Innholdsfortegnelse for December 2016 i History Extra

“He may have reigned more than 700 years ago, but Edward I’s story is particularly relevant for us in 2016. His conquest of Wales and battles for Scotland were important milestones in the process that eventually led to the formation of the United Kingdom – a union whose future is increasingly now being called into question. For this month’s cover story, historian Andy King revisits Edward’s wars and offers a fresh interpretation of his motives for battling the Welsh and the Scots. You will find that article on page 22. Another story receiving a fresh treatment this month is that of the wartime SAS. For 70 years many of the files relating to that army unit’s activities have been out of bounds to historians, but now Ben Macintyre has been…

Even by the standards of a commuter’s journey home, Richard the Lion-heart’s voyage back to England from the Third Crusade was a disaster. Although he set off from the Holy Land in early October 1192, bad weather in the western Mediterranean forced him to change ships in Corfu. He then sailed north through the Adriatic, only to be driven ashore by storms somewhere near Venice. That meant a long overland journey through the lands of his bitter rival Leopold, Duke of Austria (whom Richard had treated with contempt during the crusade), accompanied only by a faithful knight, William de l’Etang, and a German-speaking boy. Word of his coming had reached the Austrians, and so the king had sent his other men west to draw them off. By now he was…

“The Jacobite Council at Derby is generally held to be one of the great turning points in British history. This moment has, however, been greatly complicated by the last 40 years of research. Charles had to override the majority opinion among his senior officers to get them to march south in the first place, and they warned him at Manchester that, unless substantial numbers of English Jacobites joined them or a French invasion force landed by the time they reached Derby, they would turn back. At Derby, Charles had no idea what either the English Jacobites or the French were doing, and so he was ultimately overborne at the Council by the scepticism of his commanders. Yet in fact we now know the French were straining every sinew to throw…

“The idea of the strongman appeals in the Philippines as a powerful force to unite this fragmented archipelago nation”PAULINE EADIE Is the Duterte style something seen before in Philippines history? The most obvious parallels can be drawn between previous presidents Ferdinand Marcos and Joseph Estrada. Marcos (ruler from the mid-1960s to mid-1980s) invoked martial law in 1972, under the pretence of countering violence and lawlessness. Estrada adopted a policy of ‘all out war’ against the Islamic separatist organisation Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). Duterte has used the same rationale to justify his ‘war on drugs’. Marcos cited communists and Muslim insurgents as a threat to society and national security. Estrada claimed that the only way to curb secessionist movements in the south of the country was through force. Duterte has…

“It was another great BBC History Magazine History Weekend in October, with packed audiences. I talked in Winchester Great Hall, under the Arthurian Round Table and windows of medieval kings, including Alfred, Æthelstan and Edgar, along with William the Conqueror. A fine place to reflect on the history of England, as I’m sure many of us have since 23 June. England, after all, is the core state of the British Isles, and though the politicians may still avoid talking about it, after Brexit, and with perhaps another Scottish referendum ahead, from now on it will be all about England. We became Britons with the 1707 Act of Union, our identities recast for our new imperial role, a new history created for us. But now that history is on the way…

We have an image today of the SAS as a ruthless, efficient unit. Does your research into its wartime inception tally with this idea? It may be hard to believe now, but in the early days the SAS was amateur. Things went very right for the unit at times, but also spectacularly wrong at others. And these were not over-muscled exemplars of butch masculinity in all cases. The man who founded the SAS, David Stirling, was about as far as you could get from that image: he was 6ft 6ins and not very robust at all. Yet he was a brilliant leader of men who had a fantastically good idea that changed the way war is run. I hope my research will also cast a new light on the qualities…

The highest buildings seem to be pushing cities ever upwards, nearer to God, and they are often adverts of a family’s wealth The best way to start your tour of Europe’s medieval cities is surely to look to the heavens. Newly built cathedrals and church spires seem to be pushing cities ever upwards, nearer to God – and so are city towers. Some are constructed to defend the city, others are privately owned, adverts of a family’s power. In Metz, as an abbot tells us, you’ll have to crane your neck backwards to see the tops of towers that are lost in the clouds. If you feel fit enough, you could tick off all 361 towers that an author boasts are dotted around Rome’s city walls. A Milanese called Bonvesin…

