‘Henry VIII is a serial killer and abuser’: why is Britain still so obsessed with the Tudors?

England has long adopted the version of events informed by the Victorians’ biases and neuroses. But what is behind the flood of 21st-century retellings, including the new TV series The Mirror and the Light?

Heinz-Peter King obituary

Other lives: Lecturer and historian at St Andrews University who was an expert on the Cistercian Order

Undercover women: the story of how Victorian female police cracked crime

Although women weren’t allowed to become police officers until 1917, a new book explores their vital role as ‘searchers’

Trevor Burnard obituary

Exemplary historian with a mastery of archival research who focused on slavery and empire

Rampant slaughter! Sexy armour! Tiger maulings! We bust the gladiator myths

As swords and sandals make a bloody return to the screen, the ‘Colosseum consultant’ who advises all the epic productions about accuracy tells us why he is ‘paid to be ignored’

Dyan Colclough obituary

Other lives: Historian of child actors in British theatre and lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University

Richard Abraham obituary

Other lives: History teacher and writer on the leading figures of the Russian revolution

Chris Williams obituary

Other lives: Historian who specialised in research on Welsh radical traditions and edited Richard Burton’s diaries

Award-winning UK teacher aims to show adults their historical blind spots

Shalina Patel’s book highlights stories traditionally left out of the textbooks, particular those of women and people of colour

Readers reply: who has been treated most unfairly by history?

The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific and philosophical concepts

Who has been treated most unfairly by history?

The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific and philosophical concepts

James Sharpe obituary

Lecturer and social historian whose books on witchcraft transformed the study of the subject

Barbara Megson obituary

Other lives: Historian and author who liked to research everyday lives and unsung organisations

Roy Bridge obituary

Other lives: Leeds University historian who was an authority on the late Habsburg empire

The Guardian view on celebrating working-class memory: a way of looking to the future

Editorial: Historic England’s Everyday Heritage programme can help foster a sense of local pride and empowerment