I was a teenager during the Second World War, although the term teenager was not in use in those days. You were just a lad. What’s more, one often left school and became a worker at age 14, as I did i

By spring 1941, the Afrika Korps was advancing across eastern Libya towards Egypt and the Suez Canal. But a dusty port town lay in their path

Picture the scene: a former NHS chef ‘Clem’ Clements is celebrating his 98th birthday, sitting in his front room surrounded by his medications, an oxygen mask and a discreet tape recorder. He is recal

Fitting-out time is here again. Because I winter up in the Baltic where the sea still sometimes freezes, my season doesn’t really start until May. It was different when I berthed my 22ft wooden sloop

Leading historians share the texts that have inspired and informed their work

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