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BBC History UK Magazine - November 2025

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In this issue

TERROR IN THE DEEP
How Hitler’s U-boats pushed Britain to the brink

Fake news and the Dreyfus affair
The media-fuelled scandal that divided France

1066: NOT ALL THAT
Should we ditch our obsession with dates?

Who should decide the stories museums tell?

Increasingly, museums are being challenged on how they select, display and interpret their collections. Six historians explain how these institutions can adapt to suit 21st-century audiences

8 mins

Emperor Jahangir and Shah Abbas literally bestride the world like colossi

WATCHING THE RECENT SPECTACLE OF THOSE latter-day emperors President Xi of China and India's Narendra Modi hugging each other at the summit in Tianjin, my mind cast back to an earlier image of a pan-Asian summit.

3 mins

They arrived with just £3. Imagine starting a new life with so little

I REMEMBER LOOKING IN THE BBC ARCHIVES for stories of the first arrivals of South Asians in the postwar years, and being surprised at how little program- ming had been made documenting the experiences of my parents' generation. That was well over 10 years ago now. From then on, I began to record testimonies of people who came to the UK from South Asia after the Second World War for my Radio 4 series Three Pounds in My Pocket. The title of that programme was inspired by the fact that, for years after the war, strict currency controls dictated that those arriving from India could not bring more than £3 into the UK. Imagine starting a new life in a new country with so little.

2 mins

A THEATRE OF HATE

Did German U-boats conduct a 'clean' campaign during the Second World War?

10+ mins

Dear doctor...

What did medieval physicians prescribe for stomach ache? And could weasels' testicles really help you conceive?

8 mins

THE SLIPPERY TRUTH OF THE DREYFUS AFFAIR

The wrongful conviction for treason of a Jewish army captain in France in the late 19th century not only tore the country apart, but also, as Mike Rapport reveals, sparked a flood of ‘fake news’ that has echoes in our own turbulent times.

10+ mins

Spectral beasts and hounds from hell

From infernal black dogs attacking churches to ravening, red-eyed brutes on remote roads, Britain has long been haunted by fearsome canine phantoms.

8 mins

Why are we so hung up with historical dates?

From 1066 to 1918, our obsession with battles, elections and even voyages of discovery risks distorting a true understanding of the past

10+ mins

Star witness

From the moment it was founded 350 years ago, the Royal Observatory in Greenwich drove our understanding of astronomy, navigation and time.

9 mins

"Africa exerted a profound influence on cultures of resistance to slavery, yet its role is often overlooked"

SUDHIR HAZAREESINGH speaks to Danny Bird about how enslaved people, who needed no lessons in freedom from white abolitionists, organised themselves to fight their oppressors

9 mins

The physicist as hero

JIMENA CANALES argues that a new study of Einstein misses some of the complexity in his story

2 mins

Different class

MILES TAYLOR is absorbed by a study of how Britain's hereditary peers have negotiated changing times

2 mins

The stories we tell

LIZANNE HENDERSON enjoys a new history of folklore through the ages that explores some lesser-known avenues

1 mins

The first British curry

ELEANOR BARNETT prepares a dish with Indian influences that was designed to appeal to Georgian English tastes

2 mins

Of ruins and revenants

Across Britain, hundreds of once-thriving medieval settlements were abandoned for reasons ranging from disease to economic collapse.

2 mins

New York City in five places

The Big Apple's story features chapters of conflict, competition, immigration and social revolution.

3 mins

Read all Stories from BBC History UK

BBC History UK Magazine Description:

Publisher: Immediate-Media

Category: Education

Language: English

Frequency: Monthly

BBC History Magazine is Britain’s bestselling history magazine devoted to history enthusiasts of all levels of knowledge and interest. Published 13 times a year, BBC History Magazine brings history to life with informative, lively and entertaining features written by the world’s leading historians and journalists. Whether it is the history of our politics and institutions, or the fascinating stories of our private lives through the ages, BBC History Magazine sheds new light on the past and helps make more sense of today’s world.Covering the latest new developments in history and archaeology from Britain and around the world, the latest, most thought provoking historical research and strong links with TV and radio programming maximizing use of BBC’s existing expertise in the genre.