February 2023

BBC History Magazine

The UK's best selling History magazine

BBC History Magazine2 min read
Welcome February 2023
“What does progress mean to you? And in which periods of history can we see it most clearly? I expect if you asked the average Briton these questions, they probably wouldn’t point to the medieval era as being a time of transformation. After all, this
BBC History Magazine5 min read
Britain's Century Of Strike Action
The widespread disruption caused by the recent series of strikes in the UK - in which even driving test examiners have laid down their iPads - has led to comparisons with the 1978-79 Winter of Discontent, when large-scale action across a range of ind
BBC History Magazine3 min read
Michael Wood On…
IT’S OBVIOUS, I KNOW, BUT HOMES MATTER IN history. For the citizens of a state, they are one of the biggest single influences on a happy life. I recently spoke at the opening of a fascinating exhibition at the Town and Country Planning Association. F
BBC History Magazine5 min readSocial History
The Long Fight Over Abortion Rights In The United States
The 2022 US midterm elections were long expected to be a referendum on Joe Biden’s time as president and the nation’s inflation-ridden economy, but then came a summer surprise: the US Supreme Court returned a precedent-shattering decision that the fe
BBC History Magazine1 min read
History News In Brief
George “Johnny” Johnson, the last surviving member of RAF 617 Squadron - famed for destroying important German dams during the Second World War - has died at the age of 101. The Lincolnshire-born airman was among those involved in Operation Chastise
BBC History Magazine3 min read
Hidden Histories
WHEN WE CONSIDER THE BBC’S FIRST 100 YEARS, distinguished director generals come to mind, along with famous presenters and favourite programmes. Yet it’s likely that you have never heard of the wonderfully named Olive Bottle. Bottle arrived at the co
BBC History Magazine4 min read
Letters
While I agree with Fern Riddell that we shouldn’t treat audiences of historical dramas as stupid (The Conversation, Christmas), most people in any audience are not as well-versed in the subject as the programme-makers. Period dramas such as The Crown
BBC History Magazine1 min read
BBC History Magazine
EDITORIAL Editor Rob Attar robertattar@historyextra.com Deputy editor Matt Elton mattelton@historyextra.com Production editor Spencer Mizen Section editor Rhiannon Davies Picture editor Samantha Nott samnott@historyextra.com Art director Susanne Fran
BBC History Magazine9 min read
The Age Of Transformation
What does the word “medieval” summon up in your mind? Whether the first thing you imagine is a castle or a monastery, the chances are that the word will come with connotations of violence, ignorance, lawlessness and superstition. You only need to thi
BBC History Magazine3 min read
Life In The Faster Lane
There are many ways in which we in the modern world are guilty of underestimating the rapid pace of change in the Middle Ages. One of them is in the time it took people to traverse the county. Given the lack of technological advancement, it’s easy to
BBC History Magazine2 min read
The Developing World
The 15th century especially saw a decline in the desirability of warfare. Whereas the military elite had still enthusiastically endorsed military activity in the late 14th century, by 1500 the scale and destruction of warfare had become a deterrent i
BBC History Magazine5 min read
Anniversaries
The US strikes back in the space race with the Soviet Union Early in the morning of 20 February 1962, John H Glenn sat down for a hearty breakfast of steak and eggs. After undergoing a physical check-up, he donned his silver spacesuit in Hangar S, in
BBC History Magazine10 min read
The Voice Of A Female Golden Age
The great 14th-century poet Geoffrey Chaucer frequently shared the wisdom of others in his writing. In his poems, for example, he recommends Homer, Virgil and Ovid, admired authorities in medieval culture. One of his short, personal verses, though, r
BBC History Magazine3 min read
Q&A
Perhaps all true fashions are controversial - at least, when they begin. The shock of the new is essential to their power. But some have ignited surprisingly fierce social and political drama. One fascinating example was also one of the most seemingl
BBC History Magazine1 min read
Did You Know…?