Finally, you might want to extend your foray into medieval cities by learning more about these conurbations’ distant pasts. Europe’s leading cities are becoming increasingly keen to understand (and manufacture) their own origins. This is part of a renewed craze for the ancient world. Rome has to be your starting point. Medieval writers marvel at the beauty of the city’s ancient remains, sometimes lamenting their decay. They encourage you to look anew at the magnificence of structures such as the Colosseum and the Baths of Diocletian, or to read the inscription at the spot where Julius Caesar is commemorated. Rome’s 12th-century rulers have even put a preservation order on Trajan’s Column so that it will remain intact for “as long as the world lasts”. You could also visit all those…

While filming a series on the Klondike gold rush for BBC Two (see below for details), I followed in the footsteps of the thousands of stampeders who undertook the odyssey from the Alaskan coast to the goldfields of the Yukon. Standing on the summit of the Chilkoot Trail – the cruellest part of that desperate journey – it is impossible not to sense ghosts. Surrounded by thick fog and buffeted by strong winds in the heart of the Klondike Gold Rush International Historic Park, a second glance at the dark shapes on the snow reveal that these are not rocks, but remnants of the stampede. Rusty tin cans, wooden cases, even shovels and leather shoes, lie abandoned. More than a century later, the hillsides around the lakes Bennett and Lindeman…

Temptress, seductress, fallen woman, mistress of Britain’s greatest naval hero. During her life and since her death, descriptions of Emma Hamilton have tended to be variations on an old and predictable theme. It is, of course, a common fate for women in the public eye to be reduced to the sum of their actual or imagined sexual history. However, the gap between salacious stereotype and reality is unusually pronounced for Emma, whose life story is surely one of the most remarkable and varied of the 18th century. Propelled by performative talent, artistic creativity, beauty and a fierce desire to improve herself, she rose from obscurity to European fame while still in her twenties. Yet, and in spite of some powerful revisionist biographies, we are obliged to peer through a blizzard…

9 January 1869 Grigory is born to the Siberian peasants Yefim and Anna Rasputin in the village of Pokrovskoe on the Tura river 2 February 1887 Grigory marries Praskovya Dubrovina. They will go on to have three children: Dmitry, Matryona (Maria), and Varvara 1897–1905 Rasputin wanders to holy sites across Russia as a strannik, or pilgrim 1 November 1905 Rasputin is presented to Tsar Nicholas II and his wife, Empress Alexandra, for the first time 1907 Rasputin is investigated by the church for his supposed connections to the underground sect known as the khlysty (whips) March 1910 The Moscow Gazette launches the first of many press campaigns against Rasputin Spring 1911 Rasputin travels to the Holy Land October 1912 Tsarevich Alexei almost dies from internal bleeding at Spala, but is…

Æthelred the Unready by Levi Roach Yale University Press, 392 pages, £30 In his exhaustive study of the king’s tumultuous reign, Levi Roach argues that the significant monarch Æthelred II (reigned 978–1016), the end of whose reign signalled the ultimate conquest of England by the Danes, is ripe for reassessment. The premise is not that “Æthelred was a ‘good’ king”, but rather that “he is too complex and interesting to be dismissed as a ‘bad’ or ‘weak’ king”, and in this respect I have to agree. Roach draws together a convincing, thorough and diverse range of evidence from coinage, charters, Old English literature and Latin homilies. Treatment of the iconography of coins and the intricacies of the homilies of the writers Ælfric and Wulfstan reveal that Roach is adept at…

Meetings with Remarkable Manuscripts by Christopher de Hamel Allen Lane, 640 pages, £30 Illuminated manuscripts are one of the glories of the Middle Ages. As Christopher de Hamel writes of the late 12th-century Copenhagen Psalter: “Every page … shimmers with burnished gold and splendid ornament. The script is calligraphically magnificent.” De Hamel, through his work at Sotheby’s and as university archivist at Cambridge, has had the privilege of handling more illuminated manuscripts than perhaps any other person. Here he examines in loving depth 12 outstanding European examples such as the ninth-century Book of Kells. He moves far beyond providing their immediate historical context (offering important and telling insights) to investigate, often detective-like, their provenances and sometimes adventurous after-lives. The 14th-century Hours of Jeanne de Navarre was stolen by Göring in…

