Military

Ship Shape: British Naval Strategy After Napoleon

British military engagement in northwest Europe did not pause after Waterloo and resume in 1914. The intervening century saw fluctuations in French power – and the creation of a strategic system to control it.

Cannibal Crusaders

Reports from the First Crusade brought tales of victorious Christian soldiers eating dead bodies.

The Fall of Saigon

The Vietnam War effectively ended on 30 April 1975 with the arrival of the North Vietnamese army in Saigon. Thousands fled the city, but many more were left behind.

Maiden Flight of the Spitfire

On 5 March 1936 the prototype Spitfire made its maiden flight. Its creator R.J. Mitchell would not live to see its finest hour.

The Firebombing of Tokyo

American air raids on Japan’s capital burned the city in March 1945, killing 80,000 people in one night alone. ‘Had to be done’, said the general who ordered it.