In 2026, to mark the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, millions of Americans will remember a conflict that has been described as one of the most consequential in all history.

Famously, it began as an argument between two groups of British subjects over trade and taxes in the 13 North American colonies – but it would end in the birth of a bold and fast-growing new democracy, destined to eclipse its former colonial master, and eventually to become the world’s most powerful nation.

In our cover story for this issue, historian Fred Chiaventone begins a major new four-part series charting the tumultuous course of the American Revolutionary War – from initial discontent and rising tension, via opening skirmishes and the formal Declaration of Independence, to George Washington’s final battlefield victory at Yorktown, Virginia, and the subsequent British surrender.

Elsewhere, Tessa Dunlop, the author of a fascinating new book about the UK’s monuments to conflict, takes us on a timely guided tour, from the south of England to the Scottish Highlands, as she relates the history of Britain in ten war memorials.

Also in this issue of MHM: continuing his analysis of the coming of the Cold War, Taylor Downing reveals how the Iron Curtain fell so quickly on Europe after 1945, and how Stalin brutally consolidated control over a new Soviet bloc; while, in the final part of his series looking at Germany’s Great War allies, Graham Goodlad examines Bulgaria’s belated and ultimately disastrous entry into the conflict.

And finally, Steve Tibble, the author of a new book about the legendary, death-dealing Assassins, tells the extraordinary story of how the medieval world’s most feared killers were thwarted not by massed armies or superior weaponry, but by a group of middle-aged women who refused to be pushed around.

We hope you enjoy the issue!

LAURENCE EARLE