BBC History UK
"Edward III perpetrated one of the most brutal acts of war committed during the Middle Ages"
HELEN CARR speaks to Emily Briffett about the royal power struggles, bloody wars and horrific diseases that ruptured the structure of English society in the 14th century.
10+ min |
July 2025
BBC History UK
Shaping Shakespear
ANDY KESSON welcomes a bold look at an early English playhouse and its crucial role in moulding the playwright's dramatic imagination
2 min |
July 2025
BBC History UK
Clash of tastes
SUZANNE FAGENCE COOPER enjoys an account of the clash between Victorian art’s chief critic and its enfant terrible
2 min |
July 2025
BBC History UK
Beach warriors
SAUL DAVID is enthralled by a detailed account of the Allied assault on Sword beach during the pivotal landings of June 1944
2 min |
July 2025
BBC History UK
Fatal floods rage through central Europe
Surging floodwaters sweep away entire villages across German-speaking lands
3 min |
July 2025
BBC History UK
Pétain goes on trial for treason
The ‘Lion of Verdun’ finds himself in the dock in Paris, faced with accusations of Nazi collaboration
1 min |
July 2025
BBC History UK
You can book a one-on-one encounter with an Egyptian shoe
MUSEUMS ARE MAGICAL PLACES. THEY ARE the keepers of so many histories and stories from near and far.
2 min |
July 2025
BBC History UK
CHANNEL SICKNESS
When the Battle of Britain erupted, many Luftwaffe pilots anticipated a swift victory. Yet soon that confidence had been replaced by chronic fatigue and a crippling fear of drowning in “dirty water”. Victoria Taylor charts the mental disintegration of Hitler's flyers
10+ min |
July 2025
BBC History UK
CAESAR'S FUNERAL DRAMA
The assassination of Julius Caesar in 44 BC drove tensions sky-high in ancient Rome. As Jessica Clarke reveals, plays staged at his funeral were carefully chosen to inflame anger and incite revenge on his killers
8 min |
July 2025
BBC History UK
Ancient olive relish
ELEANOR BARNETT explores the long culinary history and cultural impact of the toothsome fruit of the ‘queen of all trees’
2 min |
July 2025
BBC History UK
Nation-building
This provocative book challenges established interpretations, conceptualisations and evaluations surrounding the birth of the modern Greek nation-state in 1830.
1 min |
July 2025
BBC History UK
FIVE THINGS YOU (PROBABLY) DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT. . .the First World War
Alex Churchill reveals some little-known facts about one of history's deadliest conflicts
3 min |
July 2025
BBC History UK
"Freedom and democracy are not to be taken for granted"
To celebrate the 80th anniversary of VE Day, on 5 May prime minister SIR KEIR STARMER hosted a tea party in Downing Street for Second World War veterans, schoolchildren and people with links to the armed forces. Following the event, he spoke to our correspondent York Membery about why marking the anniversary is so important - and the resonances with the current war in Ukraine
4 min |
July 2025
BBC History UK
Swings and Roundabouts
We all have childhood memories of playgrounds. But what does the evolution of outdoor play in Britain tell us about the experience of being young over the past 200 years? Jon Winder serves up a history of sandpits, bombsites and battles with cars
9 min |
July 2025
BBC History UK
Britain goes global
LAUREN WORKING applauds a kaleidoscopic exploration of how James VI & I fuelled Britain's global ambitions, paving the way for the future empire
4 min |
July 2025
BBC History UK
ELIZABETH I'S FORBIDDEN LOVE
In 1579, the queen embarked on a romance with a French duke she affectionately dubbed her “frog”. The pair seemed destined for marriage. Yet, writes Elizabeth Tunstall, the people of England had other ideas...
8 min |
July 2025
BBC History UK
Painting on the precipice
Hans Holbein’s masterwork The Ambassadors is an exquisite portrait of two 16th-century diplomats. But it is also crammed with symbols and hidden messages. Tracy Borman deciphers the clues that betray the turbulence of a fateful year
7 min |
June 2025
BBC History UK
Spiked drinks, counterfeit coins and the lodgers from hell
Drugging, fraud, even murder – women couldn't really commit such heinous crimes, could they? Rosalind Crone explores five audacious female-led felonies from the 18th and 19th centuries
8 min |
June 2025
BBC History UK
Harry Price
Harry Price was a British ghost-hunter, psychic researcher and author who achieved fame through his investigations into paranormal phenomena and for exposing fraudulent mediums.
2 min |
June 2025
BBC History UK
"Africans have been starved of historical figures from their own lands that they can look up to"
PAULA AKPAN speaks to Danny Bird about powerful African woman leaders and the complexities of interrogating historical narratives, colonial biases and these women's own flaws
10 min |
June 2025
BBC History UK
25 thing's we've learned over the past 25 years
To celebrate a quarter-century of BBC History Magazine, we asked 25 expert contributors to nominate the most important historical discoveries and revelations since the publication launched in 2000
3 min |
June 2025
BBC History UK
Anne Boleyn is crowned Queen of England
Henry VIIIs new consort brings the promise of a longed-for son
1 min |
June 2025
BBC History UK
"Which historical figures will capture the imagination of a class on a rainy Thursday afternoon?"
History teacher and writer SHALINA PATEL discusses how to make the subject appealing and relevant to a diverse range of students today - and envisages what lessons might look like in 25 years' time
7 min |
June 2025
BBC History UK
Charles Darwin receives a shock in the mail
The naturalist is prompted to go public with his theory
2 min |
June 2025
BBC History UK
Flower power
Few 17th-century women could travel the world. But the world could visit them in their gardens. Susannah Lyon-Whaley reveals how exotic plants – from Chinese rhubarb to South American passionfruit – opened new horizons in fashion, food and science
7 min |
June 2025
BBC History UK
"These women transformed his understanding of the world"
Malcolm X became one of the most influential leaders in the US civil rights movement - thanks largely, explains Ashley D Farmer, to the women who shaped his life and ideas
10+ min |
June 2025
BBC History UK
The feel of truth
JOSEPH E USCINSKI enjoys an account of a fake report that supposedly exposed a huge conspiracy to wage war in support of the American economy
2 min |
June 2025
BBC History UK
Victorian jelly
ELEANOR BARNETT explores the surprisingly long history of quivering, colourful dessert popular with children
3 min |
June 2025
BBC History UK
Who says what and why they say it
DAVID RUNCIMAN is impressed by an exploration of how arguments over free speech are often rooted in a desire to close down dialogue
4 min |
June 2025
BBC History UK
Samba schools used the carnival to foreground overlooked histories
I WAS RECENTLY IN RIO DE JANEIRO, IN A warehouse on the outskirts of the city, admiring some of the brightly coloured floats that had featured in this year's world-famous carnival. Each spring, just before the start of Lent, hundreds of thousands of people attend the parades in the city's Sambadrome stadium and enjoy watching the floats.
2 min |