Thirty years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the hope of the revolutionaries for a better world does not appear to have materialised. But that should not take away the extraordinary courage of those who took to the streets in the autumn of 1989.

The devastating fire that destroyed the roofs and spire of Notre-Dame in Paris demonstrates the vulnerabilities of medieval cathedrals and great churches, but also reveals the skills of their master-masons, writes Dr Jenny Alexander, from the University of Warwick’s department of the history of art.

A Christmas Carol isn’t the only spine-chilling Christmas ghost story from the pen of Charles Dickens, writes Dr Fabio Camilletti.

Dr Fabio Camilletti explores how the reading of a book of German ghost stories led to the invention of modern horror :Polidori’s story, The Vampyre, and 18-year-old Mary Shelley's classic, Frankenstein

Five things you may not know about the Italian roots of the modern vampire.

On St Valentine’s Day, modern tradition dictates that we really ought to treat our loved one to a romantic meal, a bunch of flowers or watch a ‘rom-com’. At the very least we should buy a card. But that is modern tradition. What was love before it became a supermarket meal deal for two?

James Hodkinson is an expert in German literature and history. No, not that bit of German history. His focus is on pre-20th Century Germany’s relationship with Islam.

In 1992, commemorations took place across the world for the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the Caribbean. While many were celebrating the explorer's voyage to, and 'discovery' of, the Americas, the Caribbean islands explored by Columbus demonstrated a more complex response. In her new book, Dr Fabienne Viala looks at the different attitudes of various islands towards Columbus, and what this reveals about their national identity, collective memory and approach to a colonial cultural heritage.

As the citizens of France celebrate La Fête Nationale (what the English speaking world refers to as Bastille Day), we thought you would like this short lego-based animation, made by Coventry primary school children after visiting the University of Warwick, to demonstrate their understanding of the French Revolution.

Can education and violence ever be on the same spectrum? In this series of podcasts, Dr Seán Allan, Professor Ricarda Schmidt and Dr Steven Howe explore the life and work of Henrich von Kleist, a 'writer out of his time' whose work always courted contradiction and controversy.