military history matters

Helen Fry

The historian and best-selling author on her obsession with espionage, and why she will always admire Edith Cavell.

Race for the skies

William Robinson Clarke breached the colour bar to become Britain’s first Black combat pilot. Clive Webb reveals how a chance discovery in the RAF Museum archive allowed his story finally to be told.

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Seizing the crown

Henry Bolingbroke was the rebel leader who inspired Shakespeare and – as Henry IV – founded the Lancastrian dynasty. Here, Stephen Roberts looks at the campaign that brought him to power.

Once upon a time in America

In our Special Feature for this issue, and over the next two editions of MHM, historian Fred Chiaventone marks the 160th anniversary of the war’s end by tracing the long and painful road to Appomattox – from Southern secession to final surrender.

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Clive in India: A legacy of controversy

In our special feature for this issue, Stephen Roberts first traces the life of this highly effective but undeniably divisive commander, then looks in more detail at the Battle of Plassey, the key victory that helped launch Britain’s empire in the subcontinent.

Reaching the zenith

In the second part of our series on Napoleon’s rise and fall, Graham Goodlad analyses his extraordinary run of military successes in the decade between 1800 and 1810.

Napoleon: Rise of a military colossus

In our special two-part feature in this issue, Graham Goodlad explores, first, the part played by Napoleon’s generalship in his progress from unknown artillery officer to ruler of France. Then he analyses in depth two battles Napoleon fought in his 1796-1797 Italian campaign.

Hidden figures

The use of ‘native levies’ has long been a feature of foreign wars – but their employment and their sacrifice reached a peak during the British colonial era. Stephen Roberts uncovers a forgotten story.

The last of the Romans

Flavius Aetius is little known today, unlike his nemesis Attila the Hun. But, says Tim Newark, it was the Roman general who triumphed over his notorious adversary in a battle that decided the fate of the Roman Empire.

War Classics – Flashman

Any novelist approaching a publisher with an idea for a series of stories centred around a cowardly, bullying racist, who is also a serial philanderer, would nowadays be very quickly shown the door. Yet George MacDonald Fraser achieved celebrity and surprising academic respect for just such a series, which consisted of 12 books published between 1969 and 2005.

German prisoners, France, August 1918

This image shows a huge crowd of German soldiers captured by British forces during the Battle of Amiens on 27 August 1918, less than three months before Armistice Day. Taken at the town of Abbeville, well behind the frontline, the…