Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2017 i History Extra

“Few images conjure up the desperation of Victorian poverty as much as the dreaded workhouse. The bleakness of life within those walls was chronicled by Charles Dickens, whose novel Oliver Twist highlighted the plight of pauper children trapped within this system. The workhouse was not, however, the fate of all of Britain’s most deprived children in the 19th century. As Lesley Hulonce shows in this month’s cover feature, the authorities tried a range of alternative approaches to lift these vulnerable youngsters out of poverty. Turn to page 22 to find out more. This year sees the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, one of the pivotal events of European history. It’s a topic we will be returning to on a number of occasions in the following months, but we begin our…

As dawn broke over Moscow on 5 March 1953, perhaps the most powerful man in the world lay dying. Four days earlier, one of Stalin’s guards had discovered him lying on the bedroom floor in his dacha on the edge of Moscow, soaked in his own urine. The dictator had suffered a massive stroke. Within hours, the most powerful men in the Communist Party had assembled by his bedside. The end seemed certain, though he lingered for days, sometimes opening his eyes and once pointing to a photograph. By the morning of 5 March, Stalin was visibly weakening, his face ashen, his breathing laboured. As he sank towards death that afternoon, his hated secret police chief, Lavrenty Beria, searched his safe to remove and destroy any incriminating documents. Already the…

“Towton, the most brutal battle of the first War of the Roses, was also its most decisive. The clash ended a period of 11 years of division among the English nobility following the effective loss of the English kingdom of France in 1450. Between 1459 and February 1461, there were six significant military engagements, with three victories apiece to each side. The bloodletting had become increasingly ferocious as the struggle escalated from aristocratic feud into full civil war. At Towton, a largely northern army in support of Henry VI of Lancaster faced a Yorkist force of mainly southerners and Welshmen, led by Edward IV. But the fundamental importance of Towton lay beyond its butchery; it pertained to the nature of kingship. Edward II and Richard II had lost their thrones…

What makes you think this person had lost his tongue before death? There are occasional examples of individuals from this period (third to fourth century AD) being buried with rocks or pots replacing missing body parts, usually decapitated heads. This gave us the idea that the stone wedged in this individual’s mouth might have been a replacement for a different missing body part: his tongue. We also found evidence of infection in his jaw bones. This would be entirely consistent with the tongue being amputated in life. Why might someone have had their tongue removed? There are a number of possibilities. One is that his tongue was extracted as a form of punishment. Another is that he may have suffered from a psychiatric illness that led him to bite off…

Who is history’s greatest queen? @LydiaStarbuck As consort, Eleanor of Aquitaine, for her political, social and cultural influence @HistoryGal_ Elizabeth I: she defied convention by refusing to have a husband rule over her @phsc2 Empress Maria Theresa was also a queen and a highly effective ruler of a much greater realm than 16th-century England @CharlotteVic18 For queen consort I would argue Catherine of Aragon. She led armies, had the people’s hearts and was a model queen @anneboleynfan1 Isabella of Castile, for playing a dynamic game of thrones that made Spain a superpower @TammieLStroud Catherine the Great. She used her femininity and cunning to wield more power than any other queen in European history @AnnaWhitelock Mary I – changed rules of the political game, gender equality of the crown, first queen,…

Hugh O’Neill’s escalating demands forced Elizabeth back on the offensive – with disastrous consequences for the EnglishQueen Elizabeth, pictured around 1580, struggled to cope with the Irish rebellion In the dying days of the 16th century, one man drove Elizabeth I to distraction, wrecked the career of one of her most celebrated captains, brought her nation close to bankruptcy, and threw the very survival of her administration in Ireland into grave doubt. That man was Hugh O’Neill, Earl of Tyrone. His story is one of the most remarkable in the history of Anglo-Irish relations – and the Nine Years’ War empowered by O’Neill’s uprising threatened England’s hold on the island. When Hugh was born, in around 1550, Ireland was a divided island, one whose history had been shaped by its…

