BBC History Magazine

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.

WELCOME SEPTEMBER 2024

THREE THINGS I'VE LEARNED THIS MONTH

THIS ISSUE'S CONTRIBUTORS

ANNIVERSARIES • DANNY BIRD highlights events that took place in September in history

"We wanted the public to be better informed about the history of empire" • A new book, The Truth About Empire, makes the case for the expertise of historians in debates about Britain’s imperial past. MATT ELTON spoke to three of its contributors about the gap between academic and popular views of empire

The long road back The election was tough for the Conservatives – but the past holds clues on how parties can return from the brink

MICHAEL WOOD ON… • CRAFTING A NEW NATIONAL NARRATIVE

HIDDEN HISTORIES • KAVITA PURI on why we should celebrate diverse histories year round

LETTERS

BBC History Magazine

THE SPY WHO HOODWINKED HITLER • Dummy tanks at El Alamein. Bogus generals in Algiers. Sham armies on D-Day. All were ruses masterminded by Dudley Clarke. Robert Hutton tells the story of the British soldier who made an art form of duping the Nazis

THE FOG OF WAR • Four of Dudley Clarke’s greatest deceptions

The king they couldn't kill • Want to know why Henry VII is remembered as an intensely suspicious king, wracked by paranoia? The answer, writes Nathen Amin, lies in his death-defying rise to power

THE GENIUS IN THE SHADOWS • Æthelstan is one of the greatest of all Anglo-Saxon monarchs. So why, asks Michael Wood, does the first king of the English remain so fiendishly elusive?

ÆTHELSTAN'S WATERSHED MOMENTS • From defeating Vikings to a cultural renaissance, Michael Wood reveals what we know about the king

Q&A • A selection of historical conundrums answered by experts

DID YOU KNOW…?

WHY DO WE SAY…

From china cups to letter bombs • The suffragettes crafted a brilliant PR campaign, driven by everything from branded marmalade to marching bands. But did their quest for publicity eventually backfire? Ellie Cawthorne investigates an Edwardian battle for hearts and minds

DEEDS NOT WORDS: THE SUFFRAGETTE STORY

EASTERN PROMISES • Lured by rich trading prospects, from the 17th to the 19th centuries Britain attempted to cultivate relations with China – sometimes successfully, but often disastrously. Kerry Brown explores the troubled but ultimately vital links between two ambitious realms

Medieval England's political miracle • From Magna Carta to parliament, taxation to the law courts, the 13th and 14th centuries laid the foundations for the modern British state

"People have achieved all kinds of crazy things at the age of 18" • ALICE LOXTON talks to Danny Bird about her book on 18 individuals who left an indelible mark on British history – before they were out of their teens

A Pole apart • ROGER MOORHOUSE is absorbed by a little-known but politically significant Polish princess whose life encompassed the major events of the later 18th and 19th centuries

Amazing lives • Deputy editor Matt Elton picks three episodes of the HistoryExtra podcast profiling notable figures

The battle against shipwrecks… and ignorance • ALAN FORREST is...