Indholdsfortegnelse for February 2025 i History Extra

“What is the greatest ever historical film? There is no objectively correct answer to this question, of course, but we thought it would be fun to ask some of our favourite historians to nominate the 100 movies they rate the most highly. We subsequently polled our website users on this list and in this month's issue we reveal what you voted as the top 20 (the full list is available on historyextra.com). You can find that on page 11, along with expert analysis by historians Alex von Tunzelmann and Roger Luckhurst. I have no doubt that you will have your own strong views on this, so please do write in with your thoughts. Historical films are often a gateway to digging deeper into the past and Steve McQueen's recent Blitz…

“Nothing matches being with Alexander the Great on foot in the Hindu Kush” AT OUR LITTLE FILM COMPANY, MAYA VISION, we recently took the decision to digitise all of the rushes of our key films so that we could dispose of hundreds of boxes of tapes that had been kept in storage, throwing out stuff we thought we would never need again. There were even cans of 16mm film that we can't even play anymore, having given our Steenbeck flatbed editing suite to a film school years ago. We've been making films for 40 years so, unsurprisingly, looking through all of that material over the past few weeks, the office became a kind of memory room. I have always been a great believer in filming on location: where things actually…

20 June 1389 Mary de Bohun, wife of Henry Bolingbroke, Earl of Derby, gives birth to her third son, probably at Kenilworth Castle. He is named after his paternal grandfather, John of Gaunt. 30 September 1399 John's father is proclaimed King Henry IV (right) after deposing his cousin Richard II. 1403 In the aftermath of the battle of Shrewsbury on 21 July, John is appointed Warden of the East March, aged just 14, marking the beginning of his military training. 1414 At the second parliament of his oldest brother, Henry V (right), John is made Duke of Bedford and Earl of Kendal. October 1422 Just weeks after Henry V's death, John takes up the office of regent of France. May 1423 John marries Anne, younger sister of Philip, Duke of…

More ink has been spilt about Messiah than any of Handel's other works. Most authors rehash old chestnuts of dodgy provenance about its rapid initial composition (1741) and Dublin premiere (1742) that, albeit appealing or entertaining, were debunked by scholars long ago. Often unreliable perceptions betray insufficient understanding of Handel's complex career, his prodigious musical output across many genres, and crucial documentary evidence. Though neither a Handel specialist nor a trained historical musicologist, Charles King's generous acknowledgements and extensive bibliography indicate that he researched the subject diligently. His structure, divided into three parts (‘Portents’, ‘Sorrows and Grief’ and ‘Resurrection’), echoes the organisation of the libretto, which is itself included as an appendix, reproducing the content and typography of the printed wordbook that was corrected in 1743 under the supervision of…

The BBC's archives reveal one senior insider describing the shipping forecast as “an unwelcome intrusion”. And in a closing chapter of her new book, author Meg Clothier imagines a BBC Radio 4 figure as a philistine, opining: “The Shipping Forecast isn't a poem, it's a weather bulletin.” Yet most Radio 4 announcers would disagree. “It's not just a question of reading a list of words,” one said. “You really have to let it flow through you.” It's her voice, her rhythms of speech, that burnish raw data into blank verse – something she embraces. The forecast's daily incantations are here a “slipway” to an extended meditation on seafaring and weather. A classicist by training, Clothier steers us briskly and confidently through the musings of writers and musicians ranging from Horace,…

Iconic: Portraiture from Francis Bacon to Andy Warhol Holburne Museum, Bath / 24 January–5 May / holburne.org Showcasing 20th-century portraiture by artists such as Francis Bacon, Andy Warhol and Peter Blake, and including rarely seen pieces, this exhibition explores how their work was inspired by photography. The displays reflect on identity, fame, nostalgia and the passage of time through a unique cultural lens. Making Egypt Young V&A, Bethnal Green, London / 15 February-2 November / vam.ac.uk Explore ancient Egypt as never before at Young V&A this month. The exhibition roams 5,500 years of creativity through diverse displays of design, fashion, comics and film, alongside historic treasures and contemporary artworks such as the ‘Nu’ shabti (left) by Zahed Tajeddin. Young visitors are encouraged to delve into Egypt's epic myths, crack the…

Highgate Cemetery isn't in London – it is London. It stands for the city in its splendour, its tangible history and, most of all, because it is a place of story. Some of the capital's most dramatic lives have their full-stops here. You might, for example, follow the example of many visitors and head straight to the east part of the cemetery and the tomb of Karl Marx, with its great leonine bust (left). Or you could follow a winding path into the trees through the western side and seek the grave of Lizzie Siddal, the artist and model whom John Everett Millais painted as the drowned Ophelia, and who died in 1862, aged just 32. When she was exhumed seven years later so that her husband, Dante Gabriel Rossetti,…