Vicar George Dobson was described as a “common drunkard and such an ale-knight as the like is not in our parish” It was the Saturday night before Christmas, 1721. Four bell-ringers from Northrepps in Norfolk had finished their ringing and were returning the keys of the church to the house of the parish clerk. They entered the kitchen to find George Bearfoot, the rector of the neighbouring parish of Sidestrand, sitting at the table. He invited them in for a game of whist, which they played for money and “strong liquors” until late into the night. According to one of the men: “Mr Bearfoot drinking very freely was, when they left off playing, very much disguised in liquor and would have persuaded or obliged them to play longer. But they,…

1 The giant usurper A massive Thracian soldier called Maximinus demonstrated his wrestling to a highly impressed Severus, who instantly appointed him to the Praetorian Guard. In doing so, Severus unwittingly sowed the seeds of another regime change. In AD 235 Maximinus, now a veteran, led a coup against Severus Alexander, last of the Severan dynasty. Alexander’s troops abandoned him, and he was killed by Maximinus’s men. Maximinus ruled until AD 238 when his own Praetorians killed him. 2 The libidinous ruler Under Emperor Commodus’s dissolute rule, the Praetorian Guard descended into the abyss. When Commodus was murdered in AD 192, the guard took exception to his disciplinarian successor, Pertinax. So they killed him. As they did so, one yelled: “The soldiers have sent you this sword!” Next they auctioned…

Scurvy: The Disease of Discovery by Jonathan Lamb Princeton University, 328 pages, £24.95 Scurvy is a debilitating disease commonly associated with oceanic voyages, arctic travel and desert expeditions in the heroic era of exploration. Vitamin deficiency, especially that of vitamin C, weakens and mortifies the bodies and minds of men (who were more prone to the complaint than women) or boys. For centuries, the causes were debated: Captain Scott’s ill-fated attempt to reach the south pole suffered because the prevailing wisdom of the day attributed the complaint to poisoning. Only in the 1930s did the isolation of vitamins provide a scientific rationale, examined in a compelling coda. This much will be familiar to discoverers, across oceans or pages, yet the medical history is merely the surface detail of a complaint…

We Are the Martians RADIO Radio 4, scheduled for March Unless a future probe turns up something of staggering import, we have to assume humankind represents the only consciousness that’s ever thought about Mars. So what have we made of the fourth planet from the sun down the years? This three-part series, part of Radio 4’s Martian Festival, traces the stories that we’ve told ourselves about Mars over the centuries. Expect utopian visions and, via HG Wells, stories of invasion and the rediscovery of ‘old Mars’ by steampunk. The series also explores how scientific insights and the imagination have continually overlapped when it comes to the red planet.…

Free State of Jones DVD (Studiocanal, £19.99) In 1861, Mississippi farmer Newton Knight enlisted in the Confederate army. Nothing unusual there, except that, in 1862, he went awol. For much of the rest of the American Civil War, Knight led a company of men that bore his name, a company that fought skirmishes with the southern army, and which allegedly declared Jones County, Mississippi to be independent from the Confederacy. But what motivated Knight? According to the version of his life put forward in this overlong but impressively staged biopic, he became increasingly unhappy at the way he and his fellow subsistence farmers were treated. Not only were they expected to fight at the front, but what little they did own was all too likely to be confiscated by the…

History is everywhere in America’s south, and Mississippi is a wonderful setting for a road trip into the nation’s past. Start with a drive down at least part of the wonderful Natchez Trace Parkway , a linear national park linking the gateway city of Nashville , Tennessee with Tupelo, Mississippi. This small town happens to be the birthplace of Elvis Presley , which neatly sets the scene for the musical history of the state. The route of Highway 61, better explored by driving along parallel Highway 1, slices through the Mississippi Delta which gave birth to the Blues. The towns of Clarksdale and Rosedale are great stops in the Delta, while nearby Vicksburg was the scene of the 47-day siege said to have turned the tide against the Confederates in…