The Devil’s Feast By MJ Carter Fig Tree, 368 pages, £14.99 In Victorian England, William Avery is a former East India Company soldier living in Devon with a new wife and young son. Jeremiah Blake is another old India hand – a prickly eccentric with a talent for criminal investigation who haunts the seedier quarters of London. Poles apart in character, they have nonetheless become fast friends. In two previous novels they have worked together to solve murders in both India and London. As The Devil’s Feast opens, Avery is in town to visit an old acquaintance working at the Reform Club, and Blake is incarcerated for debt in Southwark’s Marshalsea Prison. Invited to a private dinner at the Reform by its flamboyant chef Alexis Soyer, Avery is witness to…

Auctions feature on television more than once this month. The two-part documentary Christie’s at 250 (BBC Two, Saturday 19 November) looks at the high-end auction house celebrating its 250th anniversary. The final episode of The Victorian Slum (BBC Two, Monday 7 November) moves the story forward to the Edwardian era. For shopkeepers the Birds, it means a change in emphasis: with the arrival of the Cooperative Movement, they look after members rather than customers. On Yesterday, two entertaining series reach their conclusion. History’s Greatest Hoaxes (Thursday 3 November) tells how Orson Welles – probably inadvertently – panicked the US with his 1938 adaptation of The War of the Worlds; it also explores the story behind bestseller Papillon, and the truth about the Piltdown Man. Meanwhile, Medieval Dead (Tuesday 8 November)…

EXHIBITION / FREE ENTRY The Royal African Museum of London Docklands 25 November–4 June 2017 - 020 7001 9844 • museumoflondon.org.uk/museum-londondocklands Explore the history of London’s 17th and 18th-century slave trade with a new display that tells the story of William Ansah Sessarakoo (pictured right), the African prince who was sold into slavery in 1744. Later known as ‘the royal African’, Sessarakoo was a member of a leading family in West Africa, growing up in the Royal African Company’s fort at Annamaboe, in present-day Ghana. But Sessarakoo’s privileged life came to an abrupt end when he was sold into slavery in Barbados during a voyage to London, where he had been sent by his father to receive an English education. Four years after his capture, Sessarakoo was discovered in Barbados…

1. The Rebecca by Du Maurier Watches From British designer Ned du Maurier Browning comes this beautiful limited edition, Swiss-made timepiece. Inspired by his grandmother, Daphne du Maurier’s most famous female protagonist, the Rebecca features diamonds, mother of pearl and rose gold. This stunning timepiece is also available on a selection of coloured, leather straps. 01460 220720 // www.dumaurierwatches.com 2. CycleMiles Gone Riding Racing Bicycle Doormat. A traditional natural coir doormat with a printed racing bicycle design. For the proud cyclist. Standard Size 75cm x 45cm (2’6” x 1’6”) £14.95. Over 2,500 other Christmas gifts for cyclists on the website, including homeware, jewellery, mugs, cards, t-shirts. Or please call 023 92 455 355 to place an order. 023 92 455 355 // www.cyclemiles.co.uk 3. The What…

Q I am forever seeing wristwatches being described as ‘military issue’. When were watches first issued by the military? Did the servicemen have to pay for them? Did they have a choice? Drew De Soto, by email A Wristwatches were first issued to the British Army in 1917. Prior to this time, officers were expected to pay for them from their own pocket, but because the army recruited the vast majority of its officers from the wealthy classes, the cost was not considered burdensome. An accurate timepiece was vital to allow coordination in battle and the wristwatch, preferably with a luminous face so that it could be read at night, was listed as an essential piece of military equipment to rank alongside binoculars and compass. Private soldiers who required timepieces…

