January 2012 cover

January 2012

Articles from the January 2011 issue of BBC History Magazine

Alphonse de Neuville's 1880 painting 'The Defence of Rorke's Drift'. The battle was to become a "supreme symbol of imperial heroism". (Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty images)

The battle of Rorke's Drift: a stand still clad in the "myths of empire". This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The future King George VI playing at the Wimbledon tennis championships, 1926

How George VI's sheer ordinariness made him the darling of the nation

Women in traditional Welsh dress, c1896. (Past Pix/SSPL/Getty Images)

Wales: In search of a history. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Winston Churchill, former prime minister of the United Kingdom, gives his 'victory' sign while making a polling day tour of his constituency during an election. (Getty Images)

Are these the most overrated people in history?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

An 18th century village in Germany. Strict laws regulated the goods that each social class could buy. (DeAgostini/Getty Images)

Beware what you buy: the goods German citizens were forbidden to consume. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The Golden Coast. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The LibraryYe Olde Travel Guide: Mainz 1455. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Mary Beard, professor of classics at the University of Cambridge. (David Levenson/Getty Images)

My history hero: Sir Moses I Finley (1912–86). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The Siege of Antioch during the First Crusade, c1200. (Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

Why Islam crushed the crusaders. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

It was in this villa in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee that one of history’s most infamous conferences was staged. (Getty)

The Wannsee Conference. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A statue of Joan of Arc in the home where she is thought to have been born, in Domrémy-La-Pucelle, eastern France. (PATRICK HERTZOG/AFP/Getty Images)

Where history happenedJoan of Arc. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.