Baldwin, Saladin, and the Fall of Jerusalem
As Baldwin IV succumbed to leprosy, his potential successors fought over the throne. Their determination to prove their worth would bring medieval Jerusalem itself into peril
Military
End of the Pastry War
Mexico’s disgraced saviour General Antonio López de Santa Anna completed his comeback on 9 March 1839 as the Pastry War came to a close.
Chivalry in Chains: Prisoners in the Crimean War
During the Crimean War soldiers died in appalling conditions, but the treatment of enemy prisoners was surprisingly humane.
Massacre at Glencoe
On 13 February 1692 the Macdonalds of Glencoe were put to the sword by troops loyal to William III. Nobody was held to account.
Fight and Flight in the Thirty Years War
The Thirty Years War devastated continental Europe, killing millions and creating as many refugees. How did they experience the conflict?
The Rise and Fall of the US Army Camel Corps
The vast deserts of the American West posed logistical problems for the US Army. Camels offered a novel solution.
‘The Maginot Line’ by Kevin Passmore review
The Maginot Line: A New History by Kevin Passmore confronts the myths surrounding the fall of France in 1940.
Was Dunsterforce a Disaster?
At the end of the First World War a British force under Major-General Lionel Dunsterville launched a daring campaign to cut off Ottoman oil supplies at Baku.
The Battle of Stamford Bridge
On 25 September 1066 the ‘Viking Age’ came to a close when Harold Hardrada was slain at the Battle of Stamford Bridge.
The Ancient Greek World at War
For the ancient Greeks, the Peloponnesian War was a conflict involving the entire world. For Thucydides, it was a lesson in the realities of human nature