All About History

Folk heroes rarely lose their charm. They are often flawed but noble, brave but vulnerable, weaker than their enemy but able to overcome them. Most are also entirely fictitious, but not Boudica. She was very real, although perhaps no less fantastic t

Under the Nazi regime, students nationwide burnt over 25,000 books – many of them written by Jewish authors – that had been blacklisted for being ‘un-German’. This included works by well-known writers and intellectuals such as Karl Marx, Albert Einst

Mexico’s most famous ruin is Chichen Itza and, while it should be on your must-see list, there are countless other equally, if not more, impressive Maya ruins. One of them is the ancient, wealthy city of Palenque, which was originally known as Lakamh

Sometime in the early 3rd century, the Roman historian Cassius Dio reflected on the mental state of Emperor Nero in the year 60 CE. The notorious Nero, who had already ordered the murder of his mother, was now trying to present himself as a musical g

Boudica has never been forgotten by the British. Her memory endured before her legacy was properly memorialised from the 16th century. The poet Sir Edmund Spenser called her “Bunduca” in a poem from 1590 called Ruines of Time. He praised her as a “vi

Tracing historical figures and events from the Ancient World can be extremely difficult but in the case of Boudica’s Revolt there is plentiful archaeological evidence, particularly in Colchester. It was discovered that the Britons desecrated the Roma

Britain in the early 1st century CE did not consist of England, Wales and Scotland as we know it today. Instead, it comprised many Celtic tribes that numbered 27 at the very least. These were not even a homogenous group that were split on political l

The life of Yuri Gagarin changed in many ways in the 108 minute s he spent orbiting the Earth on 12 April 1961. The most significant change was that he was now the first man to have gone into space, the Vostok 1 rocket having launched him to a maximu

The most celebrated female painter of the 17th century, Artemisia Gentileschi’s art was internationally renowned and collected by notable patrons such as King Philip IV of Spain. Through her paintings, she highlighted the oppression and injustice wom

Long before Winston Churchill called for the newly formed Special Operations Executive (SOE) to “set Europe ablaze” with its sabotage campaign, Britain was already conducting secret missions behind enemy lines through agencies like MI6. Lesser known,

In the 1960s and 1970s the West was swept by a revival of interest in all things occult and a popular obsession with the satanic and the spooky. Almost the opposite side to the ‘hippy movement’, this mainstream fascination was later given the name of

MARINA MONTESANO Marina Montesano is a full professor of medieval history at DICAM, University of Messina, Italy. Her books include Classical Culture and Witchcraft in Medieval and Renaissance Italy. JAN MACHIELSEN Dr Jan Machielsen is a senior lectu

In 1657 the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan presided over the world’s wealthiest empire, sprawled across Afghanistan in the north and deep into southern India. Under his tenure the empire reached new heights of wealth, power and prestige, manifested in his

Aurangzeb has been demonised as a bigoted, anti-Hindu temple destroyer, remembered in the same breath as the prolific demolisher Mahmud of Ghazni. A member of India’s Hindu nationalist BJP party in Rajasthan recently called for National Council of Ed

The Protestant Reformation had established itself elsewhere across Europe in the 16th century but hadn’t made much headway into France until the emergence of Calvinism. Based in Geneva, the Calvinists sent missionary preachers to France, where they f

Arguably, the golden age of the British seaside holiday was during the 19th century and the first few years of the 20th. It was during this period that many of our perceptions surrounding the seaside trip were formed, from donkey rides to fish and ch

A ‘print the legend’ biopic of abolitionist Shields ‘Emperor’ Green Certificate: 15 Director: Mark Amin Cast: Dayo Okeniyi, James Cromwell, Bruce Dern, Harry Lennix Released: Out now John Ford’s 1962 revisionist cowboy saga, The Man Who Shot Liberty

Three incredible true stories, mashed together in one tale 01 The film follows three prominent women in the SOE: Vera Atkins, Virginia Hall and Noor Inayat Khan. While as assistant (and later head of) F Section Atkins would’ve known both women, Hall

• 230g masa harina• 225g corn husks• 150g lard• 1 tsp baking powder• ½ tsp salt • 675g pork loin• 475ml water• 4 red chillies•1 large onion, halved•1 clove garlic•1  ½ tsp salt Maize was the most important food source for the Maya civilisation and it

Chichen Itza – which translates to ‘at the mouth of the well of the Itza’ – is the remarkable ancient city that was once the political, social, commercial and economic centre of the Maya civilisation. Although archaeologists are uncertain about when

In 1494, the 12-year-old Babur was appointed the leader of Ferghana, in Turkestan. When he was deposed by elder relatives, Babur fled south, capturing Kabul in 1504. From there, he invaded the Indian subcontinent, defeating the Sultan of Delhi’s much