BBC History Magazine | History Extra - History Extra

Portrait of Mary I of England, from the collection of the Museo del Prado, Madrid. (Photo by Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

Mary I: a highly impressive queen cut off in her prime

First World War

8 things you (probably) didn’t know about the battle of the Somme

The King Arthur delusion: a case of medieval fake news?

Want to read more?

Bernard Cornwell. (Photo by Felix Clay)

Bernard Cornwell on The Last Kingdom

Latest

In the news

Today’s events in historical context…

American athlete Jesse Owens (right) perhaps would never even have won one of his gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympics if it wasn't for an act of kindness from a fellow athlete, German long-jumper Carl Ludwig 'Luz' Long. (Photo by ullstein bild/ullstein bild via Getty Images)

5 acts of kindness that changed history

(Getty Images)

Why has Britain decided to leave the EU?

Want to read more?

55854657homeless-473e790

Charity: what can we learn from history?

Men sealing cases of Rowntree’s Elect Cocoa, York, Yorkshire, 1893. (Photo by Borthwick Institute/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

Chocolate and empire: from the land where the cocoa grows

Want to read more?

The Library

Unlock exclusive content for BBC History Magazine subscribers

German soldiers at the battle of the Somme. (Photo by Robert Hunt/Windmill Books/UIG via Getty Images)

First World War

The Somme through German eyes

Want to read more?

Henry VIII

Who hijacked Henry VIII’s will?

Want to read more?

Combat helicopters fly over US troops during a search and destroy mission, South Vietnam. Despite their military might, argues Max Hastings, the Americans were doomed to fail during the Vietnam War. (Photo by Patrick Christain/Getty Images)

Max Hastings on Vietnam

Want to read more?

A doctor examines a patient's urine in an illustration from the 13th century. Uroscopy, the study of urine, was one of the medieval physician's most effective tools, and is still employed today. (Photo by Bridgman Art Library)

Medieval medicine: killer or cure?

Want to read more?

More from The Library

The Second World War

Everything you need to know...

German women carrying children believed to be part of the Lebensborn programme, which aimed to raise the birth rate of blonde-haired, blue-eyed ‘Aryan’ children through interbreeding. (Photo by Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images)

Second World War

The woman who gave birth for Hitler

Hawker Hurricane in flight, Battle of Britain, World War II, 1940. A Hawker Hurricane of Fighter Command on its way to intercept German bombers as they crossed the south coast of England. Fought between 10 July and 31 October 1940, the Battle of Britain was the first major battle to be won in the air. The RAF's victory in the battle effectively prevented the Germans from attempting an invasion. (Photo by Ann Ronan Pictures/Print Collector/Getty Images)

Second World War

6 Battle of Britain myths

Sir Winston Churchill leaves his London home for Chartwell, Kent. (Photo by PA-Images)

A new life of Churchill

Members of the Palmers Green and Winchmore Hill LNER (London and North Eastern Railway) LDV (Local Defence Volunteers) dressed in their civilian clothes march along a platform passing a steam locomotive on 1 July 1940 in London. (Photo by Harry Todd/Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Second World War

The Dad’s Army guide to defending Britain

Want to read more?

Calculated risk: Adolf Hitler makes plans at his headquarters in Bruly-de-Peche, Ardennes, Belgium. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Second World War

The fall of France: Hitler’s greatest gamble

Want to read more?

The Pearl Harbour attack, 7 December 1941: sailors at the Naval Air Station, Ford Island, stand amid wreckage watching as the USS Shaw explodes in the centre background. The USS Nevada is also visible in the middle background, with her bow headed toward the left. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images)

Second World War

The 11 most significant battles of the Second World War

Read more on the Second World War

Advertisement

Women's history

Queen Victoria. (Photo by Robert Alexander/Getty Images)

Queen Victoria timeline: 9 milestones in the monarch’s life

Historians Joanne Paul, Olivette Otele and June Purvis dissect the results of our recent poll: 100 women who changed the world.

