MARCH 2019

CONTENTS

Features

Every month

6 ANNIVERSARIES 11 HISTORY NOW 1 1 The latest history news

1 4 Backgrounder: emergency planning 16 Past notes: veganism

From floods to terror, discover how Britain plans for emergencies, on page 14

20 Victorian underworld Was London’s criminal underclass as dangerous as ‘respectable’ Victorians made out? Heather Shore investigates

28 The Victorian school day Ellie Cawthorne and Susannah Wright explore pupils’ daily routines in the 19th century

34 Henry VI’s troubled reign Lauren Johnson chronicles a 15th-century king who lacked the backbone to lead England during the Wars of the Roses

17 MICHAEL WOOD’S VIEW 18 LETTERS 65 BOOKS Thelatestreleasesreviewed,plus Catherine Hanley discusses her new book on Queen Matilda

77 TV & RADIO The pick of new history programmes

81 OUT &ABOUT 81 Five things to do in March

87 MISCELLANY 87 Q&A and quiz 88 Samantha’s recipe corner 89 Prize crossword

90 MY HISTORY HERO ChrisPackhamonIvonHitchens

43 Britain’s identity crisis Misha Glenny tells us about his new Radio 4 series exploring Great Britain’s complex formation

47 Viking women From traders to travellers, women in the Viking age led rich and adventurous lives, argues Judith Jesch

52 Britain’s Russian fiasco Nick Hewitt describes the bloody, chaotic Allied intervention into the Russian civil war a century ago

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58 Bored British imperialists Je rey Auerbach describes the ennui that gripped Britons on the frontline of empire in the Victorian era

USPS Identification Statement

BBC HISTORY (ISSN 1469-8552)

(USPS 024-177) March 2019 is published 13 times a year under licence from BBC Studios by Immediate Media Company Bristol Ltd, 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 MAGAZINE, PO Box 37495, Boone, IA 50037-0495.

34 How Henry VI’s love of peace cost him his throne – and his life

47 Artisans, matriarchs, adventurers, traders… the many lives of Viking women

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