In 1221 on the plains of current-day Turkmenistan lay the city of Merv. The town faced a Mongol besiegement under one of Genghis Khan’s sons and opened its gates in the hopes of experiencing mercy.

In 1386, gathering a multi-ethnic army, Prince Lazar of Serbia defeated the local Ottoman commander Lala Sahin Pasha at ...

The word “samurai” is thrown around a lot in popular culture, but this six-part series gets down to the brass tacks of what it actually means. Covering the era of feudal Japan from 1551 to 1616, the ...

In Istanbul, Janina Ramirez discovers how the ornate ceramics known as Iznik tiles hold the key to a forgotten golden age of ...