Devonshire White-pot Very similar to the modern bread-and-butter pudding, this dense, warming white-pot is the perfect comfort food for a cold winter’s evening. Layers of bread and currants are set with custard, then baked in an oven, or over an open fire. Many variations of white-pot have existed over the years, using rice instead of bread, or adding a puff-pastry base. A 1769 Yorkshire recipe adds in layers of apple. This sweet, lightly spiced version hails from 17th-century Devon, where ‘pot’ meant pudding in the local dialect. In 1658, The Compleat Cook recommended using a ‘penny loaf’ for the pudding. These days, slightly stale bread works best. INGREDIENTS 500ml double cream › tsp nutmeg 2 large eggs, 1 egg yolk 40g raw sugar 1 white sliced loaf, crusts removed 100g…

The Light Brigade: who blundered? Saul David asks who should take the blame for the Victorian military disaster In defence of Black Power Peter Ling challenges popular assumptions about a controversial part of the Civil Rights story Political history Historian MPs reveal the connections between their two professions Pearl Harbor shocks the world Nicholas Best explores how news of the Japanese attack was received across the globe…

François-Dominique Toussaint Louverture, born a slave but later freed, was the leader of the Haitian Revolution – a 13-year struggle starting in 1791 that transformed the French colony of Saint-Domingue into the independent country of Haiti. As ruler, he restored the plantation system using paid labour, and strengthened the island’s defences. In 1801 he appointed himself governor-general for life but was deported the following year when Napoleon’s forces restored French authority. He died in jail in France a year later. When did you first hear about Toussaint Louverture? A friend of mine brought him to my attention when I was in my thirties. I was immediately intrigued by this person of African descent and such humble origins who, despite being born into slavery, achieved such great things – he played…

Felicity Aston It’s not often you get to walk in the footsteps of your subjects. Following the route of the Klondike goldrush gave me a much better understanding of what drove the original stampeders. • Felicity tackles the trail to the Yukon goldfields on page 38 Andy King From a modern perspective, Edward I can appear an aggressive warmonger. My article explores how his actions could be justified (at least in English eyes) within the context of medieval perceptions of kingship and sovereignty. • Andy probes Edward’s motives on page 22 David Olusoga Black history isn’t a challenge or an assault on a mainstream view – it’s an enriching of British history. We need to see it as a joint history, and confront its darker aspects for the health of…

I refer to the letter in the November edition by Mr Alan Davies about London and Paris at war. In his letter, Mr Davies states: “Any young man facing call-up could avoid conscription by becoming a Bevin Boy.” I think it is time to finally put to bed this misconception. Young men did not choose to become Bevin Boys, they were chosen on a ratio of 1 to 10 by one of Bevin’s secretaries pulling a digit from a hat. While it is true that some volunteered, the majority of the 48,000 had no choice. Some of them were kept at their work up to two years after the war ended. The only bits of uniform they were given were a hard hat and steel-capped boots. This was recognised as…

On 19 August 1274, Edward, son of King Henry III, was crowned king of England at Westminster Abbey. According to one contemporary account, at the height of the ceremony, when the archbishop of Canterbury placed the crown on his head, Edward at once took it off again, “proclaiming that it should never again sit on his head until he had got back the crown lands which his father had granted away”. This was a dramatic, and very public, expression of Edward’s strongly held view of the rights and duties of a king – a view that England, with the lands and rights belonging to it, had descended to him from God’s providence, and that his primary duty was to protect or restore these lands and rights, in order to pass…

The SAS (Special Air Service) was founded in north Africa in July 1941 with the aim of attacking airfields and other targets deep behind enemy lines. At a time when the north African campaign was going badly for the Allies, the British were prepared to attempt a new form of warfare, which, despite a number of reverses, proved highly successful. The unit rapidly grew from a few dozen men to several thousand. In Europe, the SAS was active in both the Italy campaign and the attacks on France, the Netherlands and Germany. At the end of the war the SAS was disbanded, but was later reformed in 1947 and continues to operate today.…

“I saw an NCO, on a frosty morning when the ground was hard as iron, knock a private down and kick him ruthlessly” Harold Bing Born in Croydon in 1897, Harold was brought up a pacifist. When war broke out in 1914 he was 16 years old. On turning 18 he pleaded exemption from conscription which was, after several hearings, denied. He was then arrested for refusing to serve. Harold, an absolutist conscientious objector who would undertake no work related to the war, had been imprisoned in Wormwood Scrubs since September 1916. He was discharged just after Christmas. “I was handed over to a military escort from the Royal Sussex Regiment, who took me to their headquarters at Tunbridge Wells. There I was put in the guardroom overnight and the…

