December 2019

Expert history articles from the December 2019 issue of BBC History Magazine

The Parnethon, Athens

How to build a democracy (Athenian-style)

George Frederic Watts' 1846 painting 'Alfred Inciting the Saxons to Prevent the Landing of the Danes'

Michael Wood “As a racism row rumbles on, is it time to retire the term ‘Anglo-Saxon’?”

One of many historic sites in Luxembourg. Larochette's castle dominates the town below.

Travel to Luxembourg: rural beauty and Gothic grandeur

'Yorktown' sustains a hit during the battle of Midway. The US aircraft carrier sank three days later but, by then, the Japanese had accepted that their attempt to land a war-winning blow had failed. (Photo by © CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)

Second World War

How miraculous was the battle of Midway?

Black and white image of Russian soldiers using a canon

First World War

Trial by fire: how a fortress siege changed the course of World War One

Historian Nichola Tallis

“Margaret Beaufort wielded enormous power. She was a queen in all but name”: Nicola Tallis on the mother of the Tudors

The footprint of Old Sarum cathedral

Explore Old Sarum: the regal and the rotten

A c1860 depiction of Wentworth Works steel manufacturer in Sheffield

Why Britain punched above its weight

Tutankhamun's blue and gold funerary mask

Tutankhamun unmasked: 7 intriguing truths about the pharaoh and his treasures

We asked six leading authors and academics to pick works of fiction that have captured life in Britain. (Image by Getty Images)

6 novels that captured life in Britain

A contemporary portrait of scientist Ada Lovelace

My history hero Konnie Huq chooses Ada Lovelace (1815–52)

A wooden cross marks the spot, just over 20 miles west of Newcastle, where Oswald apparently raised his own cross before ambushing Cadwallon. If the Anglo-Saxon warlord's attack had failed, writes Edoardo Albert, England might now be a lot smaller. (Photo by Getty Images)

Hell in Heavenfield: the Anglo-Saxon battle “as important as Hastings”