The constants of warfare
In his new book, Iain MacGregor examines some of the most significant battles of the past 3,000 years. Here, he reveals the five key factors that shaped victory, from Marathon to Midway.
Warfare
Terror or tolerance? Taking a new look at the Mongol Empire
The conquests of Genghis Khan are traditionally associated with horrifying brutality, but this reputation has overshadowed another side to the empire that he forged. Matthew Symonds spoke to Marie Favereau to find out more.
Scotland’s first warriors: Interpreting evidence of conflict from the Neolithic to the coming of the Romans
Interpersonal violence has been a fact of human existence for much of our long history – but how far is this reflected in the archaeological record? With a major new exhibition now open at the National Museum of Scotland, Matthew G Knight and Hannah Boddy examine traces of past conflicts spanning 4,000 years, and consider how to present these stories to modern audiences.
Military History Book Awards
Military History Matters has curated a list of best military history titles from 2025: the nominees for this year’s MHM book awards. Our selection includes some of the best researched, most insightful, and most readable titles reviewed and featured in…
The Two Hundred Years War: The bloody crowns of England and France, 1292-1492
The sheer length of the Anglo-French conflict known as the ‘Hundred Years War’ – which actually lasted 116 years – has long invited debate about the label. Contemporaries, of course, did not use the term, which was first coined by…
In Brief
MHM’s round-up of the latest military history releases.
Warship sunk by Nelson discovered on seabed
Marine archaeologists have uncovered the wreck of the Dannebroge, a Danish warship sunk during the Battle of Copenhagen on 2 April 1801. The Dannebroge sat at the centre of a chain of old Danish ships of the line that had…
Samurai
Reviewing the best military history exhibitions, with Peter Popham.
Samurai
A new exhibition at the British Museum traces the story of Japan’s famous warriors from the medieval period to the present day, separating history from myth and exploring how their image has evolved over the last 1,000 years. Carly Hilts visited to learn more.
Music to archaeological ears
A routine excavation on the site of a west Norfolk housing development has uncovered a metalwork hoard including two extremely rare Iron Age artefacts: a near-complete carnyx and a boar standard. Conservation and analysis of these fragile objects is ongoing; Carly Hilts reports on the preliminary findings.
Small rings, great power: Assessing the Vimose mail coat
An extraordinary survival plucked from a Danish bog sheds light on the technical virtuosity available in the Roman Iron Age. Olympia Bobou, Ilaria Bucci, and Rubina Raja examine the significance of a remarkable piece of armour.
Bronze warrior figurine
The statuette… is intricate and highly detailed… What is it? This small, bronze figurine, which measures 7.5cm tall and weighs 55g, depicts a warrior standing in a lunging pose. He holds a sword in one hand and a shield in…
The road to independence
In our latest four-part series, marking the 250th anniversary of US independence, Fred Chiaventone examines first the genesis of America’s Revolutionary War, how discontent exploded into open warfare, and then traces the history of a conflict whose repercussions are still being felt 250 years on.
The American Revolution by numbers
£133 million - Britain's national debt after the Seven Years War. This enormous deficit prompted the introduction of unpopular new taxes in North America.
In Brief
MHM’s round-up of the latest military history releases.
Recreating a Mycenaean battle
An innovative study has brought to life Late Bronze Age warfare to test the utility of a 3,500-year-old suit of armour.
Harnessing Horses: From Prehistory to History
REVIEW BY OLIVER CREIGHTON This new, ambitious, elegantly produced volume showcases how archaeology is transforming our understanding of horses in the human past. Its purpose is twofold: to provide an introduction for those, particularly students, who have a general interest…
Hereford to host the UK’s first military history festival
The first UK festival dedicated to military history will take place in Hereford this autumn. Tickets have gone on sale for the three-day event in late September, which organisers say will include ‘a rich and varied programme of talks, panel…
Thunderbolt of the North: Harald Hardrada, Viking King
REVIEW BY JEFFREY JAMES King Harald III of Norway’s sobriquet Hardrada conjures up an image of a resolute, ruthless, no-nonsense leader, yet may in fact be a corruption of the Norse word harfagri, meaning ‘the fine or fair haired’. Nevertheless,…
MHM 145 Letters – March
Your thoughts on issues raised by the magazine.
War Classics – The Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World: From Marathon to Waterloo
Sir Edward Shepherd Creasy’s The Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World was so significant a book in its day that it would have sat in the libraries of middle-class households alongside the Bible, Shakespeare’s Complete Works, and Milton’s Paradise Lost.
The East India Company: A military history
Infographics: Calum Henderson / Images: Wikimedia Commons
Picts, Gaels, and Scots: Early historic Scotland
REVIEW BY NICHOLAS EVANS This reprint of the updated 2014 edition of Dr Foster’s accessible multidisciplinary study is very welcome. Originating in a 1996 publication by Batsford for Historic Scotland, the 2014 edition was substantially altered to take into account…
Ranjit Singh: Sikh, Warrior, King
Reviewing the best military history exhibitions with Peter Popham.
The Lionheart in winter: Richard I’s last campaign, 1194-1199
He was the ‘Crusader King’, whose exploits made him a national hero. But does Richard I deserve his reputation as a martial genius? Stephen Roberts studies his final campaign in search of clues.
MHM 137 Letters – November
Your thoughts on issues raised by the magazine.
Severed hands at Avaris
German researchers analysing 12 severed hands that were discovered at Avaris (Tell el-Dab’a) in 2011 have published their findings, suggesting that the amputations were part of a ritual, rather than a punishment for crime. The hands, dating to about 1500…
Severed hands found in ancient Egyptian palace offer evidence of a ritual custom
The discovery prompted a debate about whether they represented ritual trophy-taking or the amputation of limbs as punishment.
Demetrius: sacker of cities
REVIEW by MARC DeSANTIS The death of Alexander the Great in Babylon in 323 BC left the empire he had conquered without blood heirs ready to take up the heavy burden of governance. Thus, in the days following his passing,…
Mercy: humanity in war
REVIEW: CALUM HENDERSON The new German-language adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front, which arrived on Netflix last autumn, pulls no punches in its depiction of the savage violence of World War I. In the film,…
War of words – ‘Panzer’
Panzer is a German word meaning ‘mail’ or ‘coat of mail’, with mail being body armour composed of interlocking metal rings. In the early 20th century, the word was applied to the tank, and thereafter entered English as a term…
This week: Military disasters
It is hard to disagree with the observation, made by the distinguished military historian John Keegan (1934-2012), that ‘all battles are in some degree… disasters’. But if the brutal nature of warfare means that all such conflicts end in calamity,…
Military Disasters Quiz
At which battle in 216 BC did Hannibal lure a much larger Roman army into a deadly trap?
War of Words – ‘samurai’
‘Samurai’, meaning ‘one who serves’, derives from the Japanese verb samurau, ‘to wait on’. These warriors were the elite military class of feudal Japan, akin to the knights of medieval Europe. A samurai (the word is both singular and plural)…
Military History Crossword #132
Test your military history knowledge!
War, Spectacle, and Politics in the Ancient Andes
War, Spectacle, and Politics in the Ancient Andes by Elizabeth N Arkush provides a well-organised analysis of the external/environmental and internal/psychological factors that shaped pre-contact Andean warfare. More specifically, the key argument is that Andean conflict was entwined with the…