The August/September 2025 issue of Military History Matters, the British military history magazine, is out now.
The best way to access the magazine is to subscribe. Click here to find out more. To read the digital archive, click here. You can also access the magazine online (as well as exclusive extra content) at our new website, The Past.
IN THIS ISSUE:
The Road to Armageddon
Graham Goodlad begins a new series on the Central Powers during WWI, assessing the performance of the Austro-Hungarian army.
Bombing Venice
Jonathan Glancey tells the inside story of Operation Bowler, the audacious WWII plan to destroy German strategic outposts around La Serenissima, while leaving the legendary city itself unscathed.
The first English civil war
‘The Anarchy’, the succession crisis that tore England apart from 1135 to 1153, also gave rise to a 300-year dynasty. Stephen Roberts examines one of the country’s darkest periods.
Switching sides
In the second of his series on military turncoats, Nigel Jones profiles more commanders who changed allegiance, from Benedict Arnold to Friedrich Paulus.
Jewel of the med
Edmund West traces the military history of Menorca, the small Balearic island whose harbour played an outsized role in the battle for naval superiority in the Mediterranean.
Also in this issue:
The latest in our series on classic military history books, War Classics, Book Reviews, Museum Review, Listings, Competitions, and more.
To subscribe to the magazine, click here. To subscribe to the digital archive, click here. You can also access the magazine online (as well as exclusive extra content) at our new website, The Past. Find us on Facebook, Twitter (X), and Instagram.
From the editor:
There is sometimes a tendency – perhaps most prevalent in parts of Western Europe – to think of the First World War as a conflict that was fought out exclusively amid the mud and the trenches of Belgium and northern France, with Imperial Germany as the Allies’ sole enemy.
The reality, of course, is that the titanic events of 1914-1918 stretched far and wide – from the Baltic to the shores of the Black Sea, and from the Middle East to parts of Africa – while Germany certainly did not stand alone.
In our cover story for this issue, Graham Goodlad introduces a new series in which MHM examines the wartime record of the unlikely alliance of so-called ‘Central Powers’ – including the forces of the Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires and the Kingdom of Bulgaria – who fought alongside Germany during World War I, and whose eventual defeat would have repercussions that in some cases are still being felt today.
Elsewhere, to mark the publication of his new book, the bestselling writer Jonathan Glancey tells the inside story of Operation Bowler, the Allies’ audacious World War II plan to destroy German strategic outposts around Venice’s port, but leave the legendary city itself unscathed.
Also in this issue: Stephen Roberts begins a new two part study of early English civil wars by looking at one of the darkest periods of the country’s history, The Anarchy of 1135-1153; and Edmund West traces the military history of Menorca, the tiny Mediterranean island whose huge natural harbour ensured it played an outsized role in the long-running struggle for maritime supremacy during the 18th century.
And finally, in the second part of his compelling series on military turncoats, Nigel Jones profiles more commanders who shifted their allegiance, from Benedict Arnold during the American Revolutionary War to Friedrich Paulus after the Battle of Stalingrad.
We hope you enjoy the issue!
To subscribe to the magazine, click here. To subscribe to the digital archive, click here. You can also access the magazine online (as well as exclusive extra content) at our new website, The Past. Find us on Facebook, Twitter (X), and Instagram.