The centenary of the Russian Revolution offers the perfect excuse to visit the country Winston Churchill described as “a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma”. That said, when marking an event as complex and far-reaching as the revolution, in a land so vast as Russia, it can be a little hard to know where to begin. The Bolshevik seizure of power mostly took place in and around St Petersburg . The city is a rich depository of historical sights, museums and architecture, though those on the trail of the revolution may like to head to Vosstaniya (uprising) Square , where the February revolution was triggered, Finland Station , where Lenin arrived from exile calling for the overthrow of the provisional government, and the cruiser Aurora…

EXHIBITION Tattoo: British Tattoo Art Revealed National Maritime Museum Cornwall, Falmouth 17 March–7 January 2018 - 01326 313388 • nmmc.co.uk One in five of Britain’s adult population is estimated to have a tattoo, a figure that rises to one in three among young adults. But tattoos have not always been as popular nor as widespread as they are today. So where and why did myths and preconceptions of tattooing begin and how have methods of tattooing changed? These questions and more are addressed in a new exhibition at the National Maritime Museum Cornwall that looks at the fascinating history of British tattooing. Sir Joseph Banks, the naturalist on Captain Cook’s first Pacific voyage in 1768, wrote the first European account of tattooing, in which he describes seeing a young girl…

Q Had Harold prevailed in 1066, could the Normans have invaded England again, with papal backing? John Hill, Bournemouth A No. In the first place, had William been defeated, he would almost certainly have been killed, like the other unsuccessful invaders of 1066, Tostig Godwineson and Harold Hardrada. In pre-Conquest England, there was no tradition of sparing defeated enemies. But even assuming William had escaped and returned to Normandy, there would have been little chance of a repeat performance. The invasion of 1066 had stretched Norman resources to the limit. Ships had been built from scratch, supplies stockpiled for months, and mercenaries recruited from all over France and beyond. From a purely practical point of view, repeating all of this would have been hugely difficult. The greater difficulty, which would…

Jollof rice I first tried Jollof rice at a friend’s birthday party and was bowled over by this delicious spicy tomato comfort dish. It is generally agreed to have come from the Wolof (also known as Jolof) empire, a tribe that ruled parts of Senegal and Gambia from c1350–1890. But it’s a popular dish across the whole of west Africa, often served at celebrations. There’s a lot of lively debate around the origins of the dish and the many different ways of cooking it. I enlisted the help of a Nigerian friend, Tunde, who recommended this traditional version of the recipe. I added a chicken drumstick to the final meal, but fried plantain would also make a lovely addition. INGREDIENTS 800g rice 2 red peppers, chopped 1 tin plum tomatoes,…

Eamon Duffy The Reformation attacked the fundamental tenets of Catholic Christianity. It drove a great wedge into the unity of Europe and unleashed more than a century of European civil war. • Eamon discusses the Reformation Lesley Hulonce When I began researching Victorian paupers, I realised that the lives of impoverished children were very diverse. Not all experienced the neglect and cruelty portrayed by Dickens’ Oliver Twist . • Lesley traces Victorian child paupers’ lives Jane Winters Thinking about how to write the history of the 21st century is certainly a challenge. But it has already given me the chance to work with brand new kinds of primary sources. What historian could turn that down? • Jane asks if history can survive the digital age…

Napoleon's trusty steed rides again The skeleton of Marengo, the horse that carried Napoleon into the battles of Austerlitz, Jena, Wagram and Waterloo, has been painstakingly restored in time for the opening of the new National Army Museum on 30 March. Tiny cracks in the skeleton’s sternum and ribs have been repaired, and debris removed from its surface. Experts have spent two years taking the skeleton apart and reassembling it into a more realistic pose. City dig reveals mosaic and possible shrine Archaeologists in Leicester have uncovered the largest Roman mosaic pavement found in the city in the last 30 years. Believed to date to the early fourth century AD, the mosaic measures 2x3 metres and would have originally been in a square room. The dig has also revealed a…

