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DECEMBER 2021

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THINGS WE LEARNED THIS MONTH...

RECENT HISTORY HEADLINES THAT CAUGHT OUR EYE

Head of conservation at Lincoln Cathedral

MEET THE PEOPLE BRINGING THE PAST TO LIFE

The Second Great Fire of London

ANNIVERSARIES THAT HAVE MADE HISTORY

PARANORMAL COLD CASE

INVESTIGATING HISTORY’S MOST SPINE-CHILLING ENCOUNTERS

The Persian Immortals

YOUR BRIEF EXPLAINER TO HISTORY’S HOT TOPICS

George Orwell’s visions of dystopia

THE LIVES OF HISTORY’S MOST FAMOUS FIGURES

Q& A YOU ASK, WE ANSWER

HISTORY’S GREATEST CONUNDRUMS AND MYSTERIES SOLVED

TV, FILM & RADIO

THE LATEST DOCUMENTARIES, BLOCKBUSTERS AND PERIOD DRAMAS

EVENTS & EXHIBITIONS

WHAT TO SEE AND WHERE TO VISIT IN THE WIDER WORLD OF HISTORY

BOOKS & PODCASTS

THIS MONTH’S BEST HISTORICAL READS AND LISTENS

HISTORICAL FICTION...

FELIX CLAY X1 Sharpe’s Assassin By Bernard Cornwell HarperCollins,

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TEST YOURSELF WITH OUR HISTORICAL PUZZLE EVERY ISSUE

THE MEDIEVAL CHURCH

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PHOTO FINISH

ARRESTING IMAGES FROM THE ANNALS OF THE PAST

THE GOLDEN AGE OF PIRACY

SHUTTERSTOCK X2, GETTY IMAGES X3 PODCAST Dr Rebecca

A CENTURY OF TERROR

The key moments during piracy’s ‘golden age’, when the seas became a playground for criminals seeking quick fortunes

EVERYTHING YOU WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT THE GOLDEN AGE OF PIRACY

Dr Rebecca Simon answers key questions about an era when bands of buccaneers menaced the high seas

PRIVATEERS, BUCCANEERS, AND CORSAIRS

During the Age of Sail, one man’s privateer was another man’s pirate. But what was the legal difference?

6 DESPICABLE PIRATES FROM HISTORY

As international trade burgeoned in the age of colonial expansion, valuable cargoes were transported across the globe, providing vast opportunities for piracy. Eric Jay Dolin presents six of history’s most despicable seafarers, from the ports of the American colonies to the Indian Ocean

PARTNERS IN CRIME

Dr Rebecca Simon explores the lives of Anne Bonny and Mary Read – the deadly female pirate duo who plundered their way to infamy

QUEEN ANNE’S REVENGE

The grand flagship of Blackbeard’s fleet was almost as infamous as its notorious captain

HISTORY’S BIGGEST PIRATE MYTHS

Dr Rebecca Simon debunks six common tropes and misconceptions about pirates and their swashbuckling ways

TURNING THE TIDE

As vicious criminals plundered the seas, sailors were required to become pirate hunters in a bid to bring offenders to justice – and, ultimately, the gallows

CAPTAIN WILLIAM KIDD: PIRATE OR SCAPEGOAT?

How one man went from hunter to hunted

MUSLIM RULERS OF THE WAVES

Long before the days of Blackbeard and Anne Bonny, a very different type of pirate was wreaking havoc at sea

BRITAIN’S COASTAL CRISIS

The maxim “Britons never will be slaves” wouldn’t have been accurate during the corsairs’ terrifying heyday

GET HOOKED

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

RAS PRINCE MONOLULU TIPSTER, SHOWMAN, RADICAL

If you went to the races in interwar Britain, there was a good chance you would have spotted an excitable ‘African prince’ in the crowd, offering the latest tips. But who was he? Sonia Grant delves into the remarkable life and career of the country’s first black television star

TUDOR ENGLAND THROUGH THE FIVE SENSES

From crowing cockerels to pungent public toilets, Amy Licence reveals the myriad of sights, sounds, smells, tastes and physical encounters that defined life during the 16th century

WHAT IF... GERMANY HADN’T UNIFIED IN 1871?

Jonny Wilkes talks to the historian Katja Hoyer about whether or not German unification – and, consequently, some of the most important events in modern European history – would have happened were it not for ‘Iron Chancellor’ Otto von Bismarck