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.

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Autumn talks 2021 • Our new season of virtual events offers the chance to hear historians discuss a wide range of topics – all from the comfort of your own home

THIS MONTH IN HISTORY

Not much going on • Calls for the world to enter a “decisive decade” prompted Twitter users to look back at particularly indecisive periods in global history. ANNA WHITELOCK chose to follow the discussion

Humans “wore clothes 120,000 years ago”

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

MICHAEL WOOD ON… • A PIONEER OF PHOTOJOURNALISM

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

WHY WE SHOULD REMEMBER… • The Statute of Westminster, a cornerstone of the Commonwealth

LETTERS

BBC History Magazine

The world’s first superhero • When Alexander the Great died at the age of 32, his transformation into multicultural icon was only just beginning. Edmund RicHardson chronicles the Macedonian king’s remarkable afterlife as the original global A-lister

TIMELINE • Alexander the Great’s extraordinary life

Alexander’s global afterlife • How the Macedonian leader’s posthumous impact outstripped even his epoch-shaping empire-building

“Instability is a problem that has recurred throughout the history of Afghanistan” • In August, Taliban forces regained control of Afghanistan as US forces withdrew after two decades in the country. How can history help make sense of this seismic moment? We asked a panel of experts

TIMELINE AFGHANISTAN: 10 KEY MOMENTS

The original People’s Princess • Georgian Britain declared Princess Charlotte of Wales to be the country’s glory and Europe’s hope – so her untimely death horrified the nation, prompting fears the monarchy would collapse. Tracy Borman reflects on her tragic life

Parallel lives • Tracy Borman reveals the similarities between Princess Charlotte and Princess Diana

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

NEMESIS OF THE NORMANS • Matt Lewis tells the story of Hereward the Wake, a shadowy rebel whose uprising against William the Conqueror in 1070 earned him a reputation as the archetypal English freedom fighter

REBEL NATION • The battles and uprisings that defined and defied the Norman conquest

Who was Hereward?

The road to partition • The division of Ireland in 1921 was confirmed by a treaty that aimed to resolve the so-called “Irish Question”. A century on from that pivotal event, Charles Townshend explores five key episodes in the process of partition

THE AFTERMATH OF PARTITION • The events of a century ago had a transformative impact on Irish politics and society – and their legacy is still being felt today, writes Charles Townshend

Tales of a fractured mind • Four centuries ago, Renaissance scholar Robert Burton devoted much of his life to the study of melancholy. The result, writes Mary Ann Lund, was a masterful account of the fragility of the human psyche

Spades, soil and sisterhood • The 1930s was a golden age of female archaeologists,...