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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A face from the past • NEWS COMMENT ANNIVERSARIES HIDDEN HISTORIES
Friends or enemies? • Recent headlines about diplomatic discord between England and France prompted Twitter historians to consider the two nations’ longer relationship. ANNA WHITELOCK trawled the responses
Vikings reached North America “in AD 1021”
HISTORY IN THE NEWS • A selection of the stories hitting the history headlines
MICHAEL WOOD ON… • JAMES BOND’S PLACE IN BRITISH CULTURE
ANNIVERSARIES • DOMINIC SANDBROOK highlights events that took place at Christmas in history
HIDDEN HISTORIES • EMMA DABIRI explores lesser-known stories from our past
LETTERS
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“I READ THE NEWS TODAY, OH BOY” • On the release of Get Back, Peter Jackson’s new documentary on the Beatles, Dominic Sandbrook reveals what eight landmark moments in the Fab Four’s career can tell us about the changing face of Britain in the sixties
The miraculous St Columba • In the sixth century, an Irish holy man set foot on a tiny Scottish isle and changed the course of Christianity. On the 1500th anniversary of his birth, Sarah Foot chronicles the life and legacy of St Columba
HOW COLUMBA TAMED THE LOCH NESS MONSTER • The Scottish beast was no match For the Irish saint
The roasts of Christmas past • The British Christmas dinner is the stuff of legends, from succulent roast turkey to the often maligned Brussels sprout. But the modern meal was a long time in the making. Annie Gray investigates the foods our ancestors ate in Christmases past, from the delicious to the downright disgusting
Sex, lies and arias • Prima donnas were the A-listers of Georgian London, lionised for their heavenly voices. But, writes Brianna Robertson-Kirkland, in a society that cherished quiet female domesticity, they paid a high price for their fame
SCANDALOUS SCREEN PORTRAYALS • Georgian stereotypes of prima donnas have proved enduring, as two recent period dramas prove
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
“Unless the Japanese got the US off their backs in the Pacific, they believed they would face complete destruction” • Eighty years ago Japan’s surprise raid on Pearl Harbor forced the US off the fence and into the Second World War. Ellie Cawthorne is making a new HistoryExtra podcast series about the attack, and she spoke to Christopher Harding about the long roots of Japan’s disastrous decision
PEARL HARBOR IN CONTEXT
THE VIEW FROM WASHINGTON • Dayna Barnes gives Ellie Cawthorne an American perspective on the events leading up to Pearl Harbor
HITLER’S GREATEST MISTAKE? • Four days after Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor, the German dictator declared war on the United States, in what is often viewed as one of the greatest strategic errors in modern history. But, argues Klaus Schmider, there was method to Hitler’s “madness”
HITLER’S STRATEGIC ERRORS • Klaus Schmider highlights four other instances in which the Nazi leader’s judgment failed him
Q&A • A selection...