History

At 18, your life is full of possibility. You have everything to look forward to - unless you've got the plague. In this unconventional and witty history, award-winning writer and broadcaster Alice Loxton delves into Britain's past, exploring the country though 18 notable figures at that most form...

The Battle of Dybbl, 1864. Prussian troops lay siege to an outpost in the far south of Denmark. The conflict is over control of the Duchy of Schleswig, recently annexed by Denmark to the alarm of its largely German-speaking inhabitants. Danish troops make a valiant attempt to hold out but are ove...

Most retrospective accounts of the world in 1913 reduce it to either its most frivolous features - last bright summers in grand aristocratic residences - or to its most destructive ones: the rivalries of great European powers, rumbling social unrest in Russia and the angst of Viennese coffee hous...

Most retrospective accounts of the world in 1913 reduce it to either its most frivolous features - last bright summers in grand aristocratic residences - or to its most destructive ones: the rivalries of great European powers, rumbling social unrest in Russia and the angst of Viennese coffee hous...

The stuffy conventions of the 19th century are receding into the past, and 1913 heralds a new age of unlimited possibility. Kafka falls in love; Louis Armstrong learns to play the trumpet; a young seamstress called Coco Chanel opens her first boutique; and new drugs like cocaine usher in an age o...

The mud-filled, blood-soaked trenches of the Low Countries and North-Eastern Europe were essential battlegrounds during the First World War, but the war reached many other corners of the globe, and events elsewhere significantly affected its course. Covering the twelve months of 1916, eminent his...

The 1916 Easter Rising and its aftermath changed Ireland for ever. The British government's execution of 14 republican rebels transformed a group hitherto perceived as cranks and troublemakers into national heroes. Those who avoided the British firing squads of May 1916 went on to plan a new - an...

The 1940s was a time of great challenge for everyone who lived through it. From the hardships and fear of a World War, with Britain's towns and cities were being bombed on an almost nightly basis, to the trauma of being parted from ones parents and sent away to the country to live with complete s...

In 1942 there was a domestic crisis in Britain. Public morale collapsed with a widespread feeling that Winston Churchill was no longer the right man to lead the nation. In the course of the crisis, motions of No-Confidence were debated in Parliament. A credible rival for Prime Minister emerged. T...

With the end of the Second World War, a new world was born. The peace agreements that brought the conflict to an end implemented decisions that not only shaped the second half of the 20th century, but continue to affect our world today and impact on its future. In this remarkable history, the for...