Education
BBC History Magazine
When the Black Death arrived in Europe, it was like striking a match in tinder
The medievalist and historian of medicine Monica H Green tells Ellie Cawthorne how scientific advances have changed our thinking on what caused the Black Death - and why it was so devastating
10+ min |
June 2022
BBC History Magazine
The survivor, the "incurable" and the scapegoat
History is too often presented as tales of "great men" - yet the experiences of ordinary women speak eloquently about the reality of lives past. Lucy Worsley introduces three outwardly unremarkable people caught up in pivotal events
9 min |
June 2022
BBC History Magazine
THE SIEGE
When some 6,000 parliamentarians tried to prise a few hundred royalists out of Basing House in 1643, they began a brutal siege that would drag on for years - and see thousands slaughtered. Jessie Childs tells the story of a desperate struggle that became a defining episode of the Civil War
10+ min |
June 2022
BBC History Magazine
The strike has links to a far longer story of female south Asian protest
KAVITA PURI explores lesser-known stories from our past
3 min |
June 2022
BBC History Magazine
All at sea
Maritime
2 min |
June 2022
BBC History Magazine
A journey into the Elizabethan mind
The Elizabethans were desperate to untangle the mystery of their "inward selves". Helen Hackett reveals how they used ancient teachings, Christian doctrine and new scientific discoveries to make sense of the mind
9 min |
June 2022
BBC History Magazine
Grave insights
BRENNA HASSETT recommends an account of life and individual deaths - in Britain during the first millennium AD
4 min |
June 2022
BBC History Magazine
Raised by wolves
Feral children have fascinated and frightened people for centuries, raising questions about what it means to be human. Richard Sugg shares the stories of some of these wild children - and explains why their return to society was not always a happy one
8 min |
June 2022
BBC History Magazine
Medieval Christians were capable of imagining goddess-like beings that looked thoroughly pagan
RONALD HUTTON talks to Rhiannon Davies about his new book exploring four female deities who straddled the pagan and Christian worlds in the Middle Ages
10+ min |
June 2022
BBC History Magazine
The final slog
TAYLOR DOWNING salutes an account of the often overlooked last days of the Second World War in Europe, when Allied troops faced stubborn resistance from German forces
6 min |
June 2022
BBC History Magazine
Generating fear
STEPHEN WALKER gives a nervous welcome to a history of nuclear power, which focuses on the accidents and the disasters that have plagued the sector
3 min |
June 2022
BBC History Magazine
First letters
LANGUAGE
1 min |
June 2022
BBC History Magazine
A cultural institution
Mixing music with drama and the ancient with the cutting-edge, the BBC's Third Programme set out to scale the shining peaks of "high culture". But, says DAVID HENDY, its lofty aims alienated as much as they allured
9 min |
June 2022
BBC History Magazine
A congregation of voices
SARAH FOOT enjoys a new history of the Church of England, a book that finds space for the reflections of ordinary parishioners as well charting the deeds of the great and the good
3 min |
June 2022
BBC History Magazine
Black Communities Have Had to Pay for the Failures of Emancipation
Kris Manjapra speaks to Ellie Cawthorne about his new book, which explores how emancipations of enslaved people have left troubled legacies that still endure today
9 min |
May 2022
BBC History Magazine
Sounds of the Sixties
Facing fleets of pirate radio stations and teenagers hungry to hear the latest hits, the BBC had to change its tune. David Hendy explores how the corporation attempted to reach new audiences in the 1960s
7 min |
May 2022
BBC History Magazine
A Cruel Renaissance
“Wicked, an abomination, and against all humanity.” These words, uttered in 1416, shine a light on a dark truth: that slavery thrived in Renaissance Europe. Hannah Skoda tells the stories of people living in bondage in a period when ideals of liberty and the nobility of human nature didn't apply to all
9 min |
May 2022
BBC History Magazine
How Britain Became a Cultural Colossus
The secret to the nation's status as a creative superpower lies not in stability and peace but a past dominated by invasion, disruption and war
9 min |
May 2022
BBC History Magazine
Feather beds, cockfights and midnight flights to the moon
From seeing feathers as omens of death to saving soldiers with homing pigeons, our interactions with birds have always been contradictory. Roy and Lesley Adkins select five chapters from avian history to illuminate this complex relationship
5 min |
May 2022
BBC History Magazine
Gods among men
JANE DRAYCOTT applauds an ambitious journey through the global history of emperors, from the most ancient civilisations to the 20th-century demise of world-spanning realms
4 min |
May 2022
BBC History Magazine
EMPIRE OF THE GREATS
Not even a 2,000-year smear campaign, instigated by the Greeks, can obscure the staggering achievements of the ancient Persians. Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones tells the story of the Iranian dynasty that forged the greatest empire the world had ever known
10+ min |
May 2022
BBC History Magazine
Jesse Owens 1913-80
He was a bit of a showman and even raced against horses for money. When asked why, he said: You can't eat four gold medals'
2 min |
May 2022
BBC History Magazine
Spinning stories
HELEN CARR assesses a magisterial overview of how people have represented the past, from medieval propaganda to historical fiction
3 min |
May 2022
BBC History Magazine
The family behind the Tudors
The name Tudor has reverberated down the centuries, but another family lurked in the background, helping the dynasty to greatness - and sometimes seeking to tear it down. Joanne Paul chronicles the meteoric rise and deadly fall of the Dudleys
10 min |
May 2022
BBC History Magazine
Voyage into the unknown
MARGARET SMALL commends a new biography of Ferdinand Magellan that looks beyond the Portuguese explorer's globe-circling achievements to reveal the man behind the myth
3 min |
May 2022
BBC History Magazine
Victoria Drummond Engineering trailblazer
A century ago, the barriers facing any woman longing for a career in marine engineering seemed almost insurmountable - but not quite. JO STANLEY introduces a woman who had the talent, bravery and determination to make her mark in the male-dominated maritime world
6 min |
May 2022
BBC History Magazine
This will be seen as a hybrid war, in which a key weapon is the deliberate misreading of history
In February, following months of escalating tensions, Russia invaded Ukraine. Are parallels with the past useful in making sense of the war, or is history being used for more sinister ends? Four experts have their say
10+ min |
May 2022
BBC History Magazine
An Island Mystery
Three centuries ago, when European explorers first sighted the Pacific island of Rapa Nui, it was home to a thriving population and hundreds of haunting moai statues. But, within a few generations, the landscape was decimated and its population in sharp decline. So what happened? Cat Jarman untangles
10 min |
April 2022
BBC History Magazine
How Napoleon (almost) destroyed the French Revolution
The Corsican general proclaimed himself a defender of republican ideals – while doing all he could to dismantle them
10+ min |
April 2022
BBC History Magazine
Mirroring Multicultural Britain
From its inception the BBC has featured entertainers of colour, but they were often reduced to "exotic” attractions. David Hendy explores how the corporation tried to include diverse voices, from the 1930s to the postwar years
7 min |