History Extra

BBC History Magazine aims to shed new light on the past to help you make more sense of the world today. Fascinating stories from contributors are the leading experts in their fields, so whether they're exploring Ancient Egypt, Tudor England or the Second World War, you'll be reading the latest, most thought-provoking historical research. BBC History Magazine brings history to life with informative, lively and entertaining features written by the world's leading historians and journalists and is a captivating read for anyone who's interested in the past.

WELCOME

THREE THINGS THAT CAUGHT MY EYE

ANNIVERSARIES • DANNY BIRD highlights events that took place in January in history

Six scandals that rocked the royals • At a time when the royal family is under significant strain, historians shine a spotlight on some of the biggest crises to have enveloped the British monarchy over the past three centuries

Scholars have applied models used in genetic research to Homer's Iliad

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Underfloor heating signalled Roman ingenuity and luxury • The hypocaust - the Roman air-based heating system - was a status symbol as well as a show of engineering prowess

Martin Luther condemned the German Peasants’ War • With his ideas of equality, the radical theologian inspired ordinary people to rise up against rulers and clerics - then denounced them

For Frederick Douglass, escape didn't bring freedom from fear • Having fled enslavement in the American South, the man who became an abolitionist figurehead continued to dread capture

Vikings evolved very differently in eastern Europe and Iceland • Scandinavians exploring Baltic and Slavic regions developed a strategy and culture distinct from those who settled in the north Atlantic

HIDDEN HISTORIES • KAVITA PURI on the power of personal and public archives

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History Extra

Menace in the Mediterranean • Killing, burning, pillaging, enslaving. Even when heading to sunnier climes, Viking raiders deployed the same tactics that they had used along the shores of northern and western Europe, reveals Thomas Williams

Doña Gracia A leader of Europe's Jewish diaspora • With the Inquisition active throughout much of Europe, the first half of the 16th century was a perilous time for Jewish people. ANDRÉE AELION BROOKS explores how the fabulously wealthy Doña Gracia worked tirelessly to protect her community

Who is the most overrated person in history? • In the first of a new monthly series, we asked an expert team of historians to tackle one of the big questions about the past

BACK FROM THE DEAD • Britain's War Office thanked the SAS for its remarkable efforts in WW2 by abolishing it – yet soon realised the error of its ways. Gavin Mortimer tells the story of how the elite unit reinvented itself to confront the challenges of the postwar world

CLONE WARS • Countries worldwide have established forces based on the British SAS template

CONQUEST? WHAT CONQUEST? • 1066 is synonymous with the battle of Hastings. Yet while Duke William was launching his conquest of England, the rest of Europe had its own crises to contend with. Charles West takes us on a tour of the continent during a dramatic year

EUROPEAN DRAMA • A whistle-stop tour of the continent in 1066

Q&A • A selection of historical conundrums answered by experts

Humble heroes • Statues celebrate monarchs, rulers and conquerors - but who remembers the brave folk who gave their lives to save others? Anna Maria Barry recounts stories of self-sacrificing but otherwise ordinary people from the 19th and 20th centuries who are commemorated in one London park

At the turn of the 12th century, two men from a...