The Most Famous Actress in the Georgian World
On her retirement the television producer Jo Willett set out to write a biography of Sarah Siddons
Features
Here you can explore our archive of long form pieces, written by expert historians. In these features, they explain where they found their ideas, how they crafted their stories, what new discoveries they have made and arguments they have proposed.
Double Crossing Hitler
Taylor Downing on the campaign of deception and disinformation that preceded D-Day in 1944
Welcome to the Migrants' Supper Club
A visit to her ancestral home in Samarkand inspired Or Rosenboim to establish a dining club on her return to London
Herbert Ponting's Photographs of Antarctica in Colour
Colourised and remastered images from Robert Falcon Scott's Terra Nova Expedition
Walking the Streets of London in the 1660s
Joad R. Wren explains how he found inspiration and truth in Ralph Agas's map of London
The Medieval Art of Graham Turner
The artist Graham Turner casts an eye back to 1471 and one of the decisive moments of the Wars of the Roses: The Battle of Barnet
1950: Wind Tunnel at Langley Aeronautical Laboratory
"Aerodynamic research into hypersonic speeds—perhaps in the region of 15,000 miles an hour—will ultimately be carried out"
1945: Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima
On 23 February 1945 one of the iconic photographs of the Second World War was taken on the Pacific island of Iwo Jima. Here it is in colour.
1949: The Chicago Theatre
The bright lights of the 'wonder theatre of the world' caught the attention of a young Stanley Kubrick
1924: The Death of Lenin
On 21 January 1924, the Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin died. Here's how the news was reported in Britain.
1900: Mulberry Street, New York
A glimpse into Manhattan's teeming streets at the turn of the twentieth century
1918: Inside Amiens Cathedral
A journalist describes a poignant service in a barricaded and subdued church