From medieval beginnings, the samurai have inspired art, fiction and films, from Shōgun to Star Wars. But their true story is more complex and surprising than we might realise.
Attractions recreating the ocean liner's fateful voyage are drawing in crowds. But are they valuable historical experiences, or cynically turning tragedy into entertainment?
Conjuror Jasper Maskelyne allegedly helped win the war in North Africa with his trickery, though his claims have been contested. We'll never know the whole truth, writes Lucy Davies.
Bicycles are having a moment, and today's craze for cycling shows few signs of slowing down. Alastair Sooke picks the models that have become modern classics.
A British art restorer was shocked when an ordinary painting she was cleaning turned out to be the work of the Italian master Titian. Alastair Sooke tells her story.
The painter Gustave Caillebotte captured a moment of radical transformation, as the Paris we know today took shape. Jason Farago takes a look.
Hogarth loved to show the capital’s bawdy, boozy side. As a new exhibition of his prints opens, Alastair Sooke examines the artist’s view of vice and virtue.
The Ancient Greeks were obsessed with physical perfection – and their idea of beauty is still familiar to us today, says Natalie Haynes.
The Iraq pavilion at this year’s Venice Biennale doesn’t shy away from the current conflict, with work addressing Islamic State. Alastair Sooke reports.
