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A Hawker Hurricane in flight over Britain

Second World War

Your guide to the Battle of Britain: how the RAF turned back the Luftwaffe

The women of Hamilton: Angelica, Eliza and… Maria Reynolds

August 2020 issue of BBC History Magazine out now!

'Tippoo's Tiger', made for Tipu Sultan. (Photo by Alamy)

General ancient history

Museums and colonialism

Olivia Colman as Queen Anne in 'The Favourite'. (Photo by Twentieth Century Fox/Entertainment Pictures)

The best historical TV shows and films to stream right now

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In the news

Today’s events in historical context…

Portrait of founding father Alexander Hamilton by John Trumbull, c1806. (Photo by National Gallery Of Art/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images)

Your guide to Alexander Hamilton, plus 6 fascinating facts about the founding father

Winston Churchill gives his famous v-sign. (Photo by Central Press/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Second World War

From Winston Churchill to the Bengal famine: are we in denial about our role in WW2?

Tom Hanks in 'Greyhound' (2020)

Second World War

The real history that inspired WW2 film Greyhound

Slaves of Confederate Brigadier-General Thomas F Drayton at his cotton plantation in South Carolina during the American Civil War

Why is America haunted by its past?

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The Battle of Britain

Described by prime minister Winston Churchill as the RAF's finest hour, the Battle of Britain (10 July – 31 October 1940) was the first major military campaign in history to be fought entirely in the air. Ahead of the 80th anniversary of the campaign, we bring you everything you wanted to know…

German Heinkel HE-111 bombers fly over Britain during a mission in September 1940

Second World War

8 reasons why the Luftwaffe didn’t stand a chance of beating the RAF in the Battle of Britain

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Second World War

The Battle of Britain

A group of fighter pilots of No. 32 Squadron relax beside their Hawker Hurricane Mk I fighters at RAF Hawkinge in July 1940

Second World War

The Few: who exactly were the heroes of the Battle of Britain?

A Hawker Hurricane of Fighter Command on its way to intercept German bombers as they crossed the south coast of England during the Battle of Britain, 1940. (Photo by Ann Ronan Pictures/Print Collector/Getty Images)

Second World War

6 Battle of Britain myths

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Second World War

Days of destiny: 5 key dates in the Battle of Britain

Firemen tackling a blitz fire at St Paul's Cathedral, London

Second World War

The Second World War: a timeline

Read more about the Second World War

Historical Q&As

How did Spanish Flu get its name? When did our ancestors start using toilet paper? Why did the famous Crystal Palace burn down? And where was the WW1 Armistice signed? Here are the top questions about history, answered by historians and experts…

Anne Boleyn (left) and her daughter, Elizabeth I. (Photos by Getty Images)

What did Elizabeth I think of her mother, Anne Boleyn? Historian Tracy Borman explains

What was a drunkard's cloak used for? This illustration shows a man wearing the archaic punishment tool designed to punish habitual drinkers. (Photo by Getty Images)

Q&A What was a drunkard’s cloak used for?

A calendar

Q&A Where do the names for days of the week come from?

John Wilkes Booth leans forward to shoot President Abraham Lincoln as he watches a play at Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C, in 1865.

Q&A What play was Abraham Lincoln watching when he was shot?

'The Landing of St Augustine in Kent', AD 597

General ancient history

Q&A When did Christianity first arrive in Britain?

Why were the Tudors called the Tudors? The answer lies with Catherine of Valois (pictured), widow of Henry V. (Photo by Print Collector/Print Collector/Getty)

Q&A Why were they called the Tudors?

Read more answers from the experts

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HistoryExtra Podcast

The latest episodes from the History Extra podcast

Wolfson Prize winner 2020 David Abulafia. (Photo by Fran Monks)

Exclusive podcast David Abulafia on The Boundless Sea

Huge sun setting over power lines and palm trees in California. (Photo by Getty Images)

California’s century of change

The bronze equestrian statue of Robert the Bruce looks out over the site of the Battle of Bannockburn, Stirling, where the Scottish fought for their independence from the English in 1314. (Photo by Getty Images)

Everything you ever wanted to know about the Scottish Wars of Independence, but were afraid to ask

Carved Pictish Stone in the Meigle Museum east of Blairgowrie, Scotland. (Photo by Alamy)

General ancient history

The Picts

A 13th-century illumination showing the coronation of Foulques and Melisende. (Photo by Alamy)

Women and the crusades

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Second World War

World War Two: the challenge of commemoration

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Trending in the US

A view of Mount Everest

Mystery on Everest: did Mallory and Irvine reach the summit in 1924?

Swastika on a lotus background

Second World War

Why did Hitler choose the swastika, and how did a Sanskrit symbol become a Nazi emblem?

Anne Boleyn (left) and her daughter, Elizabeth I. (Photos by Getty Images)

What did Elizabeth I think of her mother, Anne Boleyn? Historian Tracy Borman explains

Statue of Admiral Horatio Nelson in Trafalgar Square London

Should we judge historical figures by the morals of today?

Picture galleries

Explore our historical galleries covering a wide range of historical periods and topics…

This photo dated 1948 shows the devastated city of Hiroshima some three years after the US dropped an atomic bomb on the city on 6 August 1945, at the end of World War 2. Around 140,000 people, or more than half of Hiroshima's population at the time, died in the first atomic bombing – with another 70,000 people perishing in the bomb dropped over Nagasaki 9 August 1945. (Photo credit should read AFP/AFP/Getty Images)

Second World War

In pictures: the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

VE Day revellers blowing party trumpets

Second World War

In pictures: jubilant VE Day street party celebrations

Keith Granville, managing director of BOAC (British Overseas Airways Corporation), holding a model of the Boeing 747 jet, with the new aircraft hangars under construction in the background, at Heathrow Airport, 17 March 1969. (Photo by Jim Gray/Keystone/Getty Images)

In pictures: the history of London’s Heathrow Airport

A family at the seaside in the 1960s.

In pictures: English life in the 1960s, photographed by Tony Ray-Jones

Latest articles

A miniature from the Codex Justinianus

Plague, famine and sudden death: 10 dangers of the medieval period

Next Issue

Coming up in the September 2020 issue of BBC History Revealed

Coming up in the next issue of BBC History Magazine…

Coming up in the September 2020 issue of BBC History Magazine

A family comprising several generations of enslaved people. Resistance, common throughout the history of slavery, ranged from slow working to violent fights for freedom (Universal History Archive/Gertty Images)

Freedom fighters: the enslaved people who fought for the abolition of slavery

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History Quizzes

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

How much do you know about the Vikings? Test your knowledge with our quiz. This mid-19th century painting shows Viking ships on the River Thames. (Photo by Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

History quiz: How much do you know about the Vikings?

People praying for relief from the bubonic plague, circa 1350. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Medieval quiz

Elizabeth I

History quiz: how much do you know about Tudor Queen Elizabeth I?

The effects of the disease known as the Black Death

History quiz: how much do you know about the Black Death?

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

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Henry VIII

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Winston Churchill 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

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

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