A finely crafted suit of armour can be as much a work of art as it is a carefully honed piece of military technology. Carly Hilts visited the Wallace Collection to explore a new temporary exhibition that showcases its internationally important holdings of arms and armour, tying into a new…
Review by KK. This thought-provoking book reimagines how we approach maritime archaeology – demonstrating that it is not solely for the adventurous diver but can, and should, be practised from the comfort of dry land. Specifically, by examining all of the archaeological evidence available – from rock art and artefacts,…
An exhibition at the Musée Saint-Raymond explores the Roman cult of Mithras. Gillis Kersting visited to find out more about this enigmatic religion.…
Review by George Nash. Throughout prehistoric Europe, there are significant areas where rock art was commissioned, executed, consumed, and abandoned. One of these is southern Scandinavia. Here, during the later prehistoric period, ancient artists provided a sometimes- cryptic insight into their world through the medium of figurative and abstract images…
The city of Narbonne in southern France has opened a brand new archaeological museum. Roger Wilson is our guide.…
The conference will take place at the Riverfront Theatre and Arts Centre on Tuesday, October 11 this year.…
Review by Roger Bland. This volume, based on a conference that was held in 2016, is the first publication to come out of the Coin Hoards of the Roman Empire project, which is creating a record of all coin hoards from across the Roman Empire and beyond, from the start…
Richard Hodges has been visiting Sexten, where the alpine scenery still bears the traces of fighting in the First World War.…
Review by Charlotte Spence. Stuart McKie’s reassessment of curse tablets sets itself up as a ‘paradigm shift’ in the scholarship and our understanding of these objects; and this is something he well achieves. The focuis on the examination of the tablets within the physical and social lived realities of the…
A besieged city, a hostile army enveloping on all sides, and a ruthless commander refusing to surrender – this was not 1942, but 1919, when the city in southern Russia then known as Tsaritsyn was on the verge of being captured by the anti-revolutionary Whites. The Bolsheviks had taken power…
REVIEW BY SIMON BAKER Anyone with more than a passing interest in the history of the SAS may well be familiar with the regiment’s genesis myth: in 1941, a tall Commando called David Stirling, in hospital after a nasty parachute training jump, came up with the idea of a small…
A round-up of some of the best military history events, lectures, and exhibitions.…
Taylor Downing reviews a new documentary.…
REVIEW BY ANDRÉ VAN LOON. The Story of Russia is a thorough work of historical writing that unfortunately leaves aside its most interesting ideas after the book’s introduction. Figes starts with a fascinating series of hypotheses: that Russia has been more divided over its past than any other country; that…
Reviewing the best military history exhibitions with Christopher Warner.…
Chandler sees Napoleon as a gifted improviser whose operations were nonetheless underpinned by certain consistent principles. Amongst his key skills as a commander were a personal charisma that inspired and moulded others to his will…
REVIEW BY PATRICK BONIFACE. Military success throughout time has been dependent on the orderly and safe supply of goods, food, fuel, ammunition, and personnel. Ancient mariners devised the convoy system to protect these vital supplies, and over the centuries little has fundamentally changed to the basic concept. During the dozen…
REVIEW BY TOBY CLARK. Sailing into Hong Kong in late August 1945, the Royal Navy battleship HMS Anson symbolised the Japanese defeat. Within a week of her arrival, the Anson hosted 500 recently freed ex-Prisoners of War (POWs) for afternoon tea, followed by a tour of the battleship. Reading this…
Production of All Quiet on the Western Front took place in the spring of 2021, with filming in Belgium, Germany, and the Czech Republic.…
The Museum of London will close its doors on 4 December, ahead of its planned relocation to larger premises in West Smithfield’s historic General Market. What will the new museum look like, and what is planned at the original site during its final few months? Carly Hilts reports.…
