May 2015

Articles from the May 2015 issue of BBC History Magazine

An 1826 illustration from 'The Black Man's Lament

David Olusoga: “Thousands of Britons opposed abolition – because they owned slaves”

Margaret Thatcher enters Downing Street

How to win an election: 25 general elections and where they were won – and lost

Contrasting biographies of iconic leader Winston Churchill show how perceptions of historical figures change with the passing of time, says David Cannadine. (Photo by Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Second World War

Why Churchill’s reputation is still on the line

Catholics massacre Protestants in Ulster in a contemporary illustration. However, Catholics were also the victims of mass killings in 1641. (© Getty)

10 great misconceptions of the Civil War

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8 remarkable historical events that happened in May

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The history of… re-enacting battles

Lion Capital of the Pillars of Ashoka from Sarnath. (iStock / Getty Images Plus)

The many lives of India

Two survivors of the Lusitania disaster

First World War

Did Britain doom the Lusitania?

Jane Austen

My history hero Jane Austen (1775–1817)

The stretch of the Great Wall at Mutianyu, China

General ancient history

My favourite place: The Great Wall of China

Merton College, Oxford.

History explorer Medieval universities

Magna Carta

Books interview with David Starkey: “The Magna Carta of 1215 was designed to create a revolutionary regime”

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First World War

In pictures: WWI submarines