Ziegler provides a judicious mixture of narrative and analysis Between the Wars: 1919-1939 by Philip Ziegler Maclehose Press, 254 pages, £20 Philip Ziegler begins his book with disarming honesty. It is a global history of the interwar period, but he admits that his choice of topics is “arbitrary”, reflecting his own interests. A New Zealander by birth, I was struck by his admission that he has nothing to say about Australasia. This was disappointing, but, Ziegler candidly notes, “it just happened there was no convenient peg on which to hang a chapter”. This refreshing, intimate, even chatty tone characterises his entire book. Ziegler’s wit and modesty make his arguments both accessible and illuminating. He is primarily interested in politics and military conflict, although, as a distinguished biographer, he has a…

1666: Plague, War and Hellfire by Rebecca Rideal John Murray, 304 pages, £20 In an age that looked for portents to explain the tragedies of life, the signs did not look promising for the year 1666. The diarist Samuel Pepys feared that it “will be a year of great action; but what the consequences of it will be, God knows!” The link to the biblical Number of the Beast (666) struck fear into people’s hearts. In 1597 James VI had gloomily predicted that 1666 would see the beginning of an apocalypse. Those who lived through that year were justified in thinking that was right. Rebecca Rideal’s gripping and beautifully written account knits together a series of tumultuous events. She skilfully traces the relationship between them, and deftly interweaves the lives…

Circle of Shadows Imogen Robertson (2012) In the fourth of Imogen Robertson’s well-written, original novels set in the late 18th century, proto-feminist Harriet Westerman and her friend, oddball man of science Gabriel Crowther, pitch up in the duchy of Maulberg, a tiny but independent German state. Out to save a friend from the executioner’s axe, they face a mystery involving Masonic conspiracies, court intrigue, freethinking radical philosophers and a mad alchemist still in pursuit of the elixir of life. Devoured DE Meredith (2012) London in the 1850s provides the backdrop to this darkly entertaining tale of pioneering forensic scientist Professor Adolphus Hatton and his morgue assistant Albert Roumande. They are called by the police to investigate the mysterious death of glamorous Lady Bessingham, bludgeoned to death with an ammonite fossil.…

Philip Webb’s abhorrence at industrialisation led to the gorgeous wallpapers, carpets and gables that grace Standen House If you’re looking for evidence of the terrible damage wrought on working-class people by the relentless rise of industrialisation in the 19th century then, on the face of it, Standen House isn’t a good starting point. This beautiful country pile, nestled in a leafy corner of rural West Sussex, can seem a million miles from the dark, satanic mills of Victorian Manchester or the sprawling, poverty-ridden slums of east London. But appearances can be deceptive. Today, on a gorgeous autumnal afternoon, Standen is a picture of moneyed tranquility. Some 120 years ago, however, it was one of the jewels in the crown of the Arts and Crafts Movement, a crusade that sought to…

“Architect Antoni Gaudí’s Park Güell offers hugely unexpected bursts of surrealism and creativity, including multi-coloured dragons and intricate mosaics” “Barcelona – like a jewel in the sun” sang Freddie Mercury on his titular 1988 album. Most visitors would be hard pressed to disagree, although my first impressions of Spain’s greatest city were rather different. Arriving in the pouring rain, a place that I had expected to be vibrant and thrilling seemed, at first, subdued and grey. When darkness fell, I sat in my hotel and gazed over the neon-glinting panorama that mixed skyscrapers with churches, and felt that I might have been anywhere from Tokyo to London. The most cosmopolitan of cities is also one of the most chameleonic, offering the visitor a range of experiences and perspectives that can…

