Education
BBC History UK
WARHORSE
From William the Conqueror's battle-winning cavalry to Richard III's fatal final charge, Oliver H Creighton and Robert Liddiard explore five moments when horsepower changed the course of medieval history
9 min |
August 2025
BBC History UK
A temple to textiles
A magnificent Georgian venue designed to showcase the finest Yorkshire cloth, the Halifax Piece Hall has been repurposed numerous times over the centuries. CONNIE ROUT explores this spectacular al-fresco venue
2 min |
August 2025
BBC History UK
"The Age of Spectacle starts here"
When Bob Geldof exhorted audiences to fill Wembley Stadium and empty their pockets for famine relief in Ethiopia, he changed the face of charity fundraising – and of live music. On its 40th anniversary, David Hepworth – one of the BBC presenters on the day – explores the legacy of Live Aid
10 min |
August 2025
BBC History UK
The queen in the eye of a storm
She was an Italian Catholic in a ferociously anti-papist English court. An aspiring nun in a hotbed of hedonism. Breeze Barrington follows the extraordinary trials and tribulations of James II & VII's second wife, Maria of Modena
9 min |
August 2025
BBC History UK
“A connection was made between the rarefied world of the royal court and the politics of the street”
JONATHAN HEALEY tells Ellie Cawthorne about the dramatic moments that sparked the breakdown of Charles I’s relationship with parliament and the outbreak of the Civil War
9 min |
August 2025
BBC History UK
The opening salvo
NICK LLOYD enjoys a rich account of the outbreak of the First World War and the early weeks of the conflict
4 min |
August 2025
BBC History UK
Grand salad
ELEANOR BARNETT prepares a colourful dish, inspired by Tudor and Stuart recipes, that's designed to impress eyes as well as stomachs
2 min |
August 2025
BBC History UK
Lorenzo Da Ponte
Librettists get overlooked, but Mozart's great operas wouldn't be what they are were it not for Da Ponte, who was immensely gifted
2 min |
August 2025
BBC History UK
VICTORIAN BOXING SENSATIONS!
Sarah Elizabeth Cox introduces the pugilists who punched their way into Britons' affections during the dying days of bare-knuckle prize-fighting
8 min |
August 2025
BBC History UK
Designs for life
In the interwar era, artists and designers embraced a sleek modern style that embodied the optimism and elegance of the age. On the centenary of the Paris expo that launched Art Deco on the international stage, Emma Bastin explores its origins and lasting impacts
8 min |
August 2025
BBC History UK
Capital ideas
DONALD SASSOON is won over by a comprehensive study of economic theorists and their ideas, despite some key omissions
2 min |
August 2025
BBC History UK
India's Iron Lady
GYAN PRAKASH examines an innovative study of the political transformations experienced in India under the rule of its only female prime minister
2 min |
August 2025
BBC History UK
"There's little understanding of the shared history of Britain and the subcontinent"
As Britain celebrates South Asian Heritage Month, SHALINA PATEL, SUMITA MUKHERJEE and SHRABANI BASU talk to Matt Elton about how histories of the subcontinent can be better shared and explored
10 min |
August 2025
BBC History UK
"When justice is sovereign, the wicked are stripped of all power"
SIENA IS ONE OF THE GREAT HISTORIC CITIES – a living vision of the medieval world found now in very few places. Here is the architecture and street plan of a medieval city-state, the oldest bank in the world, and one of the oldest universities. Siena was even the first place to ban the car, in 1966! In its centre, the great square called the Campo hosts the famous Palio horse race twice a year. It's a place to relish the continuance of the past into the present.
3 min |
August 2025
BBC History UK
Movie star Hedy Lamarr patents the forerunner of wi-fi
The Hollywood actress officially registers the ingenious idea
2 min |
August 2025
BBC History UK
"A UK museum that tells the long, rich history of migration is long overdue"
IF YOU GAZE UP AT THE SKYLINE IN ROTTERDAM, in the Netherlands, you might spot a new addition. Made from stainless-steel panels and shaped like a rollercoaster, the Tornado sits on top of the city's newly opened Fenix, a museum that tells the story of human migration.
2 min |
August 2025
BBC History UK
New York newspaper announces lunar civilisation
One of history's greatest hoaxes seizes the world's imagination
1 min |
August 2025
BBC History UK
Clash of tastes
SUZANNE FAGENCE COOPER enjoys an account of the clash between Victorian art’s chief critic and its enfant terrible
2 min |
July 2025
BBC History UK
Britain goes global
LAUREN WORKING applauds a kaleidoscopic exploration of how James VI & I fuelled Britain's global ambitions, paving the way for the future empire
4 min |
July 2025
BBC History UK
"Edward III perpetrated one of the most brutal acts of war committed during the Middle Ages"
HELEN CARR speaks to Emily Briffett about the royal power struggles, bloody wars and horrific diseases that ruptured the structure of English society in the 14th century.
10+ min |
July 2025
BBC History UK
Rock of ages
Dartmoor's granite tors aren't just adventure playgrounds for hikers and climbers - the stone they produced built major landmarks and supported local livelihoods. CLARE HARGREAVES climbs the most famous outcrop
2 min |
July 2025
BBC History UK
Swings and Roundabouts
We all have childhood memories of playgrounds. But what does the evolution of outdoor play in Britain tell us about the experience of being young over the past 200 years? Jon Winder serves up a history of sandpits, bombsites and battles with cars
9 min |
July 2025
BBC History UK
Nation-building
This provocative book challenges established interpretations, conceptualisations and evaluations surrounding the birth of the modern Greek nation-state in 1830.
1 min |
July 2025
BBC History UK
Mother tongue
The title of Laura Spinney's lively, well-illustrated book refers to Proto-Indo-European (PIE).
1 min |
July 2025
BBC History UK
"Freedom and democracy are not to be taken for granted"
To celebrate the 80th anniversary of VE Day, on 5 May prime minister SIR KEIR STARMER hosted a tea party in Downing Street for Second World War veterans, schoolchildren and people with links to the armed forces. Following the event, he spoke to our correspondent York Membery about why marking the anniversary is so important - and the resonances with the current war in Ukraine
4 min |
July 2025
BBC History UK
ELIZABETH I'S FORBIDDEN LOVE
In 1579, the queen embarked on a romance with a French duke she affectionately dubbed her “frog”. The pair seemed destined for marriage. Yet, writes Elizabeth Tunstall, the people of England had other ideas...
8 min |
July 2025
BBC History UK
Beach warriors
SAUL DAVID is enthralled by a detailed account of the Allied assault on Sword beach during the pivotal landings of June 1944
2 min |
July 2025
BBC History UK
Sarah Mae Flemming Segregation-busting bus commuter
The year before the arrest of Rosa Parks sparked the Montgomery bus boycott, another black American woman started a legal fight against segregation on public transport. CLIVE WEBB and TOM ADAM DAVIES highlight her role in the civil rights battle
6 min |
July 2025
BBC History UK
Shaping Shakespear
ANDY KESSON welcomes a bold look at an early English playhouse and its crucial role in moulding the playwright's dramatic imagination
2 min |
July 2025
BBC History UK
CAESAR'S FUNERAL DRAMA
The assassination of Julius Caesar in 44 BC drove tensions sky-high in ancient Rome. As Jessica Clarke reveals, plays staged at his funeral were carefully chosen to inflame anger and incite revenge on his killers
8 min |