What will historians say about the latest period in British history? What has stayed the same, and what is vastly different from our parents’ generation? Andrew Hindmoor, professor of politics at the University of Sheffield and author of Twelve Days that Made Modern Britain, recommends books that give insights into contemporary British history.

She became the heir to the British throne because her uncle had resigned and became Queen Elizabeth II aged just 25, after her father’s early death in 1952. The royal biographer Robert Lacey considers Elizabeth Windsor (1926-2022),  her family history, her legacy and what made her so successful as Britain’s titular head of state.

It’s been 100 years since World War I ended, but there is still very little consensus about what caused it, or what its consequences were. Historian Jonathan Boff talks us through the latest books and best modern interpretations of World War I.

History is not about understanding the past for the sake of it, it’s about understanding human nature, says the historian and novelist Ian Mortimer.

History books often focus on big political or economic events, wars and leaders. But there’s much to learn from studying the way people lived, and what made the Victorian age both like and unlike our own, as Judith Flanders explains.

The history professor tells us why it’s less interesting to argue about whether the Empire was a force for good or ill, than to understand how it worked and why it fell apart. He suggests a reading list to get us started.

The professor of history at Cambridge asks why Oliver Cromwell remains Britain's most controversial ruler, and what the morbid story of Cromwell's head after his death has to say about British history.

He was the Machiavelli of English kings – a chancer and usurper with a highly dubious claim to the throne. But Henry VII ruled for 25 years and founded a dynasty. His biographer tells us how he did it

Winston Churchill’s role as a global statesman remains immensely controversial. For some he was the heroic champion of liberty, saviour of the free world; for others a callous imperialist with a doleful legacy. Here, historian Richard Toye chooses the best books to help you understand the man behind the myths and Churchill’s own role in making those myths.

The failure of the Stuarts to win back the English or Scottish throne changed the course of history, enabling the buildup of a highly centralized British state and, possibly, America’s war for independence. Murray Pittock chooses the best books on Jacobitism, the 18th century phenomenon that nearly overthrew the British government.

From the North-South divide to middle-class insecurity and the correlation of petrol use and obesity, Danny Dorling with five books on what makes Britain British.

University College London professor Helen Hackett selects five books on the Virgin Queen, including one by the monarch herself. “You get a sense of her independence of mind. She does her own thing”

On October 31st 1517, Martin Luther, an unknown friar in an obscure town in eastern Germany may or may not have posted a list of complaints to the door of his local church. His actions would lead to what was later called ‘the Reformation’ — a grisly period in European history that nonetheless paved the way for a more tolerant and pluralistic society. Peter Marshall, one of the period’s leading scholars, talks us through the best books on the Reformation.

Boudica was an Iron Age queen who led her people into rebellion against Roman rule in the province of Britannia. She was defeated, but only after she had burned several towns, including London, to the ground. Here Richard Hingley, Professor of Archaeology at Durham University, explains how to sift the truth from the myth, and why Boudica has remained an enduring source of fascination down the centuries.

When William of Orange came from Holland to take the English throne in 1688, was it a foreign invasion, or a revolution from within? Yale historian, Steven Pincus, talks us through the conflicting views on the Glorious Revolution and argues for a new perspective.

Conservatism is different around the world because what it’s trying to preserve, the ‘essence of a nation,’ inevitably varies by country, says British journalist and politician Daniel Finkelstein. And yet, the UK’s Tory party has always been quick to adapt to whatever would get it into power.

Leading architectural historian, chooses books on art and culture in the Elizabethan era. From CS Lewis on literature, to the fantastic embroideries at Hardwick Hall, to baked rabbit and more.

Christine L. Corton describes how Londoners loved and hated the fog that defined their city for over 200 years. Fog bought confusion, suicide and death; but also anonymity, mystery and beauty. Here, she picks the best five books on the pea-souper

The social historian argues London is an intrinsically addictive city. He charts its history through its dependencies on chocolate, tobacco, coffee, and tea.

Until the 1970s, Britain was predominantly a working class society, says the historian David Kynaston. He tells us about books that explore how this changed, giving rise to the turbulent Thatcher years.

The historian and biographer of London Peter Ackroyd picks five books that shine a light on parts of this vast, complex and confusing city where, he says, pathos and pantomime meet.

As the Olympics open, David Runciman looks back at the two previous times that the Games have been staged in London and finds that the thrift of today looks modest compared with austerities of the past

Britain is a bewilderingly motley nation of phlegmatic grumblers, says the author and editor Matthew Engel – a seaside resort-going, class-conscious people haunted by loss of empire, and we can’t even agree on what the country is called

The 1930s are hugely underrated as a decade, says the historian. She tells us about the social and design revolutions that made the thirties much more than just a prelude to war

Bestselling celebrity biographer Andrew Morton recommends the best books on the British royal family and the publishing of his own book, Diana, Her True Story—In Her Own Words, viewed by many as the definitive book on Princess Diana.

British novelist and poet Adam Foulds discusses fading empire in the context of Kenya, including the horrors of British gulags, the Mau Mau uprising, and the social deprivation endured by the Kikuyu.