December 2014

Articles from the December 2014 issue of BBC History Magazine

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First World War

Remembering the First World War: blood, poppies and poetry

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The Library Lincoln: The vote that saved America

Michael Wood on Alexander the Great

View of a sham fight on the Serpentine, Hyde Park, London, 1814. Artist: Charles Calvert

The year when fear of Napoleon stalked the land

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The phantom menace: 10 milestones in science fiction

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Sam’s historical recipe corner: Wassail punch

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General prehistory

Geoffrey of Monmouth: the lost voice of ancient Britain

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Second World War

The Library Books interview with Boris Johnson: “Churchill was a tremendous bully in some ways, but we needed a bully”

One of the statues of Ramesses II at Luxor temple, which is "a wonderful place to spend a few hours". (Getty)

My favourite place: Luxor, Egypt

A portrait of Charles II, by 17th-century painter John Michael Wright

History explorer: The Restoration

Historiated initial 'L' depicting Pliny the Elder (23-79), detail of frontispiece to Book I, original text written in A.D.77 (vellum)

My history hero Pliny the Elder (AD 23–79)

Malcolm X chats with Eric Abrahams – the Oxford Union president who vowed to “fill the room with blacks” – before giving his famous address on 3 December 1964. (Getty)

The Library Malcolm X in Oxford: Black power amid dreaming spires

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The Library Oliver Cromwell’s shadowy queen