WHAT REALLY HAPPENED TO LORD LUCAN?

THIS ISSUE’S CONTRIBUTORS

Hetta Howes “Life was certainly more challenging for

WELCOME

DECEMBER 2024

ANNIVERSARIES

DANNY BIRD highlights events that took place in December in history

What does history say about the climate crisis?

THE BIG QUESTIONS

“The increasing ferocity of the Middle East conflict makes it harder and harder to tell this history”

Historian and broadcaster SIMON SEBAG MONTEFIORE’s updated biography of Jerusalem charts events right up to the present day. Why did he choose to examine such a contentious past? And is it possible to remain entirely impartial? Matt Elton caught up with him to find out

Ladybird books have reflected the history of our times for over a century

MICHAEL WOOD ON… POCKET-SIZED WINDOWS ONTO A VANISHED WORLD

Half the population live in a land where hopes cannot exist

KAVITA PURI on the repression of women’s rights in Afghanistan

LETTERS

Two women peruse a copy of Lady Chatterley’s

Q&A

A selection of historical conundrums answered by experts

TALES FROM THE ARENA

How did gladiators supercharge the rise of Julius Caesar? And why were they seen as sex symbols? As Gladiator II arrives in cinemas, Guy de la Bédoyère tells the story of this brutal form of mass entertainment through six of its most significant (and surprising) moments

FROM HERO TO ZERO

Thomas Cromwell’s final six months were a Greek tragedy of hubris and political venom – all presided over by a tyrannical king. Diarmaid MacCulloch charts Cromwell’s rapid descent from the very pinnacle of power to the executioner’s block

HOW CROMWELL GOT HIS REVENGE

The minister’s enemies would suffer dearly for the role they played in his death

Victorian Britain

FIVE THINGS YOU (PROBABLY) DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT…

THE LONG ROAD TO PARADISE

On the 350th anniversary of the death of John Milton, Islam Issa explores the story of a poet and polemicist who lost two of his wives, his liberty and his sight – but not his hope

MILTON’S ARTISTIC LEGACY

Over the three and a half centuries since its creator’s death, Paradise Lost has inspired generations of painters, musicians and writers

Sarah Biffin An extraordinary artist

One of the most famous British painters of the first half of the 19th century was a woman born without arms or legs. ALICE LOXTON explores the life and work of an ambitious artist who became a favourite of royalty and was immortalised

Medieval influencers

Women in the Middle Ages rarely wielded political or economic power – yet, a little like the most persuasive doyennes of social media today, their words could shape minds and lives far beyond their own circles. Hetta Howes introduces four female literary and spiritual trailblazers

BOOKS

CRIME “Female detectives often worked to the detriment

“Leisure was very much built into the whole shopping experience”

BOOKS INTERVIEW

Years without kings

COMMONWEALTH

ON THE PODCAST

A disruptive decade

Devastation and defiance

WWII

Oceanic ambition

NICHOL AS MORTON is swept a long by a dramatic retelling of the life of the Mongol leader who came to rule China

THE CLASSIC BOOK

David Andress on an account of popular politics during the French Revolution

The not-so-gentle touch

CRIME

Popular currency

Money: A Story of Humanity by David

Healing words

The History of Medicine in Twelve Objects

DIARY HISTORY COOKBOOK CITIES

TV Power plays Jane Seymour (Kate Phillips) enjoys

EXHIBITIONS

Picasso: Printmaker The British Museum, London / 7

RADIO HIGHLIGHTS

Hot topics

Tudor snow

RECIPE

Venice in five places

Once the capital of a trading empire and now a tourist hotspot, the city of canals can still surprise. ELIZABETH HORODOWICH picks five hidden gems to visit

PRIZE CROSSWORD

Across 7 See 27 down 9 Hedy

NEXT MONTH

For the love of God Diarmaid MacCulloch explores

A medieval murder mystery

Gordon McKelvie delves into the still unexplained killing

Pooches past

EVONNE SUMMERS/GETTY IMAGES/ALAMY Chris Pearson picks out five

Reasons to be cheerful

Katie Barclay draws on centuries of history to

The greatest Briton?

On Churchill’s 150th birthday, David Reynolds reflects on

Books of the Year

A group of Britain’s best-known historians highlight their

Robert Peel

Former Conservative party leader Iain Duncan Smith chooses

THE ROYAL MINT

royalmint.com

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historyextra.com

HISTORY EXTRA ACADEMY

historyextra.com/victorian-life

Make their legacy your legacy

OUR DOCTORS SAVE LIVES. SO CAN YOUR WILL.

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PODCAST

Discover London's Crowning Glory

'Magnificent ... A monumental achievement'

ABTA

TITANIC