American history

BBC World Histories Magazine Issue 18

Issue 18 of BBC World Histories is out now

The destroyer USS Shaw explodes in a massive fireball at Pearl Harbor, 7 December 1941. The attack led almost immediately to Germany declaring war on America, and so brought Stalin an unexpected ally of colossal potential power, says Laurence Rees. (Bettmann/Getty Images)

Second World War

Why December 1941 was the most important month of the Second World War

The neutral USA entered World War II only when a Japanese fleet launched a big surprise air raid against its Pacific naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii on 7 December 1941. (Photo by Fox Photos/Getty Images)

Second World War

America and WW2: when, how and why did the US get involved, and why they didn’t enter sooner?

Brendan Simms photographed by Ian Farrell

Second World War

Hitler’s war with Anglo-America

The battleship USS California following the attack at Pearl Harbor

Second World War

12 things you (probably) didn’t know about Pearl Harbor

Digitally restored vintage photo of the RMS Titantic departing Southampton on 10 April 1912. (Photo by John Parrot/Stocktrek Images via Getty Images)

10 facts about the Titanic

The fact that so many cultures have a myth about a devastating flood has led some historians to wonder if there may have been a real event that explains the myths. (Photo by Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

General prehistory

Q&A Was there really a 'Great Flood'?

US President John F Kennedy gives his first State of the Union address to Congress at the House of Representatives, Washington DC, 30 January 1961. Kennedy is one of eight presidents to have died during their term in office. (Photo by NASA/SSPL/Getty Images)

Q&A How many US presidents died in office?

Pilgrim Fathers boarding the Mayflower

5 facts about the Mayflower

Native American leader Sitting Bull

My history hero Sitting Bull (1831–90)

Atomic bomb damage in the city of Hiroshima, 1945. The atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima on 6 August 1945 “razed and burnt around 70 per cent of all buildings”, according to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Second World War

Was the US justified in dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during the Second World War? You debate

Emma Dabiri. (Photo by Fran Monks)

Why black hair matters

A customer shops for a pistol at Freddie Bear Sports sporting goods store in Tinley Park, Illinois. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)

The historians’ view: what are the real issues in the US gun control debate?

US infantrymen in snowdrifts

Second World War

Q&A Why is Hitler’s Ardennes campaign called the battle of the Bulge?

Illustration by Davide Bonazzi

Have nuclear weapons helped to maintain global peace?