BBC History Magazine

In this month's Explore piece I was interested to discover that several notable artworks – including Van Gogh's Sunflowers – were spirited out of London to Muncaster Castle to keep them safe during the Second World War (page 84). I was fascinated to

“Sometimes it takes a scandal for progress to be made. I'm sure you can think of examples from recent times, and the same was true in the Victorian era. Whether it was conditions in workhouses, prostitution, or the treatment of domestic servants, it

“When you are taught Africa's history in a certain way, through the eyes of the conqueror, you get a very different history than from listening to the accounts of those on the receiving end.” Zeinab discusses her new book on African history – told fr

I MET UP WITH A CHINESE FRIEND THE OTHER day at the British Library. What better place to reflect on human history as told through its literature? From Michelangelo and Leonardo, to the Ma'il Qur'an and the Codex Sinaiticus; from Jane Austen and Geor

INDIA HAS JUST CLINCHED A LANDMARK DEAL with the European Free Trade Association, which it says will result in some tens of billions of pounds of investment in the country. Prime minister Narendra Modi, whose Bharatiya Janata Party is currently campa

Editor Rob Attar robertattar@historyextra.com Deputy editor Matt Elton mattelton@historyextra.com Senior production editor Spencer Mizen Production editor Jon Bauckham Staff writer Danny Bird Picture editor Samantha Nott samnott@historyextra.com Art

Danny Bird: You've written a rich and fascinating history of Africa spanning a vast sweep of cultures, regions, personalities and centuries. Did you seek out any particular stories or narratives in preparation for this book? Zeinab Badawi: When I set

On 19 November 1316, a four-day-old baby died. This was not an unusual occurrence in medieval France, but the loss of this particular infant was a constitutional disaster as well as a personal tragedy. That's because he was King John I, the last in t

Here's a book that turns the history of music on its head, beginning in the present day before burrowing back through the layers of time to our forefathers, Australopithecus, somewhere between two and four million years ago. As an archaeologist, musi

Books about the gulag have overwhelmingly focused on excavating the stories of those imprisoned in the Soviet Union's vast labour camp system from the 1930s to the 1950s. Or, they have set about uncovering the individuals responsible for the sufferin

Joad R Wren (pictured) discusses All the Colours You Cannot Name, his tale of love and loss in the plague-afflicted London of 1666 This is your first novel. Were there parallels with writing historical non-fiction, or did the process surprise you? Th

On Saturday 29 August 1835, John Berkshire, a “respectable tradesman”, squeezed into a small loft, removed a loose tile and peered into the room of his lodger, one William Bonell. Berkshire was shocked at what he saw and, hurriedly squirming from the

Your Invention of… series looks at how history has made nations what they are today. Why did you choose to focus on China in these latest episodes? After 30 years of US domination, the last 15 years have seen the so-called multipolar world emerge. Bu

Depicted in everything from medieval coats of arms to modern corporate logos, the griffin has been capturing people's imaginations for more than 5,000 years. Drawing on a wealth of historical sources, AL McClanan's new book examines the origins of th

Across 1 Regicide 5 Sousa 9 Bruce 10 Suetonius 11 Rosa Parks 12 Munda 13 Sparta 15 Paul Nash 17 Marianne 19 Rocket 22 Gupta 24 Clothilde 26 Allotment 27 Aisne 28 Anson 29 Matthias Down 1 Roberts 2 Gauls 3 Cleopatra 4/5 Desert Storm 6 Union Jack 7 Ans