1. Another USA I was fascinated to read, in Tamar Herzog's review of the new book Patria, that in the early 19th century there was a plan to create a united states of South America, encompassing the former Spanish colonies on the continent (page 72). 2. Winter wonder In this month's Anniversaries entry on the 1814 London frost fair, I was interested to learn that one of the event's highlights involved an elephant walking across the frozen river (page 7). 3. Lemon-aid There are so many intriguing details in Martha McGill's piece on early modern divination, among them the fact that people used to rub lemon peels on their bedposts to determine if they were likely to get married (page 57).…

“After the end of a brutal dictatorship, trauma can take generations to heal” MAZEN AL-HAMADA WAS A SYMBOL FOR THE tens of thousands who were brutally tortured, raped and killed during the regime of the former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad. Detained and abused following the 2011 uprising against that dictator, al-Hamada was released in 2013 and granted asylum in the Netherlands a year later. He travelled around western countries, filling lecture halls and telling lawmakers about the unbearable things that had happened to him in prison. He bore witness, hoping for action – but also so no one could say they did not know. When he took part in the documentary Syria's Disappeared: The Case Against Assad, which was broadcast on Channel 4 in 2017, its director Sara Afshar asked…

This isn't a light read, clocking in at 864 densely printed pages. But it's worth the investment. It's a history of the late 18th and early 19th centuries in England – decades defined by the upheavals of the French and industrial revolutions – as told from the perspective of the printers, weavers and other assorted artisans who lived through those tumultuous events. Thompson argues that, under the influence of the writings of Thomas Paine and the autodidact culture of Methodism, and in reaction to technological change and government repression, these artisans gained a new sense of their relationship to the social structure in the early 19th century, becoming conscious of themselves as a working class. It was through this emergent consciousness, and not as an a priori consequence of their…

What inspired you to explore the impact of war on friendship? The Gallipoli campaign, with its colossal ambition and sweeping drama, provides a great backdrop to the close friendship between two young officers caught up in the fighting, which is the heart of the book. I also wanted to show that, though war is obviously dreadful, some good can come from it, like the creation of deep and lasting bonds of friendship. How did you approach depicting the historical experiences of Gallipoli? I researched strategic and tactical aspects of the campaign, the personalities involved and the day-to-day experiences of the combatants. I was then able to spin my own story over that background, combining the two to create a narrative that is vivid and affecting enough to keep the reader's…

Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm are best known for their collection of fairy tales, first published in 1812. But that was only part of their work. Their research in philology, mythology, legends, medieval literature and lexicography directly and indirectly shaped the entire discipline of folklore. So it's surprising that more than 50 years have passed since the previous English-language biography was published. Ann Schmiesing has bridged that lacuna in fine and comprehensive style. Her highly readable survey covers the full range of the brothers’ brilliant intellectual work, setting it well in its historical context. Jacob and Wilhelm were the eldest of the six surviving children of a magistrate in Hessen, a state within the Holy Roman Empire. Schmiesing conveys well their personal closeness, broader family bonds and personalities – serious but…

In 1984, the former actor and California governor Ronald Reagan was re-elected as American president. His ‘Morning in America’ campaign was strikingly sunny and optimistic. But 40 years after Reagan's second inauguration, we have entered a darker political era. So what does the MAGA rhetoric of Donald J Trump owe to the legacy of Reagan and what he did to America? Historian Phil Tinline considers this question in Archive on Four: Ronald vs Donald (BBC Sounds, available now). The title of Archive on 4: John Simpson's Dictators (BBC Radio 4, Saturday 8 February) could hardly be clearer. It joins the veteran journalist and world affairs editor at BBC News as he recounts his many meetings with autocrats down the years. What is it, he asks, that drives dictators to grab…

Corinne Fowler “In my book, Our Island Stories, I took 10 walks through the countryside to discover how local rural lives were affected by colonial activities across the globe.” Corinne explores the connections between empire and rural labourers on page 35 Luke Pepera “Africans haven't historically been only the enslaved or the conquered. We've been emperors, sculptors, merchants, architects and scholars.” Luke argues that we need fresh perspectives on the history of Africa on page 60 Martha McGill ”When researching early modern divination, I was struck by the resourcefulness of magical practitioners. In an uncertain world, they used a bewildering range of methods to reflect on love, war and most things in between.” Martha describes how people of the past predicted the future on page 54 Laurence Rees “Over time,…