Romancing the truth I enjoyed the piece about Fidel Castro (How Should History Remember Fidel Castro?, January) but the ‘romance’ of Castro and Argentina’s Che Guevara seems to have hidden the fact that the Cuban leader was, from the beginning, concerned mainly with his own desires and self-aggrandisement. Even as a youngster at school he was someone who could not cope with being told what to do. He always knew better. Castro had been involved with revolutionary politics since his university days in Havana and was as well-acquainted with the gun and club as any of Hitler’s Brownshirts in 1920s and 1930s Germany. His primary aim, once he had seized power in 1959, was to ensure that he retained it. To that end he would use anyone he could. If…

 “Back in the seventies when I first visited Istanbul, wandering round the famous archaeological museum I came across an extraordinary exhibit: a seven-foot-long tombstone dating from 1391. When it was first discovered, it was thought to show a married couple. Only later did experts conclude that the tombstone in fact depicted two English knights. But here’s the surprise: the knights, in a sense, had indeed been married. “In the Middle Ages, the church blessed same-sex love” The mystery of their relationship was untangled in a wonderful book by the late Alan Bray, The Friend. Sir William Neville came from the famous Durham family; Sir John Clanvowe was a Welsh diplomat, soldier and poet who wrote The Book of Cupid, God of Love (which later inspired Milton, Wordsworth and Handel). After…

…and what happened to Ulster after the war In the 16th century, Ulster was described “as the very fostermother and example of all the rebellions of Ireland”. The province had been least affected by the Anglo-Norman conquest of Ireland and remained its most Gaelic. But, in the wake of the defeat of Hugh O’Neill (left), that situation was to be turned on its head. After the flight of the Ulster lords into exile in 1607, the crown was able to undertake the massive plantation of the province, under which 80 per cent of clan lands was transferred to English and Scottish landholders for colonisation by British settlers. The city of London made a special investment in the project, developing the city and county of Londonderry. Within 50 years, Ulster had…

Barnum tried to negotiate a price for a tree upon which Lord Byron had etched his name. He also put in a shameless bid to buy Shakespeare’s home British travellers to 19th-century America were taken aback by the go-getting commercialism of their Atlantic cousins. In 1834, during a long visit to the eastern states, the economist Harriet Martineau saw that in “a country where the whole course is open to everyone”, the appetite for success led to reckless and ill-considered enterprise. For Martineau, the wildfire culture of self-improvement was tethered to a deep-seated conformism, “a fear of singularity” evident in the tendency to offer indiscriminate praise. “Every book that comes out is exalted to the skies. The public orators flatter the people; the people flatter the orators. The clergymen praise…

“To the undisguised horror of about 15 men, the excited boy in the pilot’s seat burst into a torrent of ruddy language about three Huns he’d met” Kate Luard Londoner Kate, born in 1872, trained as a nurse. She had already served in the Boer War when in 1916 she again volunteered and was immediately dispatched to France. From November 1916, Sister Kate Luard had been serving with the 32nd Casualty Clearing Station (CCS) in a quiet sector. However, in early March 1917, they moved forward to Warlencourt ready for the Arras Offensive planned for April 1917. They were busy getting the CCS ready but on 13 March she paid a visit to a local Royal Flying Corps airfield. “This evening Sister and I strolled down to the flying sheds…

This is a book about more than just the physical landscape The Making of the British Landscape: From the Ice Age to the Present by Nicholas Crane Weidenfeld and Nicholson, 640 pages, £25 “To care about a place, you must know its story.” So says Nicholas Crane in his latest book, The Making of the British Landscape, an ambitious work that attempts to chronicle the nation’s landscape from the Ice Age to the present. This is a book about more than just the physical landscape, however. It is about the people of Britain and their enduring relationship to its hills, moors, waterways, trees, plains and coast. Indeed, a recurring theme within these pages (one that takes us to ritual, industrialised and militarised landscapes) is people’s tendency to invest locations with…

The Convictions of John Delahunt Andrew Hughes (2014) John Delahunt, a young man who has sunk ever further into amorality after his recruitment to spy on his fellow citizens by a sinister government agent, is imprisoned for the murder of a child. Taking up his pen, he tells his own story of how he came to do what he did. Set in Dublin in 1841 and based on real-life events, this is a powerful novel of crime, betrayal and punishment. The Wonder Emma Donoghue (2016) An English nurse, who has served with Florence Nightingale in the Crimea, arrives in a small Irish village where 11-year-old Anna O’Donnell, a so-called ‘fasting girl’, has attracted the attention of the outside world. Anna’s apparent ability to survive without food seems to some a…

