First World War

Louise de Bettignies assisted the Allies in the Great War by establishing a vital information network in northern France. Patricia Stoughton recounts her extraordinary bravery.

Before the First World War, Irish Unionists and Nationalists were poised to fight each other over the imposition of Home Rule by the British. Then, remarkably, they fought and died side by side, writes Richard S. Grayson.

Alan Sharp takes a fresh look at the statesmen responsible for the Treaty of Versailles

The messages sent by British soldiers of the First World War to their loved ones back home have long been valued for what they tell us about daily life in the trenches. But their authors were often at pains not to reveal too much of the horror they endured. Anthony Fletcher considers what these documents reveal about the men’s inner lives.

David Powell establishes a clear path through the historiographical maze

Mark Bryant looks at the artist behind one of the most iconic images of the 20th century.

Hugh Purcell looks at how, 90 years ago, the British Empire rejected the principle of racial equality on which the Commonwealth is now based.

‘We don’t want cinemas, we want peace.’ David Woodward introduces a little-known First World War insurrection in the Austro-Hungarian fleet, framing it within the context of that empire’s multicultural makeup and the revolutionary spirit of the times.

Following her execution by firing squad in Belgium in 1915, Edith Cavell's body was eventually brought back from Brussels to England on May 15th, 1919.