BBC History Magazine

The online archive of articles from BBC History Magazine

Medieval

The real Aztecs: brutal, bloodthirsty... and caring?

A portrait of Alexander Hamilton by John Trumbull, 1806. (Photo by IanDagnall Computing/Alamy Stock Photo)

Georgian

The dark side of Alexander Hamilton

Left: Hungarian Jews arrive at Auschwitz-Birkenau, in German-occupied Poland, in June 1944. Between May and July that year, more than 430,000 Hungarian Jews were deported to the camp complex. Right: Prisoners at Dachau celebrate the liberation of the camp by US soldiers on 29 April 1945. The camp was used again after the war to house SS personnel awaiting trial, and then German refugees. (Photos by Getty Images and Alamy)

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Aftermath of the Holocaust: how Europe dealt with the crimes of the Third Reich. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Paul Stephenson and Guy Bailey

20th Century

The great British civil rights scandal: the Bristol bus boycott

German Heinkel HE-111 bombers fly over Britain during a mission in September 1940

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8 reasons why the Luftwaffe didn’t stand a chance of beating the RAF in the Battle of Britain. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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The birth pains of the NHS: how Britain's National Health Service was created. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Elizabeth I arrives in Tilbury

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The Spanish Armada: one of history’s biggest fibs?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Illustration from Dante's ‘Inferno', depicting thieves tormented in hell by serpents.

General ancient history

A brief history of the afterlife

The bikini was showcased to the world for the first time in July 1946. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)

General Modern

8 historical events that happened in July

A girl, with her brother on her back, trudges past a stalled American tank, South Korea, June 1951. (Photo by Alamy)

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How we forgot the Korean War. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A gilt-bronze effigy of Henry III in what is his greatest legacy, Westminster Abbey. (Photo by Alamy)

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Henry III in his own words: the medieval king as you’ve never seen him before. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Who’s holding the baby? How working mothers navigated the 20th century. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A bust of Ludwig van Beethoven before the original handwritten score for his Piano Sonata no. 28 in A major, Op. 101. The composer stood at the vanguard of a new artistic movement that celebrated emotion and nature. (Getty Images/Alamy/Dreamstime)

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The soundtrack of Beethoven’s life. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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

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History heroCathy Newman chooses Beatrice Shilling (1909–1990). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Henry VIII of England and Francis I of France meet (in marquee, top) at the Field of the Cloth of Gold, June 1520. “For all their expressions of friendship,” writes Glenn Richardson, “the two kings spent most of the summit attempting to outshine one another”. (Photo by DeAgostini/Getty Images)

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Fields of the Cloth of Gold: the greatest show on earth. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

John Nichol is a historian, author and RAF veteran who was captured and paraded on Iraqi television during the Gulf War, before returning to active service. He has since written several works of military history as well as a number of novels, and is a regular commentator on military affairs

Second World War

Your guide to the Lancaster bomber

Pompeii,Italy

Roman

What was life like in ancient Pompeii? Mary Beard shares an A-Z guide

Portrait of Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester (1532–88) an English nobleman. Dated 16th century. (Photo by: Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images)

Elizabethan

Robert Dudley: Queen Elizabeth I's great love

The coronation of Philippa of Hainault

Medieval

How did Philippa of Hainault, wife of Edward III, become one of medieval England’s best-loved queens?

A statue of Robert the Bruce Statue at Stirling Castle, Scotland. (Dreamstime)

Medieval

The battle of Bannockburn: Robert Bruce's fight for freedom

A mushroom cloud produced by the explosion of a hydrogen bomb during Operation Ivy, an American nuclear test that took place in 1952. (SSPL/Getty Images)

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How have nuclear weapons shaped global politics? 10 key moments in the post-war atomic world. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Crowds flock to the beach at Hastings in August 1938. (Photo by Photo12/UIG/Getty Images)

20th Century

Summer holiday revolution: when were Britons first allowed to take paid holiday?

Prospecting towns like Dawson boomed during the gold rush.

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The dark side of the 19th-century gold rush. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A portrait of Henry VIII

Tudor

The surprising place where Henry VIII is buried

American jazz singer Helen Forrest performing with trumpeter Harry James (1916-1983), c1945. (Photo by Metronome/Getty Images)

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History heroDame Vera Lynn chooses Helen Forrest (1917–99). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Slaves of Confederate Brigadier-General Thomas F Drayton at his cotton plantation in South Carolina during the American Civil War

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Why is America haunted by its past?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A police officer uses his baton on a protester in Glasgow, 1919

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1919: Britain's red summer. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

People flee to boats on the River Thames to escape the Great Fire of London, September 1666.

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Coffee, plague and the Great Fire: the pleasures and perils of living in Restoration London. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Frank Gillard pictured during a 1944 rehearsal for battle reporting

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History heroChris Mason chooses Frank Gillard (1908–98). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

(Photo by Michele Falzone via Getty Images)

Ancient Egypt

10 things you (probably) didn't know about ancient Egypt

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