Every hair on a person’s head was a product of heavenly creation, declared a German Lutheran pastor in c1600 – and, as such, a ‘proper’ hairstyle praised God. In Reformation Europe, when religious tensions were a tinderbox waiting to be lit, the style of a man’s hair or length of his beard were easy ways of judging his religious loyalties. Those are the findings of new research by Cambridge historian Dr Stefan Hanss. “The Reformation turned hair into a highly contested issue,” he argues. “A community’s religious purity was defined by its inhabitants’ bodily, as well as social, behaviour, so hairstyles were a way of demonstrating religious conformity.” To guard their flock against salacious rumours of ungodliness, preachers encouraged their parishioners to sport hairstyles appropriate to their age, gender and…

Plastic surgery – or, at least, surgery to improve your looks – is not a modern phenomenon. In fact, the oldest recorded surgery to alter someone’s appearance happened under the ancient Egyptians. Later, in the 18th century, British doctors travelled to India to observe the latest developments in surgery on the nose, but it was during the Victorian era that the craze for a ‘new nose’ to improve your looks really began. In 1894, the South Wales Daily Post carried a report of a man named Tittensor, from Trenton, New Jersey, who was “the possessor of a new nose, made to order out of flesh”. For 25 years the poor man had suffered with a nose covered in a number of lumps and bumps that made it unsightly. He had…

@HistoryExtra: Who do you think is history’s greatest heroine? Naoko Proctor-Fajen My personal hero is Catherine of Aragon. She was born to rule and she was educated to the hilt in a time when most women couldn’t read. The perfect Renaissance woman @LauraJackson03 Edith Cavell. Her care for soldiers during WW1 irrespective of nationality is commendable & honourable LaCinda Russell Elizabeth I. Snubbed somewhat in early life yet she went on to be one of England’s best monarchs. She endured smallpox, scandal, the Spanish Armada and lived to her own devices Jayne-Leslie Constant Saint Joan of Arc – champion of the French people, the heartbeat of her nation. She is the epitome of bravery, dedication and fearlessness in battle – all without the worldly motivations that drove many of the…

The Welsh Marches England’s enclave The Marches were a group of lordships covering much of southern and eastern Wales, ruled by English lords. Though these Marcher lords were Edward’s subjects, their lordships were outside the kingdom of England, and so – theoretically – subject neither to royal administration, nor to English common law. Frequently at war with their Welsh neighbours (and sometimes with each other), these lords were important recruiters for Edward’s armies. They also formed a powerful lobby for war against the Welsh. Wales The land of warring princes Large parts of Wales were still ruled by native Welsh dynasties, owing homage to the kings of England. The most powerful were the princes of Gwynedd, based in Snowdonia and Anglesey. Llywelyn ap Gruffudd (d1282, pictured right), current head of…

In the early hours of 17 December 1916, an automobile drove onto the snow-covered Large Petrovsky Bridge and came to a stop. Three men got out. From the vehicle they hauled the lifeless body of a middle-aged man, leaned him up against the railing, and then dumped him over the edge into the icy waters of the Malaya Nevka river on the outskirts of Petrograd (now St Petersburg). Two days later, the frozen body of Grigory Yefimovich Rasputin was hauled from the river. The life of Rasputin was one of the most remarkable of the 20th century. A peasant born in a remote Siberian village in c1869, Rasputin spent many years wandering the vast Russian empire as a holy pilgrim in search of spiritual enlightenment, eventually making his way to…

He highlights the rise of meritocrats, who through sheer ability, whatever their birth, could win favour Imperial Triumph: The Roman World from Hadrian to Constantine By Michael Kulikowski Profile, 386 pages, £25 This, the second volume of Profile’s planned ‘History of the Ancient World’ series, picks up where Mary Beard’s SPQR left off. That was with Caracalla’s enfranchisement of all free men in the Roman empire (AD 212), but since Beard’s volume treated the imperial period thematically rather than sequentially, Michael Kulikowski – professor of history and classics at Penn State University in the US – has rightly chosen to lay the groundwork for his fuller and more detailed historical account with Emperor Hadrian’s accession in AD 117. Kulikowski’s reason is that he sees in this period the acceleration of…

