February 2017

Articles from the February 2017 issue of BBC History Magazine

Illustration of Isabella of France. From the book ‘Our Queen Mothers’ by Elizabeth Villiers. (Photo by Universal History Archive/Getty Images)

Isabella of France: the rebel queen

A portrait of Isabella I of Castile. (Photo by PHAS/UIG via Getty Images)

Isabella of Castile: Europe’s greatest queen?

Painting depicting Cromwell at the head of his troops following the Battle of Marston Moor in 1644, by Ernest Crofts. (Photo by De Agostini Picture Library/Getty Images)

Oliver Cromwell: the secret of his military genius

Charles Darwin sports his trademark bushy beard in 1877. (Photo by Corbis Historical/Getty Images)

From Charles Darwin’s beard to George Eliot’s right hand: 4 famous Victorian bodily quirks

A drawing of surgeon James Barry (c1789–1865) in uniform. (Photo by SSPL/Getty Images)

Dr James Barry: a surgeon with a secret

A portrait of Henry VII, the first Tudor king of England, by Michiel Sittow. (Photo by Universal History Archive/Getty Images)

Monarchy timeline: from the Middle Ages to the modern era

Portrait of Richard III. (Photo by Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images)

The Library Richard III: rewriting the past

Czar Nicholas II with family. (Getty Images)

Books interview with Robert Service: “Nicholas II brought the Russian Revolution upon his own head”

Anonymous engraving, master of the garden of love, 15th century, France, Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale. (Photo by: Photo12/UIG via Getty Images)

7 ways to say “I love you” in medieval Europe

British leader of the Labour Party Clement Attlee leaves the Treasury, 27 May 1945. (Photo by AFP/Getty Images)

My history hero: Clement Attlee (1883–1967)

Robin Hood statue outside Nottingham Castle. (Getty Images)

History Explorer: the legend of Robin Hood

US academic Deborah Lipstadt exults the High Court in London after winning a libel case brought against her by British historian David Irving, 11 April 2000. (Photo by Martyn Hayhow/AFP/Getty Images)

Second World War

The Library Holocaust denial on trial

Bombay, the East India Company's port on the Malabar Coast of India, 1755. Company trading vessels are depicted in the foreground and quayside warehouses and buildings behind. (Photo by Ann Ronan Pictures/Print Collector/Getty Images)

The chaotic conquest of India

The Pontcysyllte Aqueduct, which carries the Llangollen Canal over the valley of the River Dee, near Wrexham, North Wales. The aqueduct was built by Thomas Telford. (Photo by SSPL/Getty Images)

Brunel: the man who built modern Britain

Parson's Lodge Battery in Rosia Bay, Gibraltar. (Getty Images)

My favourite place: Gibraltar