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The Jet Engine
The trailblazing technology which made the air age soar
Frida Kahlo: A life in colour
The life of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, known for her ground-breaking self-portraits
Cool: Sunglasses, style and American counter-culture
Exploring the elements of that seemingly effortless pose to which so many aspire
Karl Kraus: Austria’s fearless satirist
The scathing critic of deceit and corruption in Vienna
Who was the real Cleopatra?
Unpicking fact from fiction in the life of the last queen of Egypt
Cambodia's ancient Khmer Empire
Builders and sculptors of South East Asia's awe-inspiring monuments
Calm in the chaos: The story of the Stoics
A philosophy for resilience and equanimity
Lifting the lid: The history of the toilet
An invention many rely on, but prefer not to discuss
Coal: a Burning Legacy
How coal created empires and wealth but also caused misery and unprecedented pollution
Charlie Chaplin
The life and work of early Hollywood's most successful comedian
Diaghilev and the ballet revolution
The Russian impresario whose Ballet Russes company transformed 20th century dance
The Iranian Coup of 1953: Overthrow of a Prime Minister
How British and US intelligence agencies helped oust Iran’s leader Mohammad Mossadeq
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn: Revealing the Gulag
The Russian writer who exposed the grim, nightmarish world of Soviet forced labour camps
The Emergence of Modern Turkey
The birth of the secular republic of Turkey from the ashes of the Ottoman Empire
Fermentation: Ancient Food Alchemy
What's your brew? Friendly microbes making our fare tastier
The Master and Margarita: Devilish satire
One of Russia’s favourite novels that combines magical fantasy with dark political satire
Antigone: A drama of defiance
The classic play from Ancient Greece about civil disobedience
Goya: Seeking truth through art
The Spanish artist Francisco Goya, whose work explored the darker side of human nature
The Heel and the Sneaker
A history of footwear
The Top of the World
The history of the North Pole as both a place on the map and in our imaginations.
The talking drums of West Africa
A source of music, spiritual power and oral literature
Lu Xun: Writing the story of New China
Life and works of the man who transformed Chinese literature.
Robinson Crusoe: The man and his island
Daniel Defoe’s classic adventure story
Calouste Gulbenkian: The architect of Middle East oil
The secretive Armenian financier who shaped petroleum production for decades
Anaesthesia: Unwrapping oblivion
Getting under the skin of the discovery which made pain-free operations possible
Moomin Creator Tove Jansson
Tove Jansson was the Finnish-Swedish author and illustrator best known for the Moomins.
The spice trade: Selling the scents of luxury
The unique allure of spices that preyed on emotion and taste, and powered whole Empires
Napoleon: From empire to exile
Exploring the life and legacy of France’s revolutionary emperor
Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Seas
Jules Verne's classic adventure novel
Chess: a chequered history
A war on the board - one of the oldest strategy games in the world
Inside the mind of Leonardo da Vinci
The Italian artist’s unique understanding of science and the natural world