Medmenham: Spying from the Sky
Taylor Downing tells the story of the Central Interpretation Unit at Medmenham, Buckinghamshire, where the RAF’s aerial photo interpreters played a critical role in Britain’s wartime struggle.
Taylor Downing
Obituary: Professor Richard Holmes
Taylor Downing offers a tribute to the military historian who was a television natural.
TV History: Requiem or Resurrection?
Taylor Downing, one of the review judges of the recent History Today Grierson Trust award for best historical documentary, discusses this year’s entries and the current state of history on the small screen.
Churchill: Cometh the Finest Hour
In May 1940, Winston Churchill replaced Neville Chamberlain as prime minister. But the great war leader’s rise to power was far from inevitable. Taylor Downing explains what a difference a day made.
Screen Saviours: History on Television
From A.J.P. Taylor’s mesmerising lectures in front of a black backdrop to technicolour Civilisation and the ground-breaking World At War, Taylor Downing looks at the early days of history on television.
Under the Mushroom Cloud
The Cold War has become this year’s hot media topic. Taylor Downing welcomes the chance to look more critically at the era of ‘mutually assured destruction’.
Auschwitz: The Forgotten Evidence
On January 27th, 1945, the Red Army liberated what was left of the Auschwitz extermination camp. Taylor Downing reveals extraordinary aerial photographs of the camp taken during the summer of 1944, which pose awkward questions about why the Allies did not act to stop the killing.
The Great War
Taylor Downing reviews two new books on the cultural history of the First World War.
The Great War: Television History Revisited
Taylor Downing recalls the BBC series The Great War.