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

Unlocking history • Twitter users recently offered their suggestions for history books to appeal to Britain’s prisoners – with pleasingly diverse results. ANNA WHITELOCK kept a keen eye on proceedings

Diary chronicles birth of spy pact

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

Flying the royal nest • Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s departure from the royal family is the latest in a string of shock exits from the monarchy dating back centuries. TRACY BORMAN looks to the past to consider how one can leave “the Firm” successfully – and the difficulties of life as a royal exile

MICHAEL WOOD ON… • EXCAVATING INDIA’S FIRST CITIES

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

WHY WE SHOULD REMEMBER... • How Chanel No 5 revolutionised the beauty business

LETTERS

BBC HiSTORY MAGAZINE

PEASANTS’ REVOLT OR SOLDIERS’ INSURGENCY? • Far from being an ill-disciplined explosion of rage, the popular uprising of 1381 was organised with near military precision. And one of the reasons for that, a new research project has revealed, was the participation of hundreds of soldiers just returned from the battlefields of France

REBEL FIGHTERS • Military veterans who waged war on the state in the summer of 1381

TIMELINE The perfect storm • How the Peasants’ Revolt rocked England

The hot seat • Three centuries after its inception, Sir Anthony Seldon charts how the office of prime minister has defied hostile monarchs, a scandal-hungry media and two world wars to become the beating heart of Britain’s body politic

DID YOU KNOW…?

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

The greatest pretender • Few English kings were assailed by as many rival claimants to their crown as Henry VII. Yet, as Nathen Amin describes, the man who had himself seized the throne against all odds was more than up to the challenge

THE WAR THAT ROSE FROM THE DEAD • The battle of Bosworth is often regarded as the end point of the Wars of the Roses. But, argues Nathen Amin, the conflict rumbled on for another 20 years

NAPOLEON A LIFE IN OBJECTS • Two hundred years after his death, Nicole Cochrane and Emma Butcher examine 10 objects that offer us a fresh perspective on the French emperor

THE BEST OF BRITISH (AND GERMAN, RUSSIAN, HUNGARIAN AND CZECH...) • The Festival of Britain, which opened 70 years ago, was designed as a paean to an exceptional nation rising triumphantly from the ruins of war. Yet, writes Harriet Atkinson, this was a celebration of Britishness with a truly international flavour

CREATIVE GENIUSES • Four foreign-born designers who sprinkled a little magic on the Festival of Britain

The man who would be king • How could a younger son of Edward III make his mark? An international conquest promised to do the trick – if he could pull it off. Helen Carr follows John of Gaunt’s extraordinary mission to capture the throne of Castile in the 1380s

TIMELINE John of Gaunt’s action-packed...