A huge, mountainous, landlocked Central Asian state, Afghanistan has defied invaders for 2,500 years. Jules Stewart takes a look at the country’s military longue durée. Taken in historical context, the 13-year presence of NATO combat troops in Afghanistan amounted to scarcely a footnote to centuries of foreign military intervention in the country. From the […]
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Britannia: the real story
The TV series Britannia (2017) is a historical fantasy along the lines of Game of Thrones. Though set at the time of the Roman invasion of Britain in AD 43, it makes no great claim to historical authenticity. It reflects enduring interest in the Celts, the druids, and, above all, Queen Boudicca of the Iceni. But what was warfare really like during the Roman conquest of Britain between AD 43 and 84?
MHM 92 Caption Competition
Think of something appropriately witty for this photograph from our special feature on ancient Britannia. Leave your caption as a comment below. The best caption will be judged by the editorial team and published online!
MHM 92 Quiz
This month, three lucky winners have the chance to win a copy of The RAF at 100: a century in photographs. The Royal Air Force was formed in 1918 to defend the skies over Britain during the First World War, and made a major contribution to winning one of the largest and most devastating […]
The Somme’s forgotten history
Film-maker Ross Barnwell is crowdfunding for a new documentary drama based on Geoffrey Malins, the cameraman who famously shot footage of the Battle of the Somme in 1916. Here’s a sneak preview of the stories Barnwell uncovered while filming.
MHM BOOK AWARDS 2018: Winners announced!
The ballots have been cast, the votes have been counted, and we are delighted to announce the winners of this year’s MHM book awards! We curated a list of 2018’s best military history titles, and asked our readers to vote for their favourites. Our selection includes some of the best-researched, most-insightful, and most-readable titles reviewed […]
Jane Austen: a wartime writer?
War and violence are the last things one would associate with that 19th-century doyenne of English literature, Jane Austen. Ambles in the countryside, flirtatious glances, frocks with lace and frills, and the relentless pursuit of wealthy bachelors are the more likely images conjured by her name.
Yet conventional interpretations of the novelist’s work lack reference to a crucial context – that of war. For most of Jane Austen’s life, Britain was involved in conflicts of varying existential significance across the globe.
Chakdara: the other Rorke’s Drift?
The epic defence of Chakdara is intriguing. It lasted a week (26 July-2 August 1897), involved 240 men defending an isolated post against up to 8,000 tribal warriors, and had a big impact on the British public back home at the time. But no VCs were awarded, and the action is almost totally forgotten today. Why?
Kaiserschlacht, Spring 1918
Could the Germans have won the First World War in 1918? Almost certainly. A quarter of a century later, the tide of war would turn irretrievably against Hitler’s Third Reich in 1942/1943. The massive industrial power of the Soviet Union and the United States combined – still rising towards a wartime peak –guaranteed eventual defeat. The outcome was far more open in 1917/1918.
Interview: Mark Bowden on Vietnam
‘Easily the bloodiest single battle fought in the war.’ Mark Bowden, the journalist and acclaimed author of Black Hawk Down and Killing Pablo, talks about his new book Hué 1968.