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 NOVEMBER 2023

THREE THINGS I'VE LEARNED THIS MONTH

THIS ISSUE'S CONTRIBUTORS

ANNIVERSARIES • HELEN CARR highlights events that took place in November in history

Are black histories still being overlooked? • The global protests of 2020 thrust the importance of understanding black history into the spotlight – but, three years on, has that focus been maintained? As the UK marks Black History Month, MATT ELTON gauges the views of three historians

MICHAEL WOOD ON… • THE ACCELERATING PACE OF CHANGE

HIDDEN HISTORIES • KAVITA PURI explores lesser-known stories from our past

Fighting for attention

BBC History Magazine

Anne Boleyn's fatal French connection • John Guy and Julia Fox reveal how international diplomacy supercharged the rise of Henry's VIII's second wife – and hastened her fall

HELL IN ITALY • The Allied invasion of Italy in 1943 was envisaged as a swift push on Rome. Yet, as James Holland explains, by the end of the year, the campaign was stymied by German defences far from the capital

TIMELINE THE BATTLE FOR ITALY

LIBERATION V DEVASTATION • James Holland on the moral dilemmas surrounding the destructive Allied assault

An Anglo-Saxon detective story • Why do the bones of luminaries such as King Cnut, Emma of Normandy and William II lie mixed up in six chests in Winchester Cathedral? And what do these remains tell us about the evolution of early England? Cat Jarman investigates

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

EMPIRE ON THE BRINK • In September 1923, the British empire reached its maximum territorial extent. A staggering 460 million people lived within its borders. Yet just as the imperial project reached its apex, writes Matthew Parker, cracks were widening…

A WORLD OF TROUBLE • The challenges facing eight British colonies in 1923

The medieval Stalingrad • Edward III's siege of Calais was a pivotal moment in the Hundred Years' War. Here Dan Jones argues that it bears comparison with one of the most brutal clashes of the modern era

CALAIS: SIX CENTURIES OF CONFLICT

Broadcast views: Radio Times at 100 • Since its launch in 1923 as the BBC's official listings guide, the magazine has charted enormous shifts in media and society alike. David Hendy explores how its pages reflected changes across Britain

COVER STORY • Across its century-long publication, the front page of Radio Times has captured the zeitgeist – and charted milestones in broadcasting history

“The Roman empire cannot have been governed by a series of psychopaths. It would not have survived” • MARY BEARD tells Matt Elton what life would have been like for Rome's emperors – from the path to the top to the almost inevitable sticky end

A passport to survival • DANIEL LEE explores the story of a group of exiled Poles who, by providing forged documents, enabled thousands of Jews to escape the Nazis

Nation building • Lavie Tidhar discusses Adama, the saga of a Hungarian Jewish family settling in the newly formed state of Israel

Spooks, spirits and psychiatry • ANNA MARIA BARRY recommends a new exploration of the interplay between science,...