During the Second World War, British cooks devised recipes for "mock bananas" - parsnips flavoured with banana essence -as substitutes for the fruit. In 1940, the Minister for Food banned the importation of bananas because they were transported in re
BBC History Magazine5 min read
From Clowns To Kayaks: A History Of Fear And Loathing
Social upheaval has been linked to agoraphobia, which can refer to a dread of open spaces as well as a fear of crowds In 1871, Berlin psychiatrist Carl Otto Westphal found himself treating several men with a terror of traversing the city. One patient
BBC History Magazine10 min read
The Holocaust
Accompanies the documentary How the Holocaust Began On 24 June 1941, SS officer Hans-Joachim Bohme stood in front of a group of 200 people from the Lithuanian border town of Gargždai. The majority were Jewish. Raising his ceremonial sword in the air
BBC History Magazine11 min read
How People Power Fuelled England’s Century Of Chaos
Accompanies an episode of BBC Radio 3’s Free Thinking on the Civil War On an autumn day in 1640, poor Arthur Duck found himself caught between rocks and a wet place. On the north bank of the Thames in London, he faced a hostile and rapidly swelling t
BBC History Magazine10 min read
“Indigenous Americans Who Travelled Across The Atlantic Were Horrified By Inequalities In European Society”
Ellie Cawthorne: Let’s start with the title of your book, On Savage Shores. What can you tell us about the meaning? Caroline Dodds Pennock: People often use the term “savage” as a racial slur to diminish and belittle Indigenous peoples. I wanted to d
BBC History Magazine11 min read
The Poet, The Gardener And The Witch: Forgotten Voices Of Tudor England
Elizabeth Stile was a witch - at least, in the minds of many of her contemporaries. She was 65 years old, widowed, and living in Windsor when she was accused of witchcraft. Together with her associates, she was accused of killing several people and b
BBC History Magazine4 min read
Trading On Reputations
The long joint history of India and England is far from unfamiliar. Much of it is understood through the lens of two centuries of British colonialism, from the mid-18th century to Indian independence in 1947. Colonised first by the East India Company
BBC History Magazine3 min read
Centuries Of Iron
Few human works have inflicted as much misery on the world as the German military. The murderous violence it unleashed across two world wars retains all its power to horrify and fascinate, even a century on. The question of why and how German soldier
BBC History Magazine2 min read
Suspicions Of Sorcery
In the winter of 1581, Davy Thurlowe was “strangely taken” with fits. His parents, Grace and John, hired Ursley Kempe, a woman of poor reputation yet renowned as a healer. Ursley helped Davy, but took offence when the pregnant Grace Thurlowe refused
BBC History Magazine1 min read
Northern Exposure
What’s the historical context to your new novel? In the half century or so before Canadian confederation in 1867, there were several historical moments widely considered to have defined our national identity. For In the Upper ^ Country, I chose to fo
BBC History Magazine2 min read
The Classic Book
Religion and the Decline of Magic by Keith Thomas (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1971] I came across this book when I was at university. It was on the reading list for a course on anthropological approaches to history, and it completely blew my mind. It’s a
BBC History Magazine2 min readDiet & Nutrition
Breast Practice
Milk: An Intimate History of Breastfeeding by Joanna Wolfarth Orion, 304 pages, £18.99 Joanna Wolfarth’s new book is a love letter to all women who have cradled an infant close to their breasts. It is a tender story of her own nervousness about breas
BBC History Magazine2 min read
Liberal Views
This massive account of British politics in the pre-First World War period is rich in detail but only partially successful in its efforts at evaluation. The title is a tribute to - or criticism of - The Strange Death of Liberal England (1935) by the
BBC History Magazine2 min read
Shelf Esteem
Papyrus: The Invention of Books in the Ancient World by Irene Vallejo Hodder and Stoughton 464 pages, £25 You might assume that a book about books (more specifically, about their early history) would tell a worthy but somewhat dull tale - a story of
