Imperial War Museum

The IWM London has had on a major refit - by Foster & Partners architects - which opened in 2014 to coincide with the centenary of the start of World War I. The Central Hall is still the attention- grabbing repository of major artefacts: guns, tanks and aircraft hung from the ceiling (not least a Harrier GR9 that saw action in Afghanistan). Terraced galleries allow this section of the museum to also show a Snatch Land Rover from Iraq and an Argentine operating table from the Falklands. The already extensive World War I gallery has been expanded, and leads into the original displays for World War II.

 

The museum’s tone darkens as you ascend. On the third floor, the Holocaust Exhibition (not recommended from under-14s) traces the history of European anti-Semitism and its nadir in the concentration camps. Upstairs, Crimes Against Humanity (unsuitable for under-16s) is a minimalist space in which a film exploring contemporary genocide and ethnic violence rolls relentlessly.