Happy 100th Birthday Dame Vera Lynn TV BBC Two, scheduled for March As she reaches her personal centenary, Dame Vera Lynn and her daughter, Virginia, look back over a remarkable life with the help of private family records and footage from the archives. These help to chart Lynn’s first steps on the stage as a schoolgirl, her wartime experiences and her career highlights, such as becoming the first UK performer to have a US number one, in the 1950s. Those paying tribute to a singer forever associated with We’ll Meet Again and The White Cliffs of Dover constitute a varied cast, among them Sir Paul McCartney, Barry Humphries, Miriam Margolyes and, of course, Second World War veterans.…

What’s to be done when ambitious engineering projects and buildings have to be mothballed because they’re no longer useful? It’s a question that lies at the heart of Abandoned Engineering (Yesterday, Tuesday 7 March), which looks at four sites that have outlived their usefulness – or, in the case of Cape Town’s Foreshore Freeway Bridge, were never even completed. Available via BBC iPlayer for those outside Scotland, the three-part Growing Up in Scotland: A Century of Childhood (BBC Two Scotland, March) explores the experience of childhood north of the border; the way the authorities have treated Scotland’s youngsters is a recurring theme. On Radio 4, listen out for an adaptation of Anne Brontë’s debut novel, Agnes Grey (weekdays from Monday 6 March), starring Game of Thrones’ Ellie Kendrick. The latest…

Germany’s last century may overshadow the ones that came before it, and mean the country is one of Europe’s most underrated historical destinations. And while places like Heidelberg , the Rhine Valley and Neuschwanstein Castle may be well known, treasures like medieval Bamberg , Aachen’s stunning cathedral and the gothic fantasy of Schloss Hohenschwangau are close to being secrets little-known outside Germany. This year marks the 500th anniversary of the start of the events on German soil that kick-started the Reformation. Martin Luther is believed to have posted his 95 Theses on the door of All Saints Church in Wittenberg . Heidelberg University and Augsburg Cathedral also played key roles in Luther’s defence of his position. He was condemned as a heretic in Worms , a convenient stop on a…

Normandy has been the focus of several key anniversaries lately, with 2014 marking 70 years since D-Day and last year being the 950th since the Norman Conquest. In 2017 the spotlight will be on a different aspect of the region – its 20th-century history. The city of Le Havre , the harbour town where the Seine estuary meets the Channel, has centuries-old roots. Founded in 1517 after the ports of Harfleur and Honfleur silted up, it was an industrial and commercial port of great significance until its almost complete destruction in the Second World War. Occupied by German forces in 1940, Le Havre was subjected to 132 bombing raids during the war, and the departing Germans destroyed the port and sank many ships. The city was rebuilt to the structural…

1. What links... a. Lady Margaret Beaufort, Carl Eric Wickman and Belle Vue, Manchester? b. Rosemary Sutcliff, the House of Hanover and Uffington, Oxfordshire? c. Vera Lynn, Maurice Maeterlinck and Donald Campbell? 2. Which statue is the odd one out? George IV by Chantrey; William IV by Nixon; James Napier by Adams; Henry Havelock by Behnes? 3. What links these? QUIZ ANSWERS  1a. Greyhounds: Beaufort had a greyhound badge; Wickman founded the Greyhound bus company; Belle Vue was Britain’s first greyhound stadium. b. White horses: Sutcliff wrote Rider of the White Horse ; a white horse was a Hanoverian badge; Uffington has a prehistoric white horse hill figure. c. Bluebirds. Vera Lynn sang about them; Bluebird was a play by Maeterlinck; speedster Donald Campbell was killed piloting Bluebird in 1967.…

