The polymath as statesman

WELCOME

APRIL 2022 "Shortly before we went to press

THIS ISSUE’S CONTRIBUTORS

Marisa Linton “The French Revolution was founded on

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Q&A

A selection of historical conundrums answered by experts

NEWS COMMENT ANNIVERSARIES

The 5,000-year-old drumshaped artefact is thought to have

TALKING POINTS

The long, long 19th century

Immigration to Orkney “dominated by women”

Neolithic houses in Orkney, built over 5,000 years

HISTORY IN THE NEWS

A selection of the stories hitting the history headlines

"Russian nationalists have always felt betrayed by Ukraine"

There is nothing new about the tensions between Russia and Ukraine. Ukrainians have been trying to disentangle themselves from Russia for more than a century, but it has always refused to let go

ANNIVERSARIES

HELEN CARR highlights events that took place in April in history

WHY WE SHOULD REMEMBER…

30 APRIL 1952 The translation of Anne Frank’s

"The Arthur myth is British-Celtic history as people dreamed it was"

WHY MY THOLOGY PREVAILS OVER REALITY Michael Wood

LETTERS

An 18th-century portrait of Lady Montagu, whose scientific

1942 CHURCHILL’S DARKEST HOUR

If 1940 was the year in which Winston Churchill’s reputation was forged, 1942 was the one in which it was almost destroyed. Taylor Downing chronicles a terrible period for the prime minister – both on the battlefield and in the court of public opinion

THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF BRITAIN

Charles I was dead, Oliver Cromwell was on the rise, and a nation was grappling with a strange new reality – one without a monarchy. Anna Keay tells the story of the 1650s, through the eyes of three of the people who helped shape Britain’s republican decade

"We decide for ourselves who we think we are – and museums are central to that"

In his new BBC Radio 4 series, curator and broadcaster Neil MacGregor explores the changing role of Britain’s museums. He explains to Matt Elton why these venues are more vital now than ever

How Napoleon (almost) destroyed the French Revolution

The Corsican general proclaimed himself a defender of republican ideals – while doing all he could to dismantle them

AN ISLAND MYSTERY

Three centuries ago, when European explorers first sighted the Pacific island of Rapa Nui, it was home to a thriving population and hundreds of haunting moai statues. But, within a few generations, the landscape was decimated and its population in sharp decline. So what happened? Cat Jarman untangles

“Mary Seacole never aspired to be a pioneer of women’s nursing. It is only in recent decades that we have invested her with this status”

Helen Rappaport, who has spent 20 years researching Mary Seacole’s life, argues that the Jamaican healer’s transformation into a modern cultural icon has obscured the real woman

Mirroring multicultural Britain

From its inception the BBC has featured entertainers of colour, but they were often reduced to “exotic” attractions. DAVID HENDY explores how the corporation tried to include diverse voices, from the 1930s to the postwar years

BOOKS

TUDOR “Hunter o ers a tantalising glimpse into

“Suleyman was just as bellicose as his father, if not as gratuitously cruel”

CHRISTOPHER DE BELLAIGUE talks to Rhiannon Davies about his book charting the early years of Suleyman the Magnificent’s reign, when the sultan had to navigate the deadly machinations of the Ottoman court as well as battle Christian powers

The brutish empire

IMPERIAL

One minute to midnight

JOHN FM CLARK appraises a hard-hitting study of contemporary climate change, exploring how science, business and public perception have become dangerously misaligned

Stitch in time

NICOLA TALLIS commends a bold biography of Mary, Queen of Scots that uses textiles to tell the doomed monarch’s story

Courage under occupation

SECOND WORLD WAR

Inside the ivory tower

Not Far From Brideshead: Oxford Between the Wars

Set in stone

The Castle: A History by John Goodall Yale,

The monarchy’s masterpieces

DIARY: VISIT / WATCH / LISTEN / TASTE

Eastern treasures

An astonishing 62-plate samurai helmet, made in 1537,

Memories of war

Forty years ago this April, British forces sailed

Gang stars

Some of the real “Peaky Blinders”, gang members

HISTORY ON THE AIRWAVES

“It’s important to document ordinary lives as well as the changing political and social context”

HISTORY COOKBOOK

This traditional tart makes a perfect Easter breakfast

Stony splendour

EXPLORE… THE SHELDONIAN THEATRE, OXFORD

Parliaments, paintings and power

TRAVEL TO… THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS

PRIZE CROSSWORD

Across 1 More than 60 ____ have

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