In spite of what my grandchildren suggest, I was not born in the medieval period (I am only 88). However, I was surprised to find that many of the things discussed in the article on disposing of waste in the medieval period (Q&A, Christmas) were things I recognise from my childhood. It was wartime (and its immediate aftermath), and most food, clothing and sweets were rationed. That meant there was little chance of squandering anything. But we also had a rag and bone man visiting regularly, a man visited now and then to sharpen and repair knives, and mending clothes was standard whenever possible. My mother and sisters also made a lot of clothes, while I soon learned how to remove a worn-out sole from a shoe, cut a new…

Listen ad-free at historyextra.com/podcast or with ads wherever you get your podcasts ANGLO – SAXON Grave goods It's one of the most famous discoveries in British archaeological history – but who was actually buried in the ship at Sutton Hoo? Helen Gittos offers a new theory about the grave's occupant, which could explain his abundance of exotic goods. MEDIEVAL City slickers Were medieval towns really as filthy, dangerous and prone to fire as you might think? In another Everything You Wanted to Know episode, Carole Rawcliffe answers questions on urban life in the Middle Ages, revealing that city living was not as chaotic as it's been portrayed to be. TUDOR ENGLAND Voices from history London today is a bustling, multicultural city. But what about in the past? John Gallagher takes…

Danny Bird: The subtitle of your book is ‘Twelve Warnings from History’. What prompted you to write this now? Laurence Rees: My interest has always been in mentalities: why people think the way they do, how they justify their actions, and what makes them believe they are right. This focus has shaped my career much more than, say, an interest in military history. Though I respect such pursuits, my background in documentary journalism has always pushed me toward understanding people's decisions: why do people think what they do? I've been fascinated by these questions since the 1990s. Over time I began delving deeper into psychology and neuroscience to better understand mentalities, particularly those of the Nazis. This new exploration wasn't driven by a sense that the world needed my book;…

What makes a pub a pub? In this entertaining – even humorous – account, historical geographer Philip Howell endeavours to answer this question, probing the many factors that define ‘publand’. It's a historical study, but also one that examines the contemporary nature of the English pub, the characters who inhabit it and the shared experiences of customers. Howell divides his book into five chapters, exploring the various elements he feels give a sense of ‘pub-ness’. The first discusses how breweries have enticed customers by way of architecture, signage and even, with the advent of the motor car, by providing parking spaces, sparking debate about the association of the pub – and alcohol – with driving. The second chapter highlights the development of the bar area and of the people behind…

Monasteries were powerful organisations within the medieval world, serving as landholders, educators and spiritual leaders. And while all monks worked, prayed and devoted themselves to God, the ways in which they did so varied greatly from place to place over the thousand years or so that we refer to as the Middle Ages. Andrew Jotischky's new book seeks to broaden our understanding of monks beyond the practices of western Europe, widening the lens to include the eremitical Desert Fathers of Egypt as well as monks who lived in wilderness, cliff-side caves or stone enclosures from Syria and Palestine to Britain and Ireland. In his exploration of both Latin and Orthodox traditions, Jotischky also takes time to expand on the ways in which nuns practiced their own spirituality in community with,…

Across 1 West German chancellor, a leading figure in the country's post-World War II recovery (6) 4 An ancient raised area of extensive woodland in south east England (3,5) 10 Swedish queen whose abdication in 1654 for personal reasons caused widespread shock (9) 11 City in which Joan of Arc was burned at the stake in 1431 (5) 12 The ____ Valley (or Harappan) Civilisation, which was the first known culture of the Indian subcontinent (5) 13 Astronomical instrument dating to ancient times, precursor of the sextant (9) 14 Region of central Italy whose civilisation, noted for art, was eventually Romanised (7) 16 Soviet leader much criticised after his death by one-time supporter Khrushchev (6) 19 John ____, celebrated Victorian art critic, champion of JMW Turner's works (6) 20 It was made capital of the Western Roman Empire in…

IN PROFILE Marie-Anne Paulze Lavoisier, later Countess Rumford, was a French chemist, linguist, translator and noblewoman who helped bring the pioneering work of her husband, chemist Antoine Lavoisier, to the attention of a wider international audience. She later married Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford, but retained her first husband's last name. She died at home in Paris, aged 78. “Marie-Anne's father, who was also a tax collector, was guillotined on the same day as her husband – just imagine that!” When did you first hear about Lavoisier? While I studied chemistry at Oxford. Marie-Anne and Antoine Lavoisier played a major part in overthrowing the century-old phlogiston theory of heat, and helped usher in the ‘new chemistry’ revolution. Antoine, assisted by Marie-Anne, discovered the role that oxygen plays in both the oxidation…