Stalin is at the centre… “The foibles and prejudices of one man had great weight” Stalin and the Scientists by Simon Ings Faber & Faber, 528 pages, £20 In Soviet Russia during the Lenin-Stalin era, science and the state were at times in lethal conflict. This tension had several basic causes. A fundamentalist ‘scientific’ Marxism sometimes disputed the realities of natural science. Many of the first generation of leading scientists in the ‘proletarian’ state were from the upper classes and their loyalties were suspect; there was rivalry in the laboratories, too, with a rising successor generation. Finally, the natural sciences inevitably overlapped national boundaries, and links abroad were looked on with suspicion in an era of “capitalist encirclement”. As renowned physicist Petr Kapitsa put it in a letter to Niels…

The Vikings by Else Roesdahl Penguin Classics, 384 pages, £10.99 This is a welcome updating of a classic of Viking history. Its concise yet comprehensive survey of the essential facets of Norse culture, from burial customs to crafts and skaldic poetry to the growth of royal power, provides a valuable resource for those seeking to understand the Vikings as more than just violent raiders. The book is particularly strong in its presentation of archaeological material, providing complex data in an accessible form for the general reader. Much of the new material since the last edition in 1998 lies in this field and is incremental rather than revolutionary in adding to our knowledge of Viking history. Roesdahl includes new information on early Viking towns such as Kaupang in Norway and Aarhus…

Discover how immigration from the Caribbean transformed life in Britain today Black and British season TV BBC Two and BBC Four scheduled for November The contribution of black Britons to our national story is the focus of a new BBC season. Headlining is David Olusoga’s four-part Black and British: A Forgotten History (BBC Two), which meets, among others, African soldiers serving Rome on Hadrian’s Wall in the third century AD. For more on this series, during which BBC Black History Plaques will be unveiled at key locations, see our interview with the presenter on page 65. In living-history show Back in Time for Brixton (BBC Two), the Irwin family leave the 21st century to discover how immigration from the Caribbean transformed life in Britain. Presented by Giles Coren and historian…

1 The Red House BEXLEYHEATH, LONDON Where William Morris resided The Red House was designed by Philip Webb for William Morris and his new wife, Jane Burden, after their marriage in 1859. Morris described it as “medieval in spirit”. It imbues all the qualities that the emerging Arts and Crafts Movement would aspire to. nationaltrust.org.uk/red-house 2 Blackwell BOWNESS-ON-WINDERMERE, CUMBRIA Where a Manchester brewer lived Built on a hill overlooking Lake Windermere, Blackwell was designed by Mackay Hugh Baillie Scott, as a relaxed, tranquil summer home for Edward Holt, a Manchester brewer. The house is a total work of art, a stunning example of Arts and Crafts ideology. blackwell.org.uk 3 Hill House HELENSBURGH, ARGYLL AND BUTE Where you’ll find a blend of styles Hill House was designed by architect-designer Charles Rennie…

BEST TIME TO GO Avoid July and August as the heat is often near-unbearable. It’s pleasantly warm in late September and October. In May and June lower temperatures are accompanied by a range of local festivals that bring a carnival atmosphere to the city. GETTING THERE Most British airports offer direct services to Barcelona. WHAT TO PACK Comfortable shoes, swimming costume, sun lotion – and a secure wallet, as the tourist districts can heave with pickpockets. WHAT TO BRING BACK Local jamón (dry-cured ham) and cava are perennially popular. Lovers of kitsch, meanwhile, might want to buy one of the ubiquitous icons sold in the churches and markets. READERS’ VIEWS Don’t miss Park Güell. Such great views over the city Anna Wood The Gothic quarter is my favourite. Nothing beats…

1. Which part of England was the last to convert to Christianity? 2. Why was the Surrey village of Cuddington razed to the ground in 1538? 3. Which Hollywood star made his screen debut at the age of three in 1922 and made 27 screen appearances until his death in 1932? 4. “This is the Lord’s doing and it is marvellous in our eyes.” What had Queen Elizabeth I just learned? 5. What was originally called the ‘War Song of the Army of the Rhine’? 6. Where is this and which great novelist drew inspiration from it? QUIZ ANSWERS 1. The Isle of Wight. Bede recorded the year as 686. 2. To make space for the construction of Nonsuch Palace. 3. Rin Tin Tin the dog. 4. That her half-sister,…