Understanding Scottish Graveyards
This is the fourth edition of a book that was first published by Betty Willsher (1915-2012) in 1985, with subsequent updates in 1995 and 2005. The original publication came about due to
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Things We Found in the Ground
Cousins Ellie and Lucie were reunited – and introduced to metal-detecting – during the COVID-19 lockdown. The result is this absorbing account, tracing their adventures in the past, from their first back-garden
The Bamburgh Bowl Hole Anglian-period Cemetery: a bioarchaeological study ofa Northumbrian royal site
In 1815, Mount Tambora erupted, producing one of the largest volcanic eruptions in modern history, and causing extreme weather events for several years. Violent storms in winter 1816-1817 eroded a series of
Operation Overlord – What happened next: from D-Day to Paris
6 JUNE 1944: D-DAY 12 JUNE (D+6) Carentan, a small town on the Cherbourg Peninsula, is captured by American troops. All the Allied bridgeheads in Normandy are now linked up. The following
Freedom’s champion: Robert the Bruce, 1274-1329
The man who delivered Scotland’s independence was born 750 years ago this summer. Stephen Roberts examines his life, and analyses the landmark victory that forged a nation.
Churchill and the scientists: Towards a new world
In the first of a new series to celebrate the 150th birthday of Winston Churchill, Taylor Downing examines his role in some of the incredible technological advances made during World War I.
A cannon from HMS Tyger, sunk off the Florida coast
In this image, a diver surveys one of the five cannon found during an archaeological exploration in Dry Tortugas National Park, off the south-west coast of Florida. The cannon played a crucial
A man of destiny
In the second part of our series on Britain’s rise as a naval power, Graham Goodlad explains how supremacy at sea became closely linked with the 18th-century career of Admiral Edward Vernon.
Back to the drawing board: The Savoia-Marchetti SM.85
David Porter on Military History’s doomed inventions.
Into the Green Hell: The Chaco War, 1932-1935
Around 100,000 soldiers lost their lives when two of South America’s poorest countries went to war over a vast area of untamed wilderness. Edmund West goes in search of Paraguay’s heart of darkness.
War Classics – Wellington in the Peninsula
Nick Spenceley recalls one of the great works of military history.
1217: The battles that saved England
REVIEW BY DUNCAN CAMERON The reign of King John is a period of immense significance in English history, comparable to the events of 1066 and the Norman Conquest a century and a
Normandy: the Sailors’ Story – A naval history of D-Day and the battle for France
REVIEW BY CALUM HENDERSON The Battle of Normandy has been covered extensively in the 80 years since it took place. But less well remembered is the naval campaign that accompanied it, the
Agent Zo: the untold story of fearless WWII resistance fighter Elżbieta Zawacka
REVIEW BY ANDREW MULHOLLAND This latest book from biographer Clare Mulley goes way beyond the astonishing life story of Elżbieta Zawacka. For it also provides an important overview of 20th-century Poland, as
Ringing the changes: Investigating an enigmatic monument at Aspull
Three years of investigations have shed intriguing light on a near-circular feature identified on the outskirts of a village near Wigan. Patrick Maloney reports.
Horse power: Tracing the trade and travels of elite animals in late medieval and Tudor London
Cutting-edge scientific analysis of horse remains excavated in Westminster 30 years ago has opened a unique window on how such animals were sourced from far afield and put to work in 15th- and 16th-century London. Carly Hilts reports.
A wonder of the world: Wandering along London’s post-medieval waterfront
What can the combination of archaeology, documents, maps, and plans tell us about London’s port in the period between the Great Fire of 1666 and the shift of shipping activity downstream of the City, following the opening of the West India Dock in 1801? A new and highly readable publication brings together the evidence from four sites excavated by the Museum of London between 1974 and 1984, allowing us an insight into the area around London Bridge when it served as the focal point of London’s commercial waterfront. Chris Catling reports.
Excavating around Salisbury Plain
Last month I began a tour around the final county of the UK that I had yet to visit in these pages: Wiltshire. I began in the north and headed south as far as the Vale of Pewsey. This month I will continue into what is popularly seen as the most fertile of all archaeological hunting grounds: the county’s central belt around Salisbury Plain
A conflict reimagined: Creating a digital model of the Roman assault on Burnswark Hill
Advances in digital technology are opening up ever-more realistic ways to depict archaeological sites and events from the past. John Reid describes how excavated evidence has been used to create a detailed and dramatic model of a Roman attack on a hillfort in Dumfriesshire.
Sherds CA 411
Historic England has recently listed three properties that have been claimed as the ‘first’ examples of their kind (not, it has to be said, by Historic England themselves – they know better than to invite a pantomimic chorus of ‘Oh no it’s not!’, but the media are not so subtle).
Living in the Ice Age
REVIEW BY AB What was life like for the inhabitants of Europe in the last Ice Age? How did they make their clothes? Did children play with toys? What was their relationship