Senior National Curator, Midlands (Pictures and Sculpture) at the National Trust

WELCOME SEPTEMBER 2021

Ancient Greek influence continued in the western world

SNAPSHOTS

GETTY IMAGES 1902 QUITE A STRETCH Young pupils

THINGS WE LEARNED THIS MONTH...

RECENT HISTORY HEADLINES THAT CAUGHT OUR EYE

Squatters take over west London

ANNIVERSARIES THAT HAVE MADE HISTORY

PARANORMAL COLD CASE

INVESTIGATING HISTORY’S MOST SPINE-CHILLING ENCOUNTERS

The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

YOUR BRIEF EXPLAINER TO HISTORY’S HOT TOPICS

Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theories

THE LIVES OF HISTORY’S MOST FAMOUS FIGURES

Who was Yi Sun-shin?

SHORT ANSWER

What happened to Shergar?

SHORT ANSWER

Did Mark Twain predict his own death?

SHORT ANSWER

When was the first Zeppelin flight?

SHORT ANSWER

Why do people kiss the Blarney Stone?

SHORT ANSWER

Were Roman soldiers paid in salt?

SHORT ANSWER

DID YOU KNOW?

SALT IN A WOUND A group of men

When was the deadliest hailstorm?

SHORT ANSWER

Who discovered the Northwest Passage?

SHORT ANSWER

How did the ‘blackout cake’ get its name?

SHORT ANSWER

How did the Desert Rats get their name?

SHORT ANSWER

When did apartheid begin?

SHORT ANSWER

What is a ‘thagomizer’?

SHORT ANSWER

What was the Cult of Reason?

SHORT ANSWER

Fateful encounter

The Green Knight / In cinemas from Friday 6 August

Haunted house

Ghosts / BBC One and BBC iPlayer, 9 August

Rebel alliance

Britannia / Sky Atlantic, August

Kidnap and murder

The Wimbledon Kidnapping / Sky Documentaries, August

Literary journeys

Write Around the World with Richard E Grant / BBC Four, Tuesday 3 August

Nazis on trial

Nuremberg / BBC Radio 4, 27 August

European Heritage Days

FREE ENTRY

Prince Philip: A Celebration

PAID ENTRY

Gloucester History Festival

PAID ENTRY

Courage & Devotion

FREE ENTRY

West Indian Soldier

FREE ENTRY

Honourable Misfits: A Brief History of Britain’s Weirdest, Unluckiest and Most Outrageous MPs

THIS MONTH’S BEST HISTORICAL READS AND LISTENS

A Brief History of Motion: From the Wheel, to the Car, to What Comes Next

From rudimentary wheels to the prospect of self-driving

Hidden Heritage: Rediscovering Britain’s Lost Love of the Orient

Unpicking the complex, contradictory ways in which the

Blood and Ruins: The Great Imperial War, 1931–1945

Recasting World War II as the logical continuation

The Making of Oliver Cromwell

More than 300 years on, Oliver Cromwell remains

The Nile: A New History of the World’s Greatest River

Explorer and polymath Terje Tvedt embarks upon a

WHAT TO LISTEN TO...

Each month we bring you three of our favourite podcasts from the BBC and HistoryExtra

HISTORICAL FICTION...

OLLIE GROVE Rizzio By Denise Mina 2 September

CROSSWORD

TEST YOURSELF WITH OUR HISTORICAL PUZZLE EVERY ISSUE

LETTERS

Claims that the black smudge on Titanic’s hull

THE FRENCH REVOLUTION

••• ON SALE 2 SEPTEMBER •••

PHOTO FINISH

ARRESTING IMAGES FROM THE ANNALS OF THE PAST

ANCIENT GREECE

YOUR ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO

KEY MILESTONES IN ANCIENT GREEK HISTORY

Ancient Greek civilisation spanned more than eight centuries, encompassing countless conquests, discoveries and battles – here are some of the most significant events

EVERYTHING YOU WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT ANCIENT GREECE

Professor Paul Cartledge answers key questions about one of the world’s greatest civilisations

THE BIRTHPLACE OF DEMOCRACY

Athens was ruled by people power for nearly two centuries, establishing a model of politics that would resonate long afterwards

WIVES, MOTHERS AND WORKERS

Some city-states were worlds apart when it came to female emancipation, but Greek society still very much revolved around men

WHO’S WHO IN ANCIENT GREECE?

Get to know some of the civilisation’s most influential people

ARMED AND DANGEROUS

Greek city-states are famed for their cultural expression, but the grim reality was that none could thrive without mastering the art of war

FUN AND GAMES

Religion formed the bedrock of ancient Greek life, but there was still time for other leisure activities

THE GODS AND THEIR WHIMS

The polytheistic ancient Greeks worshipped a pantheon of deities

STYLE SETTERSS

From c800 BC until the Roman occupation of the Greek world nearly 800 years later, Greek society moved through three main periods – Archaic, Classical and Hellenistic. With each period came cultural changes that were reflected in the visual arts, whether sculpture, vase painting, wall painting or mosaics. And as Greek power filtered across its borders, so too did its cultural impact

TRAPPED IN SERVITUDE

Treating other humans as property was part and parcel of Greek life, with enslaved people ‘used’ across virtually all areas of society

IN SICKNESS AND HEALTH

Ancient Greece saw the birth of modern medicine, as physicians began to seek a more scientific approach

LEONIDAS AND THE BATTLE OF THERMOPYLAE

It was a spectacular defeat – but ancient Greece’s greatest clash would go on to symbolise heroism for generations to come

BIG NUMBERS

Vital statistics from one of the most iconic battles of the ancient world

GET HOOKED

If we’ve whetted your appetite for ancient Greece, why not explore the topic further with our pick of books, films and podcasts

THE MYSTERY OF THE MISSING H-BOMB PAPER

Roger Hermiston revealseals how one man’s mishap on a train to Washington DC sparked a wild goose chase and left the United States facing a Cold War catastrophe

HISTORY’S MOST FAMOUS MISSING DOCUMENTS (AND ONE THAT WAS FOUND)

The stories of four other items that have proved frustratingly elusive

WHEN MARY MET PHILIP

A TUDOR QUEEN IN LOVE

BRITAIN AND FRANCE HAD GONE TO WAR IN 1898?

Jonny Wilkes talks to historian, novelist and broadcaster Saul David about the Fashoda Incident of 1898, and how it could have led to a very different looking World War I