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

THIS ISSUE’S CONTRIBUTORS

MORE FROM US

THIS MONTH IN HISTORY • NEWS BEHIND THE NEWS COMMENT ANNIVERSARIES

The write profile • For Twitter history-lovers, the UK’s return to lockdown offered a chance to catch up on books they had missed first time around – particularly biographies. ANNA WHITELOCK joined the club

New law will protect statues from “mobs”

HISTORY IN THE NEWS • A selection of the stories hitting the history headlines

A new low for US democracy? • “This is not who we are.” That was the refrain of many commentators in response to the attack on the US Capitol Building – instigated by supporters of Donald Trump – on 6 January. But was the violence at the nerve centre of American democracy really so unprecedented? We asked three historians to consider the evidence

MICHAEL WOOD ON... • THE DAWN OF GLOBAL HISTORY WRITING

ANNIVERSARIES • DOMINIC SANDBROOK highlights events that took place in March in history

WHY WE SHOULD REMEMBER... • The Kronstadt mutiny is brutally crushed by Red Army troops

A royal sum

LETTERS

BBC HISTORY MAGAZINE

HOW THE WEST WAS WON • The western front has long been synonymous with futility and deadlock. Yet, argues Nick Lloyd, the great battles of 1914-18 triggered a period of enormous innovation – one that ultimately ushered in a new age of warfare

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

DID YOU KNOW…?

The kingqueendom of Jerusalem • For centuries, accounts of the crusades have left out one key element: the actions of women. Katherine Pangonis chronicles the lives of the formidable queens who ruled and fought in Jerusalem

BLINDED BY LOVE • Did Queen Sibylla’s controversial decision to marry her former husband cause her kingdom to crumble?

THE LOST FIGURE OF THE BAYEUX TAPESTRY • David Musgrove and Michael Lewis consider why the Bayeux Tapestry doesn’t tell the whole story of the Norman Conquest – and why Edgar Ætheling, a prince who inconveniently returned from exile, is completely overlooked

Vikings under the microscope • Advances in science have transformed our understanding of the Viking Age. Cat Jarman reveals how techniques such as high-resolution imaging, DNA studies and isotope analysis have given us new insights into six areas of Viking life – from the genetic make-up of their armies to the secrets of their vast wealth

Why history must take a stance • Historians are often condemned for acting as judge and jury, but remaining neutral about our ancestors’ behaviour is neither possible, nor desirable

The rise of the Tudors • The journey of a little-known family from north-west Wales to the throne of England is one of the most remarkable in British history. Adam Chapman reveals how a combination of luck, guile and ruthlessness supercharged the Tudors’ 300-year rise to power

WHEN TUDOR WAS A NAME OF SHAME • Barely anyone used the term “Tudor” until the dynasty was almost dead

Rewriting her world • The poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning has long been cast as a simpering wife whose life was dominated by men. But, writes Fiona Sampson, the author of a new biography of Elizabeth, she was an...