This Month's Magazine
In the May edition of History Today, Michael Paris looks at how a boom in Boy’s Own adventure stories reinforced Britain’s imperial mission in the Middle East, both endorsing and glamorising efforts to control the region between the wars.
Also in this issue:
- Nigel Richardson examines early attempts to understand the rich culture of the Maya;
- Paul Reynolds tells the story of the Polish financier, Jan Bloch, who predicted the industrial horrors of the First World War;
- Helen Szamuely looks at the first diplomatic relationships between England and Russia;
- Richard Overy warns historians against misusing the word ‘Nazi’;
- Stephen Cooper argues that we must stop using the word 'medieval' pejoratively;
- and Richard Weight looks at the surprisingly rebellious history of fashion.
The May issue is out now. You can buy it in shops (here is a list of UK stockists) or subscribe today and save 20% on the cover price, or download the digital edition for iPad, Android tablet, Kindle Fire or PC / Mac.
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Main Features
Few foresaw the horror of the First World War. The financier Jan Bloch did and he outlined his vision to Britain’s military establishment, as Paul Reynolds explains.
Britain’s loss of Singapore in February 1942 was a terrible blow. But Japan failed to make the most of its prize, says Malcolm Murfett.
The earliest explorers to uncover the ancient Maya civilisation in Central America could not believe that it owed its creation to the indigenous population, whom they saw as incapable savages. Nigel Richardson explains how this view changed.
Trade was the impetus for early contacts between Russia and England, though each country had its own view of how the relationship should function. Helen Szamuely examines the first two centuries of Russian embassies to London.
Of humble origins, Rodrigo Calderón became a key figure at the court of Philip III of Spain. Notorious in life, he gained dignity and immortality in death, as Santiago Martínez Hernández explains.
Stephen Cooper argues that we should resist using ‘medieval’ as another word for backward. The 15th century, in particular, was a time of remarkable progress and enlightenment.
Britain’s involvement in the Middle East between the wars proved a rich seam for authors of adventure stories. Michael Paris shows how these, in turn, helped to reinforce the imperial mission.
History Matters
Bayreuth has much for which to thank Richard Wagner, but the determination of a Prussian princess to create something out of her dull and provincial 18th-century marriage helped make the city the place it is today, says Adrian Mourby.
In the 1800s Rome became a microcosm for great power rivalries. E.L. Devlin describes a case of ambassadorial privilege that caused controversy between the papacy and the king of France.
The indiscriminate use of ‘Nazi’ to describe anything to do with German institutions and policies during Hitler’s dictatorship creates a false historical understanding, says Richard Overy.
Mihir Bose recalls a classic case highlighting the problems with Britain’s antiquated libel laws.
Other articles
Richard Weight reassesses Quentin Bell’s 1951 article on the morality of fashion, which anticipated the enormous social and stylistic changes of the 1960s.
The French chanteur was born on May 18th, 1913.
The ruthless archbishop died on May 15th, AD 913.
In the latest of his occasional surveys of historical fiction, Jerome de Groot casts a critical eye on the often disparaged genre of romance.
Roger Hudson looks at an episode that inspired one of the greatest films ever made.
A selection of readers' correspondence with the editor, Paul Lay.
The great Confederate commander was fatally wounded at Chancellorsville on May 2nd, 1863.
The Whig interpretation of the past is a moral fable more akin to theology than history, argues Tim Stanley.
Reviews
An ambitious book outlines the circumstances in which history was produced, the objects it was intended to serve and the changing forms it took.
The story of Valentine Greatrakes, whose "miraculous" healing powers wowed restoration Britain.
A new book on the battle is full of "contortions, omissions, misconceptions, mistakes and absurdities", argues Marc Morris.
William Dalrymple's account of the first Anglo-Afghan war misses the big picture, argues David Loyn.
How the Third Reich used Leonardo, Shakespeare, Martin Luther and others to bring a veneer of intellectual credibility to underpin its ideology.
The psychic life of a nation told through private grief.
A new book shines a fresh light on the famous sea battles of the era of Nelson and Napoleon.
‘A surprise every tenth page, a shock every twentieth’: the working life of serial writer Herbert Allingham.
We label Oliver Cromwell as a Roundhead and Prince Rupert as a Cavalier, but what of the conscripts who fought on both sides?
