AUGUST 2017

CONTENTS

Features

Every month

6 ANNIVERSARIES 11 HISTORY NOW 1 1 The latest history news

14 Backgrounder: mental health

Follow the story of the long campaign for gay rights, on page 62

20 The battle of Passchendaele For all its associations with mud and misery, the 1917 battle was the scene of a series of Allied triumphs, says Nick Lloyd

28 Women of the plague When plague ravaged London in 1665, women led the ght against the epidemic, writes Rebecca Rideal

33 1945: the world’s year zero Keith Lowe explores global attempts to fashion entirely new societies from the wreckage of the Second World War

40 A Victorian lust for blood Clare Walker Gore asks why even the most progressive Londoners were drawn to the spectacle of death in 1840

44 Prince of darkness? Has the Black Prince’s reputation been stained for an atrocity he didn’t commit? Michael Jones investigates

17 MICHAEL WOOD’S VIEW 18 LETTERS 26 OUR FIRST WORLD WAR 67 BOOKS Reviews of the latest releases, plus

Ronald Hutton discusses his new book on magic and witchcra

77 TV & RADIO The pick of this month’s history programmes

80 OUT & ABOUT 80 History explorer: Gardens

85 Five things to do in August 86 My favourite place: Arctic Norway

93 MISCELLANY 93 Q&A and quiz 94 Samantha’s recipe corner 95 Prize crossword

98 MY HISTORY HERO Don McCullin chooses HoratioNelson

38 SUBSCRIBE Save when you subscribe today

50 India divided Yasmin Khan describes eight of the images that de ne the bloody partition of the subcontinent 70 years ago

62 Gay liberation Fi y years a er the partial decriminalisation of homosexual acts, Brian Lewis tells the story of a campaign for equality

60 EVENTS Details of our events at Winchester and York

USPS Identification Statement

BBC HISTORY (ISSN 1469-8552) (USPS 024-177)

August 2017 is published 13 times a year under licence from BBC Worldwide by Immediate Media Company Bristol Ltd, 9th Floor, Tower House, Fairfax Street, Bristol BS1 3BN, UK. Distributed in the US by Circulation Specialists, Inc., 2 Corporate Drive, Suite 945, Shelton CT 06484-6238. Periodicals postage paid at Shelton, CT and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to BBC HISTORY, PO Box 37495, Boone, IA 50037-0495.

40 A brutal murder that appalled – and thrilled – Victorian London

33 The drive to build a brave new world post-1945

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28 How women combated bubonic plague in 1665

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BBC History Magazine