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WELCOME

This month, as millions of people across the globe receive

YOUR ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO THE HISTORY OF MEDICINE

The world’s ongoing battle against Covid-19 has been a sobering

EVERYTHING YOU WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT THE HISTORY OF MEDICINE

Professor Mary Fissell answers key questions on healthcare of the past

MEDICINE IN ANCIENT TIMES

People may have believed the body was made up of the four humours and prescribed mercury at will, but that didn’t mean there were no ancient medical advances

MEDICINE IN MEDIEVAL TIMES

The Catholic church had a profound influence on the care of patients during the Middle Ages – but the West was also turning to the Islamic world for inspiration

6 SURPRISING FACTS ABOUT THE HISTORY OF MEDICINE

How did people in the past treat illness, injury and disease? Caroline Rance shares a selection of remarkable case studies from around the globe – from the first general anaesthetic to early caesareans and medicinal leeches

A MEDICAL RENAISSANCE?

The end of the medieval period heralded an age of medical discovery, where physicians challenged accepted theories and explored new medical substances from around the world

HEALTHCARE IN 18TH-CENTURY BRITAIN

Surgery and care for the poor improved, while pioneering preventative treatments helped combat a killer disease

VICTORIAN MEDICINE

The 19th century paved the way for many of the modern medical practices that continue to benefit us today

10 GIANT LEAPS IN 20TH-CENTURY MEDICINE

The 20th century arguably witnessed more seismic medical breakthroughs than any other period of history. A deeper understanding of science allied to a growing number of technological advances helped to eradicate certain diseases, and limit the spread of others, resulting in vastly improved life expectancy across the world compared to a hundred years earlier

MASTERS OF DISGUISE

As the Allies pushed through Europe at the end of World War II, they needed a secret weapon to stay ahead of the German war machine. Gavin Mortimer tells the story of the ‘Ghost Army’ – a talented band of artists and engineers who created the ultimate distraction

THE PIRATE QUEEN OF IRELAND

Biographer Anne Chambers helps Emma Slattery Williams uncover the true story of Ireland’s remarkable pirate queen, Grace O’Malley

WHAT IF... JULIUS CAESAR HAD NOT BEEN ASSASSINATED?

Jonny Wilkes talks to Professor Barry Strauss about how Caesar could have survived the Ides of March and why it may not have affected the move from republic to empire anyway

SNAPSHOTS

The streets of Chinatown in Manhattan, New York, burst into

THINGS WE LEARNED THIS MONTH....

RECENT HISTORY HEADLINES THAT CAUGHT OUR EYE

Genealogist and house historian

I first became interested in genealogy as a teenager when

THE GREAT MORMON MIGRATION

In the icy grip of winter, a thin line of

The Irish Republican Army

The Irish Republican Army (IRA) is the name that has

Q&A YOU ASK, WE ANSWER

HISTORY’S GREATEST CONUNDRUMS AND MYSTERIES SOLVED

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....

In the year 1349, England is being ravaged by plague

LETTERS

In Daniel Todman’s recent Q&A on the home front (Christmas,

ROBERTA COWELL 1954

Racing driver and WWII Spitfire pilot Roberta Cowell was the