December 2019

Expert history articles from the December 2019 issue of BBC History Magazine

The Parnethon, Athens

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How to build a democracy (Athenian-style). This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Michael Wood on a controversial term“As a racism row rumbles on, is it time to retire the term ‘Anglo-Saxon’?”. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

One of many historic sites in Luxembourg. Larochette's castle dominates the town below.

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Travel toLuxembourg: rural beauty and Gothic grandeur. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

'Yorktown' sustains a hit during the battle of Midway. The US aircraft carrier sank three days later but, by then, the Japanese had accepted that their attempt to land a war-winning blow had failed. (Photo by © CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images)

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How miraculous was the battle of Midway?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Black and white image of Russian soldiers using a canon

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Trial by fire: how a fortress siege changed the course of World War One. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Historian Nichola Tallis

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“Margaret Beaufort wielded enormous power. She was a queen in all but name”: Nicola Tallis on the mother of the Tudors. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

The footprint of Old Sarum cathedral

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ExploreOld Sarum: the regal and the rotten. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A c1860 depiction of Wentworth Works steel manufacturer in Sheffield

Victorian

Why Britain punched above its weight

Tutankhamun's blue and gold funerary mask

Ancient Egypt

Tutankhamun unmasked: 7 intriguing truths about the pharaoh and his treasures

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6 novels that captured life in Britain. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A contemporary portrait of scientist Ada Lovelace

Victorian

History heroKonnie Huq chooses Ada Lovelace (1815–52)

A wooden cross marks the spot, just over 20 miles west of Newcastle, where Oswald apparently raised his own cross before ambushing Cadwallon. If the Anglo-Saxon warlord's attack had failed, writes Edoardo Albert, England might now be a lot smaller. (Photo by Getty Images)

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Hell in Heavenfield: the Anglo-Saxon battle "as important as Hastings". This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.