BBC History UK
Rome's worst nightmare
When the Spartacus revolt erupted in 73 BC, it exposed a terrifying truth: that the cocksure Roman Republic was nowhere near as invincible as it liked to believe.
10+ min |
June 2025
BBC History UK
Few works of 20th-century art have such a distinguished list of past owners
A POSTWAR BABY BOOMER AND A LATE SIXTIES student, in my adult life I naturally grew up optimistic. I believed in progress.
3 min |
June 2025
BBC History UK
Haile Selassie returns to Ethiopia
The exiled emperor reclaims his throne from Fascist Italy
2 min |
May 2025
BBC History UK
"Globalism is ironing out the fabulous texture and diversity of the old world"
COMING FROM INDUSTRIAL MANCHESTER IN the cold, rainy north of England, I have loved the Mediterranean all my life.
3 min |
May 2025
BBC History UK
"Trump's tariffs are dramatic only if you have a short historical memory"
Tariffs and trade wars have hit the headlines in recent months as US president Donald Trump pursues aggressive economic policies. But are they really so unprecedented? FRANK TRENTMANN spoke to Matt Elton about centuries of 'discriminatory taxes'
10 min |
May 2025
BBC History UK
Stream of consciousness
GOJKO BARJAMOVIC is swept along on a journey into the distant past that inspires questions about how our forebears viewed their place in the human story
2 min |
May 2025
BBC History UK
It was the shot heard around the world... But who fired it?
It's 250 years since British troops clashed with American colonists at Lexington and Concord. George Goodwin reveals how one fateful day triggered the American Revolutionary War - and sparked a ferocious race to blame the other side
10 min |
May 2025
BBC History UK
"We sang, we danced and we all held hands'
It's 80 years since Britain erupted in joy at the news that the war in Europe was over. But how did those who lived through VE Day remember it? With the help of the BBC WW2 People's War archive, John Willis reveals a day of partying, remembrance and continuing sacrifice
10+ min |
May 2025
BBC History UK
SCOTLAND'S SEASON OF THE WITCH
In 16th and 17th-century Scotland, many hundreds of 'witches' were put to death - 10 times the proportion executed in England. Martha McGill asks what drove the killings
10 min |
May 2025
BBC History UK
Egypt's grape expectations
To the ancient Egyptians, wine played a pivotal part in mythology, ritual and the natural processes that enabled their survival. Islam Issa explores six key roles it fulfilled in their society over the millennia
7 min |
May 2025
BBC History UK
"Social taboos are violated: a parent must decide which child to feed"
DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR, DEATHS related to hunger matched or outnumbered military losses.
2 min |
May 2025
BBC History UK
Preston Brooks assaults Charles Sumner
Blood flows in the US Senate as North and South head towards civil war
1 min |
May 2025
BBC History UK
War of words
US efforts to spread democratic ideals through smuggled books make a gripping yarn
2 min |
May 2025
BBC History UK
"She said: 'If you represent Pinochet in this case, I will divorce you""
PHILIPPE SANDS tells Rob Attar about his involvement in the sensational trial of the Chilean dictator, and how it connects to a Nazi on the run
10+ min |
May 2025
BBC History UK
The other peasants' revolt
MARK STOYLE is impressed by a new account of a violent uprising that destroyed castles, monasteries and thousands of lives in 16th-century Germany
2 min |
May 2025
BBC History UK
A timeless love story?
Abélard and Héloïse's passionate affair in 12th-century Paris captured imaginations in France and far beyond. Yet, writes Yvonne Seale, there was a dark side to this true-life tale of forbidden love
10 min |
May 2025
BBC History UK
Fire from the sky
AARON WILLIAM MOORE is impressed by a considered and inclusive account of the US bombing of Japanese civilians during the Second World War
4 min |
May 2025
BBC History UK
A model of innovation
A workers' village boasting light-filled houses and green parks set a new standard for urban planning in the 19th century. CONNIE ROUT takes a tour of Sir Titus Salt's trailblazing industrial-age project
2 min |
May 2025
BBC History UK
The Mongols conquer China
The Song dynasty meets a watery end at the battle of Yamen
1 min |
March 2025
BBC History UK
"In times of political volatility, it's more vital than ever that we tell women's stories"
What impact has recent instability around the world had on the study of women’s history? Does our desire for strong female role models risk erasing complexity? And whose lives are still overlooked? Ahead of Women’s History Month, ELLIE CAWTHORNE spoke to three historians about the state of the discipline
10+ min |
March 2025
BBC History UK
THE KING LOST KINGDOM
Battered by the Vikings, outshone by King Alfred, Mercia has long been painted as the also-ran of the Anglo-Saxon world. Yet, writes Max Adams, this mighty Midlands kingdom was at the very heart of the emergence of England
10 min |
March 2025
BBC History UK
Five shocking tales from Britain's royal palaces
Royal residences have been a hotbed of drama, violence and intrigue down the centuries, as Kate Williams reveals
4 min |
March 2025
BBC History UK
How Britain found its frequency
When radios first appeared in British homes in the early 20th century, one thing soon became clear: domestic life would never be the same again. Beaty Rubens tracks Britons' reaction to this extraordinary new technology via seven cartoons
8 min |
March 2025
BBC History UK
You could say that Suetonius is the godfather of the murderous dynastic drama
Suetonius's Lives of the Caesars, a key source for the early Roman emperors, has just been translated anew by historian Tom Holland. He reveals what insights it yields into these titans of ancient history
10+ min |
March 2025
BBC History UK
We are witnessing the biggest gathering of people in world history
I'M SURE, LIKE ME, READERS HAVE BEEN BOTH gripped and saddened this last month by the pictures of India's Kumbh Mela, the biggest pilgrimage in the world.
3 min |
March 2025
BBC History UK
Donald Trump has retaken the US presidency, repeating his vow to 'Make America Great Again'. But he's not the first to wield such a slogan. Back in the 1980s, Ronald Reagan stood for election with the same promise.Did he deliver?
Donald Trump's recurring battle cry \"Make America Great Again!\"- taps into a powerful sense among many Americans that life was better in the old days.
8 min |
March 2025
BBC History UK
The Victorians' cocaine habit
In the 19th century, a magic new drug took the medical community by storm, riding a wave of scientific endeavour.
9 min |
March 2025
BBC History UK
There are only a handful of survivors left who can say what happened
I WAS INTERVIEWING AN ALMOST 98-YEAR-OLD man about his memories of the Second World War this week.
3 min |
March 2025
BBC History UK
Why, the villagers wondered, were they completely green?
The story of the otherworldly children of Woolpit has long been treated as folklore - but, as John Clark explains, the tale may not be as fanciful as it seems
6 min |
March 2025
BBC History UK
Tower of light and dark
The gold-tipped monument that towers above Bath is an architectural jewel and a visceral reminder of the evils of slavery. PAUL BLOOMFIELD visits the newly restored haven built by the wealthy outcast William Beckford
2 min |