The ‘gateway to the West’ has for years become a relative sanctuary from the onslaught on Ukraine’s frontline. But the city and region’s long history has seen it at the centre of countless conquests

Europe’s frozen northeast became a new sacred frontier of holy war, forced conversion and occupation against Europe’s last pagans

On the morning of 9 January 1905 (22 January on the New Style calendar Soviet Russia later adopted), a crowd of striking workers marched peacefully through Saint Petersburg towards the Winter Palace,

The grisly fate of more than 16,000 soldiers and civilians during the First Anglo-Afghan War serves as a timeless lesson in hubris and bad leadership

Head to Alaska, America’s largest state, for everything from gold-rush glamour to Arctic adventures

Rough roads rising to 15,275ft above sea level, deserts, water crossings and 21 countries. A total of 16,651 miles in a 36-year-old BMW saloon. Yes, the adventure is as unlikely as it sounds. Many peo