As European powers jockeyed for control over the African continent in the mid-19th century, an unusual colonial regime was established along the Congo River basin. Known as the Congo Free State, this was a vast territory over which Leopold II, King of the Belgians, was the sovereign ruler. For nearly three decades, the king’s pursuit of profit led him to preside over a brutal system of exploitation and oppression in what is one of the most sordid episodes in the history of imperialism.

This is the story of the Congo Free State.

On June 25th, 1950, five years of tension on the Korean peninsula came to a head when forces loyal to the communist government in the north attacked those of the anti-communist government in the south. Suddenly, the eyes of the world turned to this formerly isolated nation, as outside powers intervened and turned what had begun as a civil war into a new front in the world-spanning ideological and geopolitical contest known as the Cold War. With the fate not only of Korea, but of the world at stake, the lasting effects of this conflict would be felt for decades to come.

This is the story of the Korean War.

On May 23rd, 1498, three former friars of the Dominican Order were burned at the stake in Florence’s Palazzo della Signoria. Only a short time ago, one of these unfortunate men, Girolamo Savonarola, had been the most powerful man in Florence, coming to power following the expulsion of the Medici family. Claiming to possess the gift of divine prophecy, the puritanical friar had attempted to purge the city of sin and vice in the hope of refashioning it into a “New Jerusalem.” And although he failed in this quest, his radical doctrine prefigured the Protestant Reformation in ways theologians still debate to this day.

This is the story of Girolamo Savonarola.

In 361 CE, 50 years after Christianity was granted legal status in the Roman Empire, Flavius Claudius Julianus, better known as Julian, rose to power. During his brief reign, he waged a desperate campaign to combat the increasingly dominant influence of Christianity in Roman society in the hopes of returning the empire to its pagan roots. When he met an untimely demise on a Mesopotamian battlefield two years later, centuries of Roman pagan tradition, it is said, died with him.

This is the story of Julian the Apostate.

In July 1853, a squadron of American warships sailed into Edo Bay with the mission to open Japan to the world. Little did they know that this event would precipitate a crisis in Japanese society, the effects of which would be felt for decades to come. In the ensuing period of civil conflict, a power struggle between the Emperor and the Shogun would turn into a battle between the forces of modernization and the forces of traditionalism for the future of Japan.

This is the story of the Meiji Restoration.

In 1935, it seemed that nothing could stop Louisiana politician Huey Long in his quest to become President of the United States. In just two decades, the former traveling salesman had worked his way up to increasingly greater heights of political power- that is until he was suddenly cut down by an assassin’s bullet in the halls of the state capitol. Hailed by some as a progressive champion of the people and denounced by others as a demagogue who would bring totalitarianism to America, his legacy is still widely debated today.

This is the story of Huey Long.

After the collapse of the Russian monarchy in 1917, the people of Ukraine attempted to assert their long-held ambitions of independence. In the years that followed, the leaders of the Ukrainian national movement would be forced to navigate a complex web of belligerent factions as their nation became a battleground in the wider conflict that enveloped the lands of the old empire. Against this vast array of enemies, thousands of Ukrainians would fight and die to make their vision of a free, independent, sovereign Ukraine into a reality.

This is the story of the Ukrainian War of Independence.

In France, a nation riven by decades of dynastic conflict, an unlikely hero, a teenage peasant girl named Joan, would rise to the occasion. Guided by the voices of long-dead saints, she donned armor, took up the sword, and led the French army to victory against their English adversaries, thereby bringing the Hundred Years’ War to its final, decisive stage. Although she was deemed a heretic and burned at the stake, in the centuries since her untimely death, her legend has taken on a life of its own.

This is the story of Joan of Arc.

In 1791, the French colony of Saint-Domingue in the Caribbean was the most profitable colony on the planet. A brutal caste-based society built entirely on the inhumane exploitation of slave labor, Saint-Domingue was a proverbial powder keg of social contradictions. When a revolution broke out in France, the enslaved masses of Saint-Domingue also rose up against their masters, beginning a long and violent struggle that resulted in the first and only fully successful slave rebellion in world history, and the creation of the modern nation of Haiti.

This is the story of the Haitian Revolution.

From the moment he published his first novel at age 21, the works of Yukio Mishima have captivated readers across the world. His prolific output and gripping style of writing earned him the status as one of the most important authors in post-war Japan. However, his literary legacy has since been entangled in a web of mystery and controversy. His political views, sexuality, his enigmatic personal life and the dramatic circumstances of his death continue to inspire debate to this day.

This is the story of Yukio Mishima.

Nearly half a decade after the declaration of the French Republic sent shockwaves through Europe, only Great Britain remains in a state of war with France. In one of the most romanticized and least understood chapters of the French Revolutionary era, a military expedition under Napoleon Bonaparte is sent to Egypt with the intention of striking a blow against the British and their empire. The consequences of this oriental adventure would affect the course of world history in ways both expected and unexpected.

This is the story of the Egyptian Campaign.

When Gustavus Adolphus met an untimely end on a German battlefield, his seven year old daughter, Christina, ascended to the Swedish throne. An early adopter of the Enlightenment, she established a reputation as one of the most learned women of her age. In time, she would find that her unapologetically independent nature did not lend itself well to the task of ruling, and her secret conversion to Catholicism, refusal to marry, and subsequent abdication have cemented her legacy as one of the most fascinating monarchs of early modern Europe.

This is the story of Christina of Sweden.

In the spring of 1871, against a backdrop of war and domestic upheaval, the people of Paris rose up and established a new revolutionary government known as the Paris Commune. Considered to be the first time in history that socialist ideals were put into practice, the Commune, despite its brief existence, is a significant milestone not only in France's history but also in the world's history. Although the commune was brutally suppressed by the “forces of order,” its legacy would live on for years to come.

This is the story of the Paris Commune.

In June 1921, in the final days of the Russian Civil War, the reign of Baron Roman von Ungern-Sternberg came to an end when he was captured by Bolshevik partisans. For the past four years, he and his band of soldiers cut a bloody swath through Mongolia and Siberia in a doomed effort to turn back the tide of revolution. The ‘Mad Baron,’ as he was called at the time, remains a rather obscure and enigmatic figure, but also one who played a pivotal role in the history of Central Asia.

This is the story of Roman von Ungern-Sternberg.