD OVERY is impressed by a comprehensive history of the changing relationship between two states that became the great superpowers of Eurasia

Quest for a queen

BRONWEN RILEY is swept up by a lively if uneven exploration of the life and landscapes of the near-mythical first-century leader of the Iceni

"The 1848 uprisings were a dissonant orchestra of ambitions and intentions"

CHRISTOPHER CLARK tells Matt Elton about the revolutions that swept Europe in the 19th century, revealing how their speed and synchronicity alarmed authorities across the continent

In 1658, a Norfolk gentleman named Ralph Suckey thought he'd got away with murder......until he was attacked by a flock of crows

People in Tudor and Stuart England believed that, while God could not prevent humanity's greatest crimes, he could reveal their perpetrators via miraculous signs. Blessin Adams explains how bird attacks, ghostly apparitions and bleeding corpses led to convictions for murder

Q&A

A selection of historical conundrums answered by experts

TUDOR LONDON: A GLOBAL CITY

During the 16th century, London opened its doors to a diverse cast of newcomers, from Moroccan ambassadors to Native American chiefs. Jerry Brotton reveals how foreign visitors shaped the Tudor capital

AN APPETITE FOR POWER

Wine, song and the finest food money could buy made medieval feasts a highlight of the courtly calendar. Yet more often than not, writes Charlotte Palmer, a thirst for influence and prestige lay behind the carousing

KALEIDOSCOPIC NATION

Amid the darkness of economic hardship and state-sponsored fear, East Germany could also be a society of opportunity and hope. Katja Hoyer profiles some of the people whose stories bring this full, complex picture to life

How to and how not stage a coronation

What separates a crowning success from a right royal fiasco? Drawing on a thousand years of Britain's coronations, Tracy Borman offers her dos and don'ts for pulling off the ceremony without a hitch

Masters of ceremonies

Henry III believed that spectacle elevated him into the sphere of the sacred. Elizabeth I used it to emphasise her Protestant credentials. And Queen Victoria turned it into a celebration of her imperial might. As King Charles III prepares for his coronation, ALICE HUNT reveals how generations of British monarchs have used pomp and pageantry to project power

"Before my children shall be taken, I will kill every one of them"

The BBC series Lady Killers investigates historical murders perpetrated by women.

"Climate is a factor that underpins all of human history"

Peter Frankopan talks to Rhiannon Davies about his pioneering new book exploring how humanity's complex relationship with the natural world has altered over the millennia

The first families of the second city

The story of modern Birmingham is dominated by two clans, whose radical views and fierce commitment to public service forged its distinctive identity.

William Douglas: The infamous bushranger

Hard drinker, bandit, prize-fighter and reader of skulls. MEG FOSTER unravels the myth of \"Black Douglas\", whose life of crime across 19th-century Australia made him a target of lynch mobs and the popular press

Hot cockles, handball and hide-and-seek

Nicholas Orme highlights some of the most popular children's pastimes in Tudor England - from ball games to blind man's buff - and explores their place in wider society

GEORGE VI'S NAZI DILEMMA

As war raged across the globe, the king had to confront admirers of Adolf Hitler uncomfortably close to home

AT THE MERCY OF THE MONGOLS

They pulled off one of the most astonishing campaigns of conquest in history. But how did they treat their subject populations once the dust had settled?

13 February 1858 European explorers first glimpse Lake Tanganyika

Burton and Speke seek the source of the river Nile

When art turns odd

Our podcast editor Ellie Cawthorne discusses a recent episode on the weirdest masterpieces in art history - and what they can tell us about the depth of human imagination

12 February 1554 Lady Jane Grey is executed for treason

The young woman installed as a Protestant alternative to Queen Mary meets a tragic end

Olive's role in the BBC's earliest days deserves to be remembered

WHEN WE CONSIDER THE BBC'S FIRST 100 YEARS, distinguished director generals come to mind, along with famous presenters and favourite programmes. Yet it's likely that you have never heard of the wonderfully named Olive Bottle.

The long fight over abortion rights in the United States

Fifty years ago, the US Supreme Court's landmark Roe v Wade ruling guaranteed access to abortion throughout the United States - a decision that was reversed last summer. ALLISON MCKIBBAN charts the complex, often contradictory currents that have shaped women's reproductive rights in America

Britain's century of strike action

Recent months have seen thousands of workers - including nurses, railway employees and postal staff go on strike around the United Kingdom. RICHARD TOYE explores the nation's history of industrial action, and the extent to which it has been driven by political ideology or practical concerns

"Indigenous Americans who travelled across the Atlantic were horrified by inequalities in European society"

Caroline Dodds pennock talks to Ellie Cawthorne about her new book tracing the remarkable stories of Indigenous Americans who voyaged to Europe after 1492

Breast practice

Joanna Wolfarth's new book is a love letter to all women who have cradled an infant close to their breasts.

Liberal views

RICHARD TOYE is intrigued but ultimately unconvinced by a detailed account of the state of British liberal politics in the first years of the 20th century

Centuries of iron

JONATHAN BOFF is impressed by a comprehensive and insightful military history of Germany and its southern neighbours

Trading on reputations

LUBAABA AL-AZAMI has mixed feelings about an insightful but sometimes Eurocentric look at the development of the East India Company

How people power fuelled England's century of chaos

Charles I's clashes with parliament may dominate the history books, but behind the turmoil of the 17th century lay something deeper: a political awakening of the people