Arthur Askey was a comedian famous for catchphrases such as “Hello playmates!” and “I thank you!” Born in Liverpool at the turn of the 20th century, he found national fame in 1938 after landing a starring role in the BBC radio comedy series Band Waggon. He went on to appear in a string of postwar television shows such as Before Your Very Eyes, The Arthur Askey Show and the ITV talent show New Faces (as a panellist). He also recorded a number of popular novelty songs, like The Bee Song, and played many a panto dame. He was married with one daughter. When did you first hear about Arthur Askey? I first heard him many years ago on the comedy radio show Band Waggon which he appeared in with Richard…

On Palm Sunday 1461, the weather was horrendous. Even though it was late March, it was bitterly cold, the heavy winds whipping sleet and snow into people’s faces. For the rival armies camped outside the village of Towton, 12 miles from York, it must have made for a wretched morning. And worse, of course, was to follow. The clash between the armies of York and Lancaster on 29 March 1461 is often referred to as the bloodiest battle on English soil, although historians still argue about the numbers. An estimated 50,000 men took the field that day, fighting for one of two rival kings: either the strapping 18-year-old Edward IV, of the House of York, or the pious Henry VI, of Lancaster, who was almost 40. This, the bloodiest stage…

Thank you for printing the wonderful photograph of the pit boy and his pony (Our First World War, February). My father was a horse-keeper at the Betty Pit near Eighton Banks in County Durham. He died at the beginning of the Second World War, when I was just two years old. The photograph gave me a brief glimpse into the hellish world both men and beasts inhabited in the coal mines. Heather Clark, Tyne and Wear • We reward the letter of the month writer with our ‘History Choice’ book of the month. This issue, it’s The Islamic Enlightenment by Christopher de Bellaigue. Read the review on page 67…

1. ALIEN INVASION HG Wells’s The War of the Worlds arrived in a period in which wars of empire raged across the globe Introducing the world to hideous, tentacled Martians – who lay waste to mankind with devastating heat-ray guns – it’s hardly surprising that HG Wells’s novel The War of the Worlds made quite an impact when it was published in hardback in 1898. The novel tapped into a climate of global anxiety, as the world’s imperial powers continued to flex their muscles but encountered increasingly determined opposition as they did so. The Cuban War of Independence, the Philippine Revolution and the Spanish-American War were just three of the conflicts to rage in the dying days of the 19th century. The War of the Worlds was one in a…

Augustus created potentially the most dangerous institution the Roman world had ever seen In the year AD 193 Rome was convulsed by one of the most bizarre political crises in its history. The Praetorian Guard, the emperor’s elite military bodyguard, was busy auctioning off the empire. It was “a most disgraceful business”, said the disgusted historian Cassius Dio who was in Rome at the time. The bidders were an ambitious senator called Didius Julianus and Sulpicianus, the prefect of Rome. The setting was the Praetorians’ camp, the Castra Praetoria, on the north-east side of Rome. The stakes were massive and the Praetorians knew they held the best cards. The over-mighty, over-paid and over-confident armour-plated racketeers were angry. At the end of AD 192 the profligate emperor Commodus had been murdered.…

Westerners, he writes, should stop demanding Muslims go through their own Enlightenment The Islamic Enlightenment: The Modern Struggle Between Faith and Reason By Christopher de Bellaigue The Bodley Head, 377 pages, £25 It would be hard to imagine a more timely book than The Islamic Enlightenment. With Islamic belief routinely conflated with terrorist outrages notionally carried out in its name, and the Trump administration in the US imposing travel restrictions on some majority-Muslim countries, Christopher de Bellaigue’s book also comes out during the 500th anniversary of the Lutheran Reformation. According to many narratives of western ascendancy, the Reformation paved the way for a separation of church and state that spawned the European Enlightenment’s triumph of reason over faith, which in turn begat western modernity. Many western thinkers – liberal and…

“We try to get it right historically: costumes, behavioural patterns, social interactions and sexual encounters” The Last Kingdom TV BBC Two, scheduled for March Few television shows are constructed on such a grand scale as The Last Kingdom. Based on Bernard Cornwell’s bestselling novels, this is a historical drama in which Alfred’s efforts to unite England’s kingdoms are front and centre. Surely, it must be daunting to work on a show filled with set-piece battles? Not according to one of its directors, Jon East. “From the inside, the concerns are still the same [as with smaller projects and scenes],” he says. “You may have 400–500 extras in the background engaged in some enormous conflict, but really you’re dealing with two or three central characters whose fate you’re concerned about.” As…

