Education
History Extra
A treaty transformed North American history
California became American territory just days after gold had been discovered in the Sierra Nevada foothills – and Mexico lost out
3 min |
April 2026
History Extra
England's mistress
Nell Gwyn became famous for her love affair with Charles II, and for her love of drinking, gambling and carousing. Yet, writes Sophie Shorland, this upwardly mobile celebrity was also a canny political operator who wielded substantial power in court
10 min |
April 2026
History Extra
Across history, intellectual life repeatedly becomes suspect when societies fracture
A mistrust of ‘experts’ and ‘intellectuals’ has recently crystallised into US government interventions targeting academic institutions. EMILY KNOX and JOAN SCOTT share their thoughts with Danny Bird about the troubling history of anti-intellectualism
9 min |
April 2026
History Extra
BLOOD AND PLUNDER
It's a tale of slavery, racism and naked imperial power. Barnaby Phillips traces the fate of the exquisite golden treasures looted by British forces from the kingdom of Asante 150 years ago
10 min |
April 2026
History Extra
THE FACE FIXATION
From a Stone Age Venus and an Egyptian death mask to an unflinchingly challenging 21st-century sculpture, Fay Bound-Alberti introduces seven depictions of the face that track humanity's ever-evolving relationship with creativity, hierarchy and self-image
9 min |
April 2026
History Extra
ROME'S PEOPLE POWER
From Romulus's open-city policy to Claudius's reforms, citizenship was used by Rome as both a reward and a weapon. And, as Shushma Malik explains, it enabled the burgeoning empire to build power and define identity
10 min |
April 2026
History Extra
Sex in the city
A study of the understanding and treatment of sexually transmitted disease fascinates
2 min |
April 2026
History Extra
How medieval mothers took back control
In the Middle Ages, the bearing and raising of children defined women's lives. But as Elinor Cleghorn explains, there were women who had other ideas and boldly challenged attitudes towards motherhood
10 min |
April 2026
History Extra
Ancient Egyptian omelette
ELEANOR BARNETT whips up an eggah - a tasty dish that continues to be enjoyed in Egypt to this day
2 min |
April 2026
History Extra
Seventy years ago, Nikita Khrushchev stood before a packed hall in central Moscow and delivered a four-hour denunciation of Josef Stalin, one that exposed mass terror and attempted to reclaim the legacy of Leninism. So what drove this extraordinarily radical move? And did the Soviet people buy Khrushchev's message?
When I was an undergraduate, a perennial exam question was ‘Did Stalin betray the revolution?’.
10+ min |
April 2026
History Extra
Forgotten fight
What was the last battle fought in England?
1 min |
April 2026
History Extra
History has been unkind to a much-maligned Roman ruler
Domitian has been painted as a tyrant, but there are good reasons to be suspicious of what we think we know
2 min |
April 2026
History Extra
What was the most important invention in history?
Our team of historians, broadcasters and authors name the discoveries that have transformed our world over the centuries
9 min |
April 2026
History Extra
Today, the defenders of the Enlightenment are in retreat
I'VE JUST RETURNED FROM A TRIP TO VERSAILLES.
3 min |
April 2026
History Extra
England's first king weaponised silver to defeat the Vikings
Æthelstan wielded both hard and soft power decisively as he sought to expand, consolidate and unite his kingdom
3 min |
April 2026
History Extra
Tunis in five places
The Tunisian capital has a long, tumultuous history. picks a quintet of historic spots that speak to its storied past
3 min |
April 2026
History Extra
Lavenham's fortunes declined when it failed to adapt to new methods
LAVENHAM IS ONE OF BRITAIN'S BEST-PRESERVED medieval and Tudor villages.
3 min |
April 2026
History Extra
Ancient Egyptians were prolific cat killers
Cats appear to be venerated in the art of ancient Egypt, but they were bred and raised to be sacrificed as offerings to the gods
2 min |
April 2026
History Extra
A manmade paradise
In the 19th century, James Garth Marshall created a picture-perfect lake above Coniston Water. CHRISTOPHER DONALDSON explores how Marshall - and Beatrix Potter - shaped this Lake District landscape
2 min |
April 2026
History Extra
ANNIVERSARIES
DANNY BIRD highlights events that took place in April in history
5 min |
April 2026
History Extra
Claude Auchinleck
Churchill belatedly recognised Auchinleck's importance, saying that he was 'the greatest British general of the war'
2 min |
April 2026
History Extra
Reluctant guests
NIGEL JONES enjoys literary flourishes in a book about refugees in France during and after the Second World War, but is concerned by factual errors and imagined details
2 min |
April 2026
History Extra
Dead reckoning
CANDIDA MOSS is invigorated by a scholarly exploration of ideas about sacrifice over the millennia, from early Christianity to the modern world
2 min |
April 2026
History Extra
Why are there rumours that Lenin turned into a mushroom?
In 1917, Lenin masterminded the October Revolution and established the world’s first communist state in Russia; in 1922, he became the first head of the Soviet Union; and in 1924, he died of a stroke at the age of 53. Then, on 17 May 1991, Lenin became a mushroom.
1 min |
April 2026
History Extra
A dictator's demise
RICHARD J EVANS is impressed by a meticulously researched study of the Führer's suicide and of the narratives woven around it by allies and enemies
4 min |
April 2026
History Extra
Q&A
A selection of historical conundrums answered by experts
8 min |
March 2026
History Extra
The game's afoot
Having previously made two films starring Robert Downey Jr as Sherlock Holmes, it seems Guy Ritchie remains as fascinated as ever by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's famous detective.
1 min |
March 2026
History Extra
EXHIBITIONS
If we can count on one thing to persist throughout history, perhaps it is love, and that's exactly what Love Letters showcases.
1 min |
March 2026
History Extra
Left turns
Charlotte Vosper, content producer, picks episodes of the HistoryExtra podcast related to Chinese communism
1 min |
March 2026
History Extra
Direct connection
To celebrate 150 years since the first telephone call was made, Michael Kay and Coreen McGuire describe how the device reshaped social interactions in Britain - and the somewhat surprising ways it was first used
10+ min |