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ABOVE The disastrous charge of the British light cavalry into the 'Valley of Death' at the Battle of Balaclava, as depicted here in 1897 by the artist Richard Caton Woodville, was apparently the result of the misunderstanding of an order.

Ignorance in war: from Balaclava to Vietnam

In his latest book, the distinguished historian Peter Burke considers the many ways that misunderstandings, arrogance, and lack of knowledge can affect events on the battlefield.

Above A typical fast food shop at Pompeii with four food containers placed in an L shaped counter. Note that to the left there is an entrance way into a fairly grand house: even the poshest residences would have space either side of the gate for commercial purposes. Of course, it would be convenient

Let’s go on a pub crawl around Pompeii!

Join Andrew Selkirk for a trip around the bars in Pompeii and find out where to go with your loved one for a slap-up meal.

Byzantine wine factory

Excavations in the city of Yavne in Israel have discovered a vast 1,500-year-old industrial complex thought to be the largest wine production centre known from the Byzantine period. The factory complex encompasses five large wine presses, each covering an area…

Interpreting Dover Castle’s great tower: Angevin innovation, or a medieval white elephant?

Dover’s massive castle, rising in tiers above the harbour to the crest of the hill above the town, looks like the very model of a medieval fortification – but, as a new book reveals, it has some very odd features indeed. Current Archaeology's Chris Catling reports on the efforts of English Heritage and Historic England, as well as castle specialists and medieval historians, to explain this extraordinary monument.

Bar brawl in Pompeii

Two gladiators wearing helmets with abundant, bristling crests are immortalised in paint in this Roman fresco, recently discovered at Pompeii. On the left, a murmillo stands tall and holds his large shield high in victory, while his vanquished opponent, a…

OPPOSITE An officer of the 11th Hussars c.1850 one of the two regiments commanded by Lord Cardigan before the Crimean War, and part of the Light Brigade in the famous charge at Balaklava.

The Battle of Balaklava in Perspective

Patrick Mercer, a Crimean War specialist, takes a critical look at the men in command at one of British history’s iconic battles.

Above US Army Rangers operating in Ghazni province, Afghanistan, 2012.

Afghanistan: graveyard of armies

A huge, mountainous, landlocked Central Asian state, Afghanistan has defied invaders for 2,500 years. Jules Stewart takes a look at Afghanistan’s military longue durée.

Windsor Castle: ‘The most Romantique castle that is in the world’

The wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on 19 May took place against a backdrop of buildings that have been inhabited almost continuously since the 11th century. The fire of November 1992 at Windsor Castle (in what the Queen later called her annus horribilis) could have brought an end to that 1,000-year history; instead, the restoration that ensued was accompanied by extensive research into the castle’s fabric and development. The following edited extracts come from a new and exhaustive history of the building complex, which Samuel Pepys, visiting on 26 February 1666, described as ‘the most Romantique castle that is in the world’.

The Past

Leading a life of luxury

Dominic Green reports on what the discovery of fragments of Aegean-style frescoes and an extensive wine cellar can tell us about life in the Bronze Age palace being excavated at the Tel Kabri site in the Galilee region of Israel

Native American leaders: Sitting Bull (1831 1890) [centre right], and Gall (c.1840 1894) [right].

The Battle of the Little Bighorn

25 June 1876. Fred Chiaventone reassesses that most-famous collision between US and Native American forces.

The English Castle

A new generation of castleologists believe that castles were about much more than trebuchets, portcullises, galloping hooves, boiling oil, and the clash of swords on armour: instead, castles were centres of lordship, symbols of wealth, and expressions of status, alluding to the past and expressing poetic ideals. Current Archaeology's Chris Catling reports.

Below The west ward, showing Hope Tayor’s trenches, according to his recorded measurements. All, bar Cutting E, have been re excavated and re recorded by the BRP up to 2007.

Bamburgh Castle: digging the home of Northumbria’s kings

The Bamburgh Research Project is picking up the pieces of the archaeological work started by legendary eccentric Dr Brian Hope-Taylor, who had left virtually no record of his excavations – or so it was believed. The story of Bamburgh is two-fold: before properly investigating the site, the team must first excavate the archaeologist who worked there 60 years ago.