BBC History Magazine

The online archive of articles from BBC History Magazine

A portrait of Samuel Pepys, English writer and diarist. (Photo by Culture Club/Getty Images)

7 things you (probably) didn’t know about Samuel Pepys

A c1536 portrait of Jane Seymour by Hans Holbein the Younger.

Alison Weir on Henry VIII’s third wife: “Jane Seymour had the courage to stand up for what she cared about”

Charles II and his parties

Charles II: was the king too randy to rule?

What's History's Greatest Mystery?

General ancient history

What is history’s greatest mystery? Read the 20 nominations and cast your vote

King Edward II

In profile: King Edward II

Ramshackle homes in a Newcastle slum, c1880

From riches to rags: David Olusoga reveals how Britain’s grand houses descended into Victorian slums

King John hunting on horseback

Was King John really that bad? Yes!

British ships on convoy duty in the North Atlantic

Second World War

Danger in the deep: key questions about the Battle of the Atlantic answered

Welcome home: the cruiser 'Exeter' arrives back at Plymouth, c15 February 1940, after taking part in the battle of the River Plate. The action resulted in the scuttling of the German pocket battleship 'Admiral Graf Spee', which had sent several British merchant ships to the bottom of the Atlantic. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Second World War

The Battle of the Atlantic: the “desperate” WW2 campaign featured in Tom Hanks film Greyhound

The coronation of Queen Victoria in June 1838. Despite the many challenges of her childhood, she emerged as a fresh start for the monarchy after the unpopular regime of her uncles, Kings George and William IV. (Image by Bridgeman)

Did Queen Victoria have an unhappy childhood? Lucy Worsley on the monarch’s life under the ‘Kensington System’

The battle of Towton during the War of the Roses, 1461. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

12 things you (probably) didn’t know about the Wars of the Roses

Historian Emma Griffin. (Photographed by Fran Monks for BBC History Magazine)

Books interview with Emma Griffin: “Looking at family life reveals a dark side to Victorian economic progress”

A couple get amorous in this 14th-century illustration

Call the medieval sex doctor: how 7 problems might have been treated in the Middle Ages

Henry III during the Second Barons' War

Simon de Montfort and the barons’ crusade: why rebel lords waged holy war against Henry III

BBC History Magazine – June issue 2020

June 2020 issue of BBC History Magazine out now!