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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THIS ISSUE’S CONTRIBUTORS
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THIS MONTH IN HISTORY • NEWS BEHIND THE NEWS COMMENT ANNIVERSARIES
TALKING POINTS A right royal ruckus • Hit Netflix drama The Crown has caused a stir thanks to its use of dramatic licence in depicting the lives of the royal family. But does it matter? ANNA WHITELOCK followed the debate
Aztec history wins major book prize
HISTORY IN THE NEWS • A selection of the stories hitting the history headlines
A constitutional crisis • The fraught transition of power from Donald Trump to Joe Biden has its roots in a decision, taken 230 years ago, to make the president an “elected king”, argues ADAM IP SMITH. As Biden is set to be inaugurated, Adam traces the roots of the recent turmoil
MICHAEL WOOD ON... • HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE NEW WORLD
ANNIVERSARIES • DOMINIC SANDBROOK highlights events that took place in February in history
WHY WE SHOULD REMEMBER... • The Iranian coup that launched a doomed dynasty
LETTERS
BBC HiSTORY MAGAZINE
The Smash and Grab Delusion • The dissolution of the monasteries has long been cast as an orgy of mindless violence unleashed by a hot-headed Henry VIII. Yet this was a precision-planned operation, writes Hugh Willmott, and wanton destruction wasn’t its primary aim
TIMELINE • The fall of the monasteries
Rising from the ruins • The Dissolution didn’t spell the end of the story for England’s monasteries, as the following five examples prove
The forged texts of the Middle Ages • Forgery was rife in the medieval era, with some of Europe’s leading holy men cooking up reams of counterfeit documents. Levi Roach examines the fabricated texts of one Bavarian bishop to pick apart why the practice was so popular
TELLTALE ERRORS • In the medieval period many people fell for forgeries – but Pilgrim of Passau made some crucial mistakes
They said that Londoners could take it. But could they? • Lucy Worsley tells the stories of six people who endured the London Blitz, and finds that it was a time of courage and resilience, doubt and despair
Treasure trove • Sutton Hoo’s seventh-century treasures have fired up the imaginations of history lovers for decades, most recently inspiring new film The Dig. Professor Martin Carver talks to David Musgrove about a remarkable excavation that took place in the shadow of the Second World War
THE WHO AND WHY OF SUTTON HOO • Martin Carver offers his own explanations for the early medieval mounds
Q&A • A selection of historical conundrums answered by experts
DID YOU KNOW...?
THE MEDIEVAL GUIDE TO CHILDBIRTH • Having a baby in medieval Europe presented women with a set of acute challenges – and dangers. From what to drink while in labour to the best saints to beseech for a safe pregnancy, Elma Brenner offers six tips for those preparing for motherhood in the Middle Ages
A hatful of horrors • From the magnificent ostrich plumes worn by Parisian socialites to the stuffed birds that sat atop high-class heads in New York, the fashion for feathered hats peaked in the Victorian era. But, as Malcolm Smith reports, it came at a terrible cost
Henry the holy • In...
