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 JUNE 2024

THREE THINGS I’VE LEARNED THIS MONTH

THIS ISSUE’S CONTRIBUTORS

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

“OJ Simpson’s celebrity meant that people were captivated by this story” • Following OJ Simpson’s death in April, JOE STREET spoke to Matt Elton about the 1995 murder trial that grabbed the attention of audiences around the world and what the crime and its aftermath tell us about recent US history

MICHAEL WOOD ON… • A CELEBRATION OF BRITISH FEMINISM

HIDDEN HISTORIES • KAVITA PURI on a murder that sparked a youth movement

Out of the blue

BBC History Magazine

NORMANDY’S FORGOTTEN HEROES • Ferrying troops to the beaches wasn’t the only contribution sailors made during the Allied invasion of Normandy. In the first of two special features marking the 80th anniversary of D-Day, NICK HEWITT reveals how the Allied navies ended up fighting one of the most overlooked campaigns of the Second World War

TIMELINE • How the Allied navies turned the tide in Normandy

NORMANDY IN NUMBERS • Key statistics from the Allied naval campaign

The spearhead of the invasion • Hours before the assault on Normandy’s beaches got under way, British airborne troops launched an attack on targets in the French countryside. At stake, writes Saul David, was the success of the entire D-Day landings

TAKING THE FIGHT TO FORTRESS EUROPE • Five more British airborne operations that shaped the course of the Second World War

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

DID YOU KNOW…?

How the Vikings viewed the world • Old Norse poetry isn’t just a rip-roaring account of the exploits of gods and giants. It’s also an indispensable portal into how the Vikings understood the universe. Alicia Maddalena and Matthew Townend give us a whistle-stop tour of a glittering art form

WISH YOU WERE HERE! • They carved their names into statues of pharaohs and took cruises down the Nile. Mary Beard describes what happened when a party of elite Roman holidaymakers — led by the emperor Hadrian — descended on ancient Egypt’s tourist hotspots in AD 130

Banished. Exiled. Died… Widowed. Berated. Survived. • The ladies-in-waiting to Henry VIII’s wives were serious political operators with unparalleled access to the royal inner sanctum. Nicola Clark reveals how six of the most influential navigated the vipers’ nest that was the Tudor court

“Manliness and womanliness belong to man and woman alike” • As the Victorian age neared its end, a vibrant cultural movement emerged that flipped conventional notions of femininity and masculinity on their head. Jad Adams reveals how a new generation challenged stereotypical gender identities

WHEN WILLIAM BECAME FIONA • The Scottish author who made a name writing as a woman

“Ancient Egypt survived because of the wise rulership of the Cleopatras” • LLOYD LLEWELLYN-JONES talks to Matt Elton about the seven queens who shared the name Cleopatra, and how they were able to shape the ancient world in their image

Fear and loathing in Damascus • RYAN GINGERAS praises an unsparing account of an outbreak of sectarian bloodletting...