Video: 100 women who changed the world

Britain's Prince William and Kate, Duchess of Cambridge, make the journey by carriage procession to Buckingham Palace following their wedding ceremony on April 29, 2011 in London. (Image by Matt Cardy/AFP/Getty Images)

Kate Middleton: a modern royal woman

Podcast Website large Gillian Paston

Ruth Ellis: the last woman to be hanged in Britain

Vienna Plague Hospital, 1679. (Getty Images)

Women of the plague

Want to read more?

In 1926, 19-year-old New Yorker Gertrude Ederle made history by becoming the first woman to swim the English Channel – and in a faster time than the five men who had already achieved the feat. (Photo by ullstein bild/ullstein bild via Getty Images)

Gertrude Ederle: the first woman to swim the English Channel

More women's history

History Extra Podcast

The latest episodes from the History Extra podcast

Equestrian statue of Robert E. Lee, Richmond (Photo by Library of Congress)

Who should we commemorate?

Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (1844–1900), German philosopher, 1934. (Photo by The Print Collector/Getty Images)

Nietzsche’s dangerous ideas

Dan Snow on shell shock.

First World War

Dan Snow on shell shock

News of the end of World War I hostilities is joyfully received by the men of the 64th Regiment Infantry, 7th Division. Min de Jaueny, Moselle, France on November 11, 1918. (Photo by Bettmann/Getty Images)

First World War

The end of the First World War

Mike Leigh at the 67th Cannes Film Festival in 2014. (Photo by dpa picture alliance / Alamy Stock Photo)

Mike Leigh on Peterloo

18th August 1819: 'The Massacre of Peterloo or Britons Strike Home', by George Cruikshank (Photo by Spencer Arnold/Getty Images)

The Peterloo Massacre

View all Podcasts

Latest articles

Henry III (1207-1272), king of England from 1216. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

10 reasons why Henry III may have been a great king

How to throw a medieval feast. An elaborate banquet depicted in a 14th-century illuminated manuscript of Froissart's Chronicles. (Getty Images)

How to throw a medieval feast

(Photo by Michele Falzone via Getty Images)

10 things you (probably) didn’t know about ancient Egypt

A portrait of Marie Antoinette dated 1783 and painted by Vigée-Le Brun. (Photo by Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images)

In profile: the life and death of Marie Antoinette

History Quizzes

How much do you know about history? Test out your knowledge with our quizzes:

The Romanovs, 1913: Nicholas II with his wife and children. (Photo by Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images)

History quiz – The Romanovs

great fire 4

Great Fire of London quiz – how much do you know?

Second World War soldiers

Second World War

Second World War quiz

The results of the poll: 100 women who changed the world. (Photos by Getty Images/Alamy)

Quiz: 100 Women Who Changed The World

View more quizzes

Popular historic periods

Portrait of King Henry VIII, Jane Seymour and Prince Edward. (Photo by Getty Images)

Tudor

Illustrated Medieval scene from the Romance of Lancelot

Medieval

Victorian - Getty Images

Victorian

20th Century - Getty Images

20th Century

Explore more historic periods

Popular people from history

Painting of Henry VIII

Henry VIII

Portrait of Queen Victoria

Queen Victoria

Winston Churchill (1874 - 1965) gives his famous v-sign as he opens the new headquarters of 615 (County of Surrey) Squadron of the RAAF (Royal Auxiliary Air Force) at Croydon, 1948. (Photo by Central Press/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Winston Churchill

Golden funerary mask of Tutankhamun, inlaid with lapis lazuli, obsidian and turquoise. (Photo By DEA / G. DAGLI ORTI/De Agostini/Getty Images)

Tutankhamun

Explore more people from history

Popular historic topics

Dockers unloading wine barrels

Social history

Photo of Mabel Capper and Patricia Woodlock advertising a meeting, Manchester, Lancashire, July 1908

Women's history

Illustration of a couple

Sex and love

The charge of the light, battle illustration

Military history

Explore more historic topics