Education
BBC History UK
THE STALINGRAD OF AFRICA
In 1943, Allied and Axis troops contested one of the most decisive campaigns of the Second World War. Saul David tells the story of the battle for Tunis – as hard-fought as the struggle for the Soviet city
10 min |
October 2025
BBC History UK
Indira Gandhi is assassinated by her own bodyguards
The Indian prime minister's violent end follows a deadly assault on a Sikh shrine
1 min |
October 2025
BBC History UK
A tornado wreaks devastation on London
The medieval storm destroys St Mary-le-Bow church and other landmarks
1 min |
October 2025
BBC History UK
Gray Barker UFO conspiracy theorist
Tales of alien sightings and government cover-ups have captured American imaginations for decades - but few with such global appeal as the Men in Black.DAVID CLARKE introduces the ufologist who popularised these shadowy space-age legends
5 min |
October 2025
BBC History UK
Did Victorians really eat ancient Egyptian mummies?
In short, yes: the Victorians did indeed think eating mummified remains pilfered from ancient Egyptian tombs was a good idea, although they did not come up with the idea themselves.
1 min |
October 2025
BBC History UK
What plants were used in medieval first aid kits?
In medieval Europe, nature was a fundamental resource for healthcare.
1 min |
October 2025
BBC History UK
"A tidal wave of digital material will overwhelm recordkeeping institutions"
If you've ever posted a comment on social media, you've created a potential source for future historians. But what problems does this mass of new material pose? Matt Elton asked historians JANE WINTERS and JOHN WILLS about how recent archives differ from those of the past - and how experts might make sense of them
10 min |
October 2025
BBC History UK
"What it means to be young has shifted over time"
As the government moves forward with plans to lower the voting age to 16, JULIE V GOTTLIEB examines previous changes to the age of suffrage - from Victorian democratic reforms to the dawn of the teenager
6 min |
October 2025
BBC History UK
Nothing beats feeling the earth in your hands and uncovering the past
IT WAS LATE MORNING, BUT ALREADY HOT enough to warrant wearing a sun hat and sticking to the shade.
2 min |
October 2025
BBC History UK
Cheesed-off Nottinghamians run amok in fury
Fromage affray breaks out during the Great Cheese Riot
1 min |
October 2025
BBC History UK
"Christianity didn't invent itself as an empire from nothing: it adapted existing Roman structures"
ALICE ROBERTS speaks to Danny Bird about the evolution of the new religion that swept across the Roman empire and beyond
10 min |
September 2025
BBC History UK
Information superhighways
ANDREW PETTEGREE reviews a book that charts how news networks flourished across Europe even before the advent of printing technology
4 min |
September 2025
BBC History UK
Marrakech in five places
This most magical of north African cities is a dazzling mosaic of bazaars, mosques and gardens. BARNABY ROGERSON picks five unmissable historical highlights
3 min |
September 2025
BBC History UK
"This is the biggest history news story of my career"
The Bayeux Tapestry is set to go on display in the UK next year, almost a millennium after its creation. Following the announcement of the news, 10 historians reveal their hopes and fears about the loan
6 min |
September 2025
BBC History UK
Tomato soup cake
ELEANOR BARNETT bakes a flavoursome wartime favourite that contains a surprising mystery ingredient
2 min |
September 2025
BBC History UK
The sinister secrets of Samuel Pepys
His diaries are revered for their kaleidoscopic evocation of Restoration England. Yet a fresh analysis of Pepys’ world-famous journals – carried out by Guy de la Bédoyère - reveals a man with a proclivity for coercion and sexual violence
10 min |
September 2025
BBC History UK
The Atomic Plague
In the wake of the nuclear attacks on Japan, the official Allied line was that radiation sickness was not a danger. Yet, as Steve O'Hagan reveals, the first western journalist to witness the effects on the people of Hiroshima told a very different story
7 min |
September 2025
BBC History UK
The Treaty of York redefines AngloScottish relations
An enduring boundary between the two nations is drawn
1 min |
September 2025
BBC History UK
Crucial contributions
MATTHEW JONES is impressed by a new account of the Manhattan Project that spotlights the role of British scientists in developing nuclear weapons
2 min |
September 2025
BBC History UK
What have the Romans Etruscans ever done for us?
The wealthy civilisation that dominated the Italian peninsula before the Romans left a legacy that's full of surprises. Lucy Shipley explains why we have the Etruscans to thank for the way we write, the shape of our towns, Renaissance art – and even horror movies
8 min |
September 2025
BBC History UK
2 SEPTEMBER 31 BC Octavian, Cleopatra and Antony clash at Actium
A climactic naval battle heralds the twilight of Ptolemaic Egypt
1 min |
September 2025
BBC History UK
The Ragamuffin War explodes in southern Brazil
‘The regional revolution attracts Italian firebrand Garibaldi
2 min |
September 2025
BBC History UK
Fractured lens
PIPPA VIRDEE has doubts about an overview of the divisions that created modern states from imperial British Asia
2 min |
September 2025
BBC History UK
// We don't talk about the war in Asia which was a messy, complicated conflict//
On the 80th anniversary of VJ Day, broadcaster Kavita Puri – presenter of a new BBC Radio 4 series on the Second World War in Asia – considers why this was the conflict's forgotten theatre
10+ min |
September 2025
BBC History UK
The lost mayor of Hiroshima
The world’s first nuclear attack brought to an end a turbulent half-century in Japanese history — one that Senkichi Awaya witnessed firsthand. Iain MacGregor reveals how one man’s fate mirrored the rise and fall of a nation
10 min |
September 2025
BBC History UK
England's colossus
The rise of Athelstan was as important a moment in English history as 1066 and Magna Carta. On the 1,100th anniversary of his coronation, David Woodman salutes a king who forged a nation
9 min |
September 2025
BBC History UK
We should remember the unknown women who made the Tapestry
LIKE ALL READERS, I AM SURE, I WAS THRILLED to hear the news that the Bayeux Tapestry is coming to England next year. 1066 is the most important date in British history, and the Tapestry is the greatest single source, taking the tale from the last days of Edward the Confessor through the drama of Harold and William, the Norman invasion, and the defeat and death of Harold at Hastings.
3 min |
September 2025
BBC History UK
Ötzi the iceman is discovered in the Alps
The prehistoric mummy offers a remarkable glimpse of life - and death - 5,000 years ago
1 min |
September 2025
BBC History UK
How I uncovered Victoria's secret love
There have long been whispers of a romance between the queen and her Scottish servant John Brown, but nothing concrete to support them.
10+ min |
September 2025
BBC History UK
What lies beneath
PENELOPE M ALLISON is impressed by a study of the famous Roman town inundated by Vesuvius’s eruption
2 min |