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Rachel Dinning

Rachel Dinning

Digital Editorial Assistant

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Rachel Dinning is the Digital Editorial Assistant 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 History Extra 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

Princess Elizabeth, later Queen Elizabeth II, with her husband Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, after their marriage in 1947. (Corbis via Getty Images)
20th Century

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

British prime minister Harold Wilson, March 1967. (Photo by Michael Stroud/Daily Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Period

Harold Wilson: 5 facts about the Labour Party prime minister

A scene from 'They Shall Not Grow Old', showing how film director Peter Jackson digitally remastered footage of the First World War. (Photo courtesy of THEY SHALL NOT GROW OLD/ WingNut Films/ Peter Jackson. Original black and white film © IWM)
First World War

“There was no feeling sorry for themselves”: director Peter Jackson on the soldiers of the First World War

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Olivette Otele for BBC History Magazine.
21st Century

Olivette Otele: UK’s first female black history professor to research Bristol’s links to slave trade

Princess Margaret attends the premiere of Captain Horatio Hornblower, Leicester Square, 1951. (Photo by Ron Burton/Keystone/Getty Images)
20th Century

The Queen’s “rebel sister”: 8 facts about Princess Margaret

Portrait of Prince Albert, Queen Victoria's husband and consort. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Victorian

8 fascinating facts about Queen Victoria’s husband, Prince Albert

18 August 1819: British soldiers charging the crowd at St Peter's Fields, Manchester, during a meeting called in support of political reform. (Photo by Spencer Arnold Collection/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Georgian

A “more shocking” massacre? How we might have overestimated the Peterloo crowds

An episode of the naval battle at Trafalgar: the ship Redoutable (French) against the vessels Victory (British), Téméraire (British) and Thunderer (British). (Photo by Fototeca Gilardi/Getty Images).
Georgian

Britain didn’t “rule the waves” after the battle of Trafalgar, says historian Sam Willis

Historian, presenter and author Dan Jones. (David Levenson/Getty Images)
Medieval

Dan Jones on the Templars and ‘Knightfall’

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Sergeant Stubby, an American dog who served as the mascot of America's 102nd Infantry Regiment during the First World War. (Photo by Bettmann via Getty Images)
First World War

Sergeant Stubby of the First World War: the heroic story of America’s most decorated war dog

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

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

Queen Elizabeth II driving her children Prince Charles and Princess Anne at Windsor, 1957. (Photo by © Hulton-Deutsch Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)
20th Century

Why do Brits drive on the left-hand side of the road? Plus 4 other facts about the history of driving in Britain

Penrhyn Castle, Gwynedd, Wales. (Photo by Getty Images)
Medieval

5 British castles with romantic histories

British author Bernard Cornwell, author of 'The Last Kingdom' and 'Sharpe' series. (Photo by Daniel Sorabji via Getty Images)
Anglo-Saxon

Bernard Cornwell on writing historical fiction and his blockbuster series The Last Kingdom: your questions answered

A vintage colour lithograph depicting King Richard III at the battle of Bosworth. The battle of Bosworth (or Bosworth Field) was the last significant battle of the Wars of the Roses, the civil war between the Houses of Lancaster and York. (Photo by Getty Images)
Medieval

The battle for Bosworth field: Historians react to decision to build on battlefield where Richard III died