"I’m giving away my age here but Michael Wood’s In Search of the Dark Ages is as old as I am – published in 1981 to coincide with his landmark BBC TV series. In the years since, it’s never been out of print, and now Michael has produced an updated version that reflects all the discoveries and new thinking of the past four decades. For this month’s issue he’s highlighted some of the most interesting of these developments in a piece that begins on page 42.
Another of Britain’s great popular historians appearing in this month’s magazine is Antony Beevor, who is world-renowned for his narratives of Second World War battles and campaigns. For his latest book, Antony has headed back two decades to explore the history of the 1917 Russian revolutions and the civil war that followed in their wake.
I had the chance to interview him about the book recently and that forms the basis of our cover feature, on page 50. It’s a story that had a profound impact on the subsequent century, and many of the areas fought over then have sadly become battlegrounds again in recent months.
Lastly, I’d like to highlight a piece that’s much closer to home – right in the front of it in fact. Like me, you probably give little thought to the door that guards the entrance to your house or flat, but these objects can offer a range of insights into British society.