MARCH 2014
CONTENTS
Features
Every month
7 HISTORY NOW 7 The latest history news
10 Backgrounder: bad weather 12 Lessons from history 15 Past notes
Nazi women’s leader Gertrud ScholtzKlink pictured with Hitler. Discover the story of her 1939 trip to Britain on page 51
24 How the Vikings ruled the seas Gareth Williams on the maritime skills that enabled the Vikings to dominate medieval Europe
30 A land without kings Philip Parker explains how Viking settlers in Iceland created a new form of rule
36 The past that never happened Richard J Evans considers the current vogue for ‘what if?’ histories
43 A Tudor fly on the wall Lauren Mackay o ers a di erent perspective on Henry VIII’s six wives, based on the writings of a court insider
51 When a Nazi leader came to London Julie Gottlieb and Matthew Stibbe describe a 1939 visit from ‘Hitler’s perfect woman’ to the British capital
56 Long March myths Edward Stourton shows how Mao exploited the legend of the communists’ epic trek
16 ANNIVERSARIES 20 LETTERS 23 MICHAEL WOOD’S VIEW 63 BOOKS Experts review new releases, plus
Michael Broers discusses his latest book on Napoleon
75 TV & RADIO 7 5 The pick of March’s programmes
78 History on lm: drones
80 OUT & ABOUT 80 History explorer: Juliet Gardiner on the Second World War home front 84 Ten things to do in March 86 Ye olde travel guide: Amsterