October 2011

Articles from the October 2011 issue of BBC History Magazine

A statue of the English queen Matilda in Luxembourg Garden, Paris. (Photo by Waring Abbott/Getty Images)

Matilda: William the Conqueror’s queen

British microbiologist and discoverer of penicillin, Alexander Fleming. (Photo by Ipsumpix/Corbis via Getty Images)

A big day in history: Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin

From The Library

Anti-capitalist graffiti referencing the Nike slogan ‘Just Do It’. Mayday riots, London, 2001. (Photo by PYMCA/UIG via Getty Images)

Opinion: should historians comment on current affairs?

From The Library

A real and a virtual Tycho Brahe surveys the heavens next to his mural quadrant in the frontispiece to ‘Machines of the New Astronomy’. (Photo by DEA/G.DAGLI ORTI via Getty Images)

A history of science in 10½ objects

Kathleen Kenyon challenged biblical accounts with her pioneering work at the ancient city of Jericho. (Photo by Bettmann/contributor via Getty Images)

My history hero: Kathleen Kenyon (1906–78)

From The Library

Douglas Haig (right) watches the stamping of poppies by ex-servicemen, during a visit to the British Legion poppy factory in Richmond, 22 October 1926. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)

First World War

Douglas Haig: a postwar revolutionary?

From The Library

Irish rugby fans in London for the international match between Ireland and England at Twickenham Stadium, 13 February 1937. (Photo by E Dean/Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)

Rugby warriors

From The Library

A portrait of Sir Francis Walsingham, Elizabeth I’s ‘spymaster’. (Photo by Photo 12/UIG via Getty Images)

Sir Francis Walsingham: Elizabeth’s security chief

From The Library

Vasily Grossman with the Red Army in Schwerin, Germany, 1945. (Photo by Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

Second World War

A war of words

From The Library

Illustration by Jonty Clark

Ye olde travel guide: Venice 1500

From The Library

View across the river Clyde to Dumbarton Rock and the medieval Dumbarton Castle. (Photo by Martin W Holt via Getty Images)

History explorer: Alfred and the Vikings

From The Library

Simon Jenkins on England

From The Library