BBC History Magazine

BBC History Magazine aims to shed new light on the past to help you make more sense of the world today. Fascinating stories from contributors are the leading experts in their fields, so whether they're exploring Ancient Egypt, Tudor England or the Second World War, you'll be reading the latest, most thought-provoking historical research. BBC History Magazine brings history to life with informative, lively and entertaining features written by the world's leading historians and journalists and is a captivating read for anyone who's interested in the past.

WELCOME MAY 2024

THREE THINGS I'VE LEARNED THIS MONTH

THIS ISSUE'S CONTRIBUTORS

ANNIVERSARIES • DANNY BIRD highlights events that took place in May in history

“It's rare that a television show actually changes people's lives” • Since it first hit TV screens back in 2009, Horrible Histories has brought Terry Deary and Martin Brown's hugely successful series of books to an entire generation of children. As it marks its 15th anniversary, MATT ELTON speaks to three members of the team behind the show that mixes comedy songs, gruesome deaths and a talking rat

MICHAEL WOOD ON… • THE POWER OF DIALOGUE

HIDDEN HISTORIES • KAVITA PURI on the history of Anglo-Indian relations

Unsolved mysteries

BBC History Magazine

The empire's last hurrah? • It featured exotic pavilions, sporting spectacles and even a replica of Tutankhamun's tomb. But, as Matthew Parker explains, when the British Empire Exhibition opened its doors in Wembley a century ago, it also spoke of a superpower in decline

The forgotten kingdom • William of Normandy sailed across the Channel and conquered England in 1066 – or at least that's how the story goes. Here, Sophie Thérèse Ambler and James Morris reveal how one northern stronghold remained untouched for another 26 years

Beethoven's ode to peace • From the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars to the fall of the Berlin Wall, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony has served as a symbol of hope and unity for 200 years. Bronwen Everill examines the piece's legacy through five key performances

NO POPERY! HIS MAJESTY KING MOB! Vive La RépubLique! • From expressions of religious rage to death threats against the king, Madeleine Pelling reveals how graffiti drove Britain's revolutionary 18th century

FIVE THINGS YOU (PROBABLY) DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT… The history of witchcraft • Marion Gibson, who is teaching our new HistoryExtra Academy course, shares five surprising facts about witch trials in the early modern era

THE INVISIBLE ROMANS • Rome's slaves were brutalised, mocked, exploited – or simply ignored. Yet, writes Guy de la Bédoyère, the Roman empire could hardly have functioned without the labours of this captive population

Q&A • A selection of historical conundrums answered by experts

Sex, sadism and sugared death • Rosalind Crone investigates eight scandals that shocked Victorian Britain, from a killer-sweet scare to an adultery trial that threatened to bring down the prime minister

“It is absolutely important to look at African history through the lens of African people themselves” • ZEINAB BADAWI talks to Danny Bird about her ambitious new book, which tells the story of the African continent and the civilisations that have shaped it

Jesus's lucky break? • ALEC RYRIE has some doubts about an entertaining new book that attributes the rise of ‘orthodox’ Christianity in the ancient world largely to chance

France in technicolour • CATHERINE HANLEY hails an exuberant account of the rise and fall of a mighty French dynasty

Europe's taste for power • JERRY BROTTON is unimpressed by an exploration of the 16th-century scramble for spices, the “first truly...