“As we emerge from the dark, damp days of winter, many of you will probably be dreaming of, or even planning, an adventure abroad to sunnier climes. To help your dreams become a reality, we’ve asked Lonely Planet’s editorial director Tom Hall to share eight of his favourite historical destinations from across the globe – from the exquisitely carved temples of India to the D-Day beaches of Normandy. And if you’re looking for travel inspiration closer to home, we’ve also included an article on some of Britain’s many historical highlights. I hope you’ll find this supplement an interesting read and that you enjoy exploring a wealth of historical sites this year – wherever you may roam.” 2017 Historical Travel Guide is a free supplement presented within the March 2017 issue…

For an archipelago somewhat out on a limb in the South Atlantic ocean, the Falklands have a long and lively history. Indeed, they have a convincing claim to be the most vibrant historical attraction on the increasingly popular island-hopping itinerary from Argentine Patagonia to Antarctica. Stanley , the capital and home to three-quarters of ‘Kelpers’ (as Falkland Islanders are known), is the point of arrival whether you come by air or sea. It’s home to Christ Church Cathedral, the Falkland Islands Museum , Government House and numerous memorials to conflicts, including the Falklands War and the less well known naval battle of the First World War. The harbour has many shipwrecks , some left over from failed attempts to reach California during the Gold Rush. If you’re on the trail…

For somewhere that epitomises modern Asia, something timeless remains at the heart of Singapore. Yes, there are skyscrapers and dramatic modern architecture, but there’s also the same world-in-a-city atmosphere that has beguiled visitors for centuries. Within minutes you can travel from Little India to Chinatown and end up in the Colonial District, with the instant changes in sights, sounds and smells that come with rambling around the city. Singapore celebrates its heritage with confidence, offering the Asian Civilisations Museum and National Museum, as well as thoroughly old-school remnants like the famous Raffles Hotel and Botanic Gardens. One of the key events in the city-state’s history, the Fall of Singapore has its 75th anniversary this year. Japan’s occupation of the city led to the single largest surrender of British-led troops in…

EXHIBITION Maria Merian’s Butterflies The Queen’s Gallery, Palace of Holyroodhouse, Edinburgh 17 March–23 July - 0303 123 7306 • royalcollection.org.uk See extraordinary artworks by German artist and entomologist Maria Sibylla Merian, who travelled to Suriname, South America in 1699 to study its animals and plants. EXHIBITION The American Dream: Pop to the Present British Museum, London 9 March–18 June - 020 7323 8181 (booking line) • britishmuseum.org Works by celebrated pop artists such as Andy Warhol, Ed Ruscha and Kara Walker explore the past 60 years of US history. Pop art exploded onto the art scene during this period as artists responded to events such as the assassination of John F Kennedy, the Apollo 11 moon landing and the Vietnam War, as well as the Aids crisis, racism and gender…

1. MUSEUM OF WITCHCRAFT & MAGIC Contains the oldest and largest collection relating to witchcraft, magic and the occult in the world. Located in the historic harbour of Boscastle on the North Cornwall coast since 1960. museumofwitchcraftandmagic.co.uk | 01840 250111 2. PECKOVER HOUSE & GARDENS Built in 1722, and owned by the Quaker banking family, the Peckovers. Explore the house and two acre garden, complete with Victorian Orangery and 50 varieties of rose. Early 17th century Reed Barn tea room and gift shop on-site. nationaltrust.org.uk/peckover | 01945 583463 3. EREWASH MUSEUM Erewash Museum, Derbyshire Museum of The Year 2011, 2012 and 2016. Visit our fascinating local history museum and art gallery. Explore our gardens or try afternoon tea in our brand new tea room. erewashmuseum.co.uk | 01159 071141 4. MAIDENHEAD HERITAGE CENTRE A…