BBC History Magazine6 min read
Encounters
PODCAST The strangest masterpieces in art history EXPLORE Hughenden Manor, Buckinghamshire TRAVEL Bangkok, Thailand In the century before Michelangelo cemented his reputation as one of Renaissance Europe’s foremost artists, another Italian’s name had
BBC History Magazine2 min read
“We’re Going To Places That Anyone Can Visit, But Offering People something New”
One of the ideas behind Treasures of the World seems to be that archaeologists are uncovering more about the ancient world than non-professionals perhaps realise. Is that how you see the series? That’s absolutely right. The series was conceived initi
BBC History Magazine2 min readRegional & Ethnic
History Cookbook
This hearty potato dish is a French tradition dating back centuries, to a time when many people didn’t have the luxury of an oven in their homes. Instead, they would prepare this meal and carry it over to the local baker’s shop, to make use of its ov
BBC History Magazine2 min read
When Art Turns Odd
Every issue we highlight a recent edition of our podcast. You can find it along with more than 1,500 previous episodes at our website: historyextra.com/podcast Let’s begin with an ice-skating birdmonster, a pig wearing a nun’s habit, and a man playin
BBC History Magazine1 min read
Three More Historyextra Podcasts On The History Of Art
If you’re after more eccentric, evocative and often disturbing artworks, look no further than poet and painter William Blake. “He was mocked as a madman,” John Higgs told me back in 2021, “but Blake saw the world in a different way. His art offers us
BBC History Magazine3 min read
Disraeli's Country Retreat
Flattery will get you everywhere, they say. So it’s just as well that Benjamin Disraeli, who was in and out of debt all his life, was a master of the art. As a result, gifts from wealthy friends largely paid for his beautiful country home, Hughenden.
BBC History Magazine2 min read
Royal Capital On The River
Bangkok is often given short shrift by visitors dashing off to tropical islands fringed by golden beaches. Yet Thailand’s capital offers a fascinating window into the rich past of a country whose long, proud and independent history is often overlooke
BBC History Magazine4 min read
Prize Crossword
7 A people of the Altiplano in South America, conquered by the Incas in the 15th century (6) 8 Henry___, 19th-century Whig politician, who designed a one-horse carriage that is named after him (8) 10 A North American island said to have been purchase
BBC History Magazine1 min read
Medieval Horizones: Why the Middle Ages Matter
Book worth £22 for 5 winners Do you imagine the Middle Ages as a backward time mired in cruelty and ignorance? Think again, says Ian Mortimer, who offers a compelling alternative view in his latest book, showing how medieval life was dramatically tra
BBC History Magazine1 min read
Solution To Our Christmas 2022 Crossword
Across 10 Lizzie Borden 11 Ulundi 12 Speakeasy 13 St Patrick 15 Ossian 17 Sin 18 Langton 21 SOSUS 23 Reading 24 Congo 25 Korczak 26 Assassin 29 Horsa 30 Horatio 32 Angle 33 Plotter 35 UVF 36 Tibet 39 Ordainers 41 Netanyahu 43 Elijah 44 Masonic lodge
BBC History Magazine1 min read
Georgian And Victorian Same-sex Couples
Here’s a selection of the exciting content that’s available on our website historyextra.com Dr Anthony Delaney discusses couples of the same sex who lived and loved in previous centuries, and reveals how marriage traditions of the era were used to si
BBC History Magazine3 min read
Richard Burton 1821-90
Novelist Monica Ali chooses Sir Richard Burton was a British explorer, writer, scholar, soldier and linguist. A one-time captain in the army of the East India Company, he later explored the east coast of Africa, and was one of the first two Europeans
BBC History Magazine1 min read
This Issue’s Contributors
Everyone thinks that they know the story of the Tudors, but away from the glittering world of the court there were millions of ordinary people contending with the challenges of plague, warfare and profound political uncertainty." Lucy reveals what th

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