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

TALKING POINTS The write stuff • Social media isn’t always about discord and disagreement – as a recent discussion about the most inspiring historical writers proved. ANNA WHITELOCK considers the contenders

Ash hints at volcanic force in Rome’s fall

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

Princes in the Tower are history’s greatest mystery

THE GREATEST MYSTERY • The full results of our history’s 20 greatest mysteries poll

MICHAEL WOOD ON… SOCIETY AND FAME

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

The remarkable reign of Suleiman the Magnificent

HIDDEN HISTORIES • DAVID OLUSOGA explores lesser-known stories from our past

LETTERS

BBC HiSTORY MAGAZINE

“I AM BECOME DEATH, THE DESTROYER OF WORLDS” • Seventy-five years ago, the crew of the Enola Gay dropped ‘Little Boy’ on Hiroshima. Diana Preston traces the leaps in scientific thought and twists of political circumstance that made the atomic bomb a terrifying reality

FROM “LASTING DISGRACE” TO ALL-CONQUERING HEROES • In 1942, British and Commonwealth forces in the east were divided, dispirited and defeated by the Japanese at every turn. Two years later, they were on an unstoppable surge to victory. On the 75th anniversary of Japan’s surrender, Jonathan Fennell chronicles one of the great transformations of the Second World War

How fortunes were reversed in the east

“The prejudice still surrounding Africa is absolutely rooted in a racist past” • In her new BBC Four series, Afua Hirsch explores how artists in three African nations are responding to their traumatic histories. She speaks to Matt Elton about the continent’s past, and its bright future

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

DID YOU KNOW…?

England’s holy hardman • Edward the Confessor has widely been cast as a saintly but feeble king – a dreary bit-part player in the great crisis of 1066. Yet, writes Tom Licence, scrutinise the sources and what emerges is a hard-nosed, vigorous leader who was prepared to do whatever it took to protect his crown

DID THE CONFESSOR PROMISE HIS THRONE TO THE CONQUEROR? • Tom Licence examines competing theories on who Edward intended to inherit the English crown after his death

A PRESIDENT WITHOUT PRECEDENT? • Donald Trump is a one-off. This is a sentiment so often repeated that it has entered the realms of cliche. But is the cliche rooted in fact? As the 2020 race for the White House gathers pace, Mark White considers whether Trump really represents the sharpest of departures from his predecessors in the Oval Office

GROUNDHOG DAY IN THE WHITE HOUSE • How Donald Trump echoes three of his predecessors

Subversive scribes and killer rabbits • The doodles, notes and images that inhabit the borders of medieval books offer us a unique perspective on historical relationships with the written word. Johanna Green enters the bizarre realm of marginalia

How many of you would own up to writing in your books?

HOW POTATOES CONQUERED THE...