Jonny Wilkes

Freelance writer

A former BBC History Revealed staff writer, Jonny has a lifelong love of history and continues to write for BBC History Revealed and HistoryExtra.com. Armed with a BA in History from the University of York (and a Journalism masters from Cardiff University) he has developed a fascination with ancient civilisations, the history of North America from the Founding Fathers, and everything around D-Day. Jonny has spent many hours on Normandy beaches, the cliff at Pointe du Hoc, and the town of Sainte-Mère-Église contemplating how that one day in 1944 changed the 20th century.

Recent articles by Jonny Wilkes

American Republican politician, Robert Smalls (1839 - 1915), born a slave in South Carolina, he was later elected to serve as a Congressman for his home state. (Photo by MPI/Getty Images)

Black History Month The slave who stole a ship and sailed to freedom

Elisabeth von Wittelsbach, c1860, (left) and actor Devrim Lingnau as Elisabeth in Netflix drama The Empress.

Sisi: the tragic life of the lost and lonely Empress Elisabeth of Austria

Mussolini salutes in front of the statue of the Roman emperor Nerva, in the 1930s

How Italian dictator Benito Mussolini became the first face of fascism

Writer JRR Tolkien smokes a pipe

JRR Tolkien The making of Middle Earth

An emu stares into the camera

Q&A What was the Emu War?

Portrait of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, showing his pronounced Habsburg jaw

Q&A What was the Habsburg jaw?

George Orwell is known to have made numerous broadcasts for the BBC during his career at the corporation, but no recordings have survived. Early radio was treated as a live medium, with broadcasts rarely kept for posterity. (Photo by ullstein bild/ullstein bild via Getty Images)

Your guide to George Orwell and his visions of dystopia

First World War soldier and poet Siegfried Sassoon In uniform

First World War

Poetry and protest WW1 poet Siegfried Sassoon

Lady Eleanor Butler and Sarah Ponsonby, better known to history as the Ladies of Llangollen

Q&A Who were the Ladies of Llangollen?

American actress, singer and model Marilyn Monroe

Something's got to give The dramatic life of Marilyn Monroe

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CWAXKJ The Battle of Lepanto, the fleet of the Holy League destroys the Turkish fleet near Greece, October 7, 1571

What if... The Ottomans had won at Lepanto in 1571? . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The coats of arms of the kingdoms of Scotland and France

Q&A How old is the Auld Alliance between France and Scotland?

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Ben Macintryre is the author of Operation Mincemeat

Ben Macintryre "I had never realised quite how close Operation Mincemeat came to disaster" . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Winston Churchill discusses the invasion of Sicily with other senior Allied figures in 1943

Second World War

Operation Mincemeat: how a corpse duped Hitler

Clara Barton sitting at a table

How Clara Barton became the ‘angel of the battlefield’