Rachel Dinning

Digital Section Editor

Rachel Dinning is the Digital Section Editor at HistoryExtra.com. She joined the BBC History Magazine team in 2017 after working as a news reporter for the Gloucestershire Gazette, where she once interviewed Boris Johnson about his love of milkshakes. She has a degree in English literature and a master's degree in journalism – but has always had a passion for history, specifically the Second World War era. Rachel has interviewed a number of expert speakers for the award-winning HistoryExtra podcast, from historian Dan Jones to film director Peter Jackson. You can find her on Twitter @racheldinning, where she tweets everything from cat GIFs to her favourite historical facts.

Recent articles by Rachel Dinning

Black and white photo of a group of women marching while holding a sign saying 'International Women's Day'

A brief history of International Women’s Day: what is it and why do we celebrate it?

Amelia Earhart, Princess Diana, Emmeline Pankhurst, Rosa Parks and Marie Curie. (Photo by Getty Images)

20 inspirational quotes from women through history for International Women’s Day

Adolf Hitler. (Photo by Heinrich Hoffmann/Archive Photos/Getty Images)

Second World War

Your guide to Adolf Hitler: key facts about the Nazi dictator

Henry VI of England. (Photo by iStock/Getty Images)

Henry VI may have had a “sex coach” – plus 4 more curious facts about his life

Actress Lily James and actor Michael Huisman looking at each other in a still from the film The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

Second World War

Life under Nazi rule: the occupation of the Channel Islands

Princess Elizabeth, later Queen Elizabeth II, with her husband Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, after their marriage in 1947. (Corbis via Getty Images)

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip: 8 milestones in their marriage

Emma Corrin as Princess Diana in season 4 of 'The Crown'. (Photo by Netflix)

The Crown S4 news: Netflix releases first images of Princess Diana and Margaret Thatcher

Portrait of Catherine of Aragon

Your guide to Catherine of Aragon: Henry VIII’s first wife and mother of Mary I

Cast of the Crown vs their real life counterparts. Top (right to left): actors Gillian Anderson, Olivia Colman, Emma Corrin. Bottom: Margaret Thatcher, Elizabeth II, Princess Diana. (Photos by Netflix/Getty Images)

The Crown S4 cast: which real historical figures feature in season four of Netflix’s royal drama – and what did they really look like?

Half-sisters and daughters of Henry VIII: Mary Tudor (left) and Elizabeth I, who both reigned as queen of England. (Photos by Getty Images)

Did Elizabeth I and her half-sister, Mary Tudor, have a good relationship? Historian Tracy Borman explains

Stonehenge: Not a henge, but certainly a stone circle, and a very long-lived centre of human activity. (Getty Images)

General ancient history

Stonehenge mystery solved: where do the large stones come from?

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?

c1935: Beatrice Shilling sits astride her Norton motorcycle. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images)

My history hero: Cathy Newman chooses Beatrice Shilling (1909–1990)

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

Dan Jones by the River Medway at Rochester in Kent. Jones is the presenter of 'Walking Britain’s Roman Roads', which airs on 1 July 2020 at 9pm on 5Select.

Exploring Britain’s Roman roads with historian Dan Jones