“The symbolism of the royal promise still means something today”

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BBC History Magazine is Britain’s bestselling history magazine. We feature leading historians writing lively and thought-provoking new takes on the great events of the past.

WELCOME MAY 2023

“When Queen Elizabeth II was crowned in June

THIS ISSUE’S CONTRIBUTORS

Blessin Adams OUR COVER IMAGES SHOW: ST EDWARD’S

ANNIVERSARIES

HELEN CARR highlights events that took place in May in history

Two schoolgirls blow up a Soviet war monument

8 MAY 1946

Joan of Arc is burned at the stake

30 MAY 1431

Spencer Perceval is assassinated in the House of Commons

11 MAY 1812

The Antikythera mechanism is identified as an ancient computer

17 MAY 1902

“Many, if not most, Nazi analogies are historically inaccurate, to put it mildly”

In March, leading sports presenter Gary Lineker was suspended by the BBC for a tweet likening UK government rhetoric to that of 1930s Germany. RICHARD J EVANS argues that such comparisons risk eroding the full horror of history and the experiences of those involved

HISTORY NEWS IN BRIEF

Roman “shrine” found near Leicester Cathedral The broken

“Patriarchal systems have existed in Europe for thousands of years – but in other parts of the world they are very new”

GENDER HISTORY

“Contradictory emotions about partition pass down generations”

KAVITA PURI explores lesser-known stories from our past

A man for all seasons

LETTER OF THE MONTH

What is the world’s oldest continuous democracy?

A selection of historical conundrums answered by experts

Did a Great Dane really receive a medal in the Second World War for putting out an incendiary bomb?

Juliana the Great Dane in 1941. She received

How did people stay dry before raincoats were invented?

ILLUSTRATION BY @GLENMCILLUSTRATION Perhaps the oldest example of

DID YOU KNOW…?

Stay of execution In November 1740, 17-year-old William

Masters of ceremonies

Henry III believed that spectacle elevated him into the sphere of the sacred. Elizabeth I used it to emphasise her Protestant credentials. And Queen Victoria turned it into a celebration of her imperial might. As King Charles III prepares for his coronation, ALICE HUNT reveals how generations of British monarchs have used pomp and pageantry to project power

How to and how not stage a coronation

What separates a crowning success from a right royal fiasco? Drawing on a thousand years of Britain’s coronations, Tracy Borman offers her dos and don’ts for pulling off the ceremony without a hitch

KALEIDOSCOPIC NATION

Amid the darkness of economic hardship and state-sponsored fear, East Germany could also be a society of opportunity and hope. Katja Hoyer profiles some of the people whose stories bring this full, complex picture to life

AN APPETITE FOR POWER

Wine, song and the finest food money could buy made medieval feasts a highlight of the courtly calendar. Yet more often than not, writes Charlotte Palmer, a thirst for influence and prestige lay behind the carousing

TUDOR LONDON : A GLOBAL CITY

During the 16th century, London opened its doors to a diverse cast of newcomers, from Moroccan ambassadors to Native American chiefs. Jerry Brotton reveals how foreign visitors shaped the Tudor capital

SINISTER PLOTS. SHADOWY CABALS. TRAITORS AT THE HEART OF GOVERNMENT.

Why have conspiracy theories predicting military coups and puppetmaster financiers gripped the political imagination for more than a century? Phil Tinline investigates…

In 1658, a Norfolk gentleman named Ralph Suckey thought he’d got away with murder… …until he was attacked by a flock of crows

People in Tudor and Stuart England believed that, while God could not prevent humanity’s greatest crimes, he could reveal their perpetrators via miraculous signs. Blessin Adams explains how bird attacks, ghostly apparitions and bleeding corpses led to convictions for murder

BOOKS

EUROPEAN “Events here ‘pulse more vigorously or have

“The 1848 uprisings were a dissonant orchestra of ambitions and intentions”

CHRISTOPHER CLARK

Quest for a queen

ANCIENT BRITAIN

The pain in Spain

James Hynes on Sparrow, his novel following the travails of an enslaved boy in an ancient Roman city on the Iberian peninsula

Red dawn

RICHARD OVERY is impressed by a comprehensive history of the changing relationship between two states that became the great superpowers of Eurasia

Central intelligence

JONATHAN KWAN is swept along by a colourful and authoritative exploration of Europe’s geographic heartland

THE CLASSIC BOOK

Joanne Paul on a masterful study of a controversial Tudor statesman and saint

Steppe changes

PETER HOMMEL is critical of some of the conclusions presented in a new study of the nomadic warriors of the central Eurasian steppe

Georgian glamour

VISIT

Dazzling decadence

VISIT

A fragile peace

WATCH

Royal romance

WATCH

Historical lessons

LISTEN

“The die store covers 150 years of work – from military badges to FA Cup medals to bus conductors’ buttons”

HISTORY ON THE BOX

Coronation chicken

TASTE

A new life down under

WATCH

Preserving the past

WATCH

Fateful choice

WATCH

Sirens and she-devils

Our podcast editor ELLIE CAWTHORNE discusses a recent episode that introduces a sinister cast of female monsters – and explores how they reflected old fears

THREE HISTORY EXTRA PODCASTS EXPLORING MYTHS AND MONSTERS

Misogyny in myths The Greek myths have been

A mighty northern port

Eurovision might be turning the international spotlight on Liverpool in 2023, but this waterfront city has for centuries had a global outlook. YORK MEMBERY explores its maritime history and musical heritage

Berlin in five places

The German capital is a city of constant reinvention, but its past is never far away. RORY MACLEAN highlights places to visit for key insights into Berlin’s tangled story

PRIZE CROSSWORD

Across 1 Joseph ____, US senator notorious for

NEXT MONTH

June issue on sale 11 May 2023

Michael Collins

Astronaut Chris Hadfield chooses

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