Warriors, showmen and tyrants

The Land of the Rising Sun’s eight female rulers are all but forgotten, but their lives and reigns were filled with drama

From ancient court to campaign HQ: Robert Icke’s Sophocles

The Bank of England, Threadneedle Street, London EC2

In the south-east of Türkiye, Mardin, Şanlıurfa and Gaziantep offer a gateway to an ancient region whose wonders are still being discovered. The winner of Wanderlust ’s Visions photography competition turns his lens on its historic sites

Why do civilisations that dominated their epoch fail? In an era of autocracy, climate change, the rise of AI and a first-hand understanding of how deadly pandemics can be, it’s a question that seems p

Did you know that Thomas Müntzer, leader of the German Peasants’ War in 1525, used a rainbow flag to rally his followers? It’s an aptly exuberant image for the radical charisma of Müntzer, and for the