September 2018

Articles from the September 2018 issue of BBC History Magazine

A 12th-century English manuscript shows a surgeon operating on a patient's eye. (Photo by Universal History Archive/Getty Images)

Kill or cure? 10 medieval medical practices and their effectiveness

Five theories about Jack the Ripper's identity. (Photo by dreamstime.com)

The Ripper of our nightmares: 5 theories about Jack the Ripper’s identity

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100 Women Who Changed the World: the results

The results of the poll: 100 women who changed the world. (Photos by Getty Images/Alamy)

100 Women Who Changed the World results: what the experts say

A c1750 watercolour shows workers "mixing the powder" at Woolwich Arsenal. "The institutions that made up the 18th-century British 'state' existed entirely to provide the resources for war," argues Priya Satia. (Photo by Bridgeman Art Library)

Industrial revolution

How war sparked the industrial revolution

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A New York opium den. Although US legislators cracked down on opiates in the early 20th century, organised crime networks continued to fuel the illegal trade in narcotics. (Photo by Getty Images)

Books interview with Lucy Inglis: “Opium has held mankind’s hand since the beginning”

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Intellectuals, dieting businessmen, Indian students and fitness fanatics were among those to exhort the benefits of a meat-free diet in the 19th century, as shown in our illustration. (Illustration by Femke de Jong for BBC History Magazine)

Veggie Victorians

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The Fountain of Arethusa on Ortygia, the historical heart of Syracuse, separated from the main city by a small channel. (Photo by Alamy)

General ancient history

My favourite place: Syracuse, Sicily

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A portrait of King James I of Scotland. James was taken prisoner by the English in 1406, and it would be 18 years before he was freed to take the reins of power in his native nation. (Photo by Bridgeman Art Library)

James I: Henry V’s Scottish protege

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Jazz trumpeter and composer Miles Davis, shown here in 1969, was central to the story of jazz. (Photo by Jack Vartoogian/Getty Images)

My history hero: Miles Davis (1926–91)

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A doctor examines a patient's urine in an illustration from the 13th century. Uroscopy, the study of urine, was one of the medieval physician's most effective tools, and is still employed today. (Photo by Bridgman Art Library)

Medieval medicine: killer or cure?

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Australian PoWs in a camp at the Sumatran city of Pekanbaru, c1945. More than 80,000 forced labourers, including PoWs, died during the construction of Sumatran railway, most the victims of disease, starvation and maltreatment. (Photo by State Library of Victoria)

Second World War

The Sumatran Railway: The forgotten death railway

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