Education
BBC History UK
Place names are signposts to the past. And how revealing they are
I WAS RECENTLY BACK IN DEVON. LONG AGO, ON childhood holidays from the industrial north, this seemed to me the ‘real’ England.
3 min |
July 2025
BBC History UK
"The pope doesn't have to be a great theologian - but he has to be in tune with the zeitgeist"
In May, the new Pope Leo XIV was chosen by the conclave, a secretive gathering of cardinals with a history stretching back many centuries. Matt Elton spoke to REBECCA RIST about the politics, controversies and far-reaching impacts of past papal elections
6 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
Fatal floods rage through central Europe
Surging floodwaters sweep away entire villages across German-speaking lands
3 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 Yet soon that confidence had been replaced by chronic fatigue and a crippling fear of drowning in “dirty water”.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
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
Sydney in five places
Australia's largest and oldest city was founded on land used for tens of millennia by indigenous peoples. LAILA ELLMOOS explores five sites revealing its long history
3 min |
July 2025
BBC History UK
Billie Holiday 1915-59
When did you first hear about Holiday?
2 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
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
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
A doctrine of self-control
FERN RIDDELL gives a cautious welcome to an exploration of American attitudes down the years towards both sex work and female sex workers
2 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 |
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
Diplomatic mission
RICHARD TOYE salutes an exploration of the relationship between the ‘Big Three’ Allied leaders
2 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
"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
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
Few works of 20th-century art have such a distinguished list of past owners
A POSTWAR BABY BOOMER AND A LATE SIXTIES student, in my adult life I naturally grew up optimistic. I believed in progress.
3 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
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
Rome's worst nightmare
When the Spartacus revolt erupted in 73 BC, it exposed a terrifying truth: that the cocksure Roman Republic was nowhere near as invincible as it liked to believe.
10+ 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
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
"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
"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
"We sang, we danced and we all held hands'
It's 80 years since Britain erupted in joy at the news that the war in Europe was over. But how did those who lived through VE Day remember it? With the help of the BBC WW2 People's War archive, John Willis reveals a day of partying, remembrance and continuing sacrifice
10+ min |
May 2025
BBC History UK
Egypt's grape expectations
To the ancient Egyptians, wine played a pivotal part in mythology, ritual and the natural processes that enabled their survival. Islam Issa explores six key roles it fulfilled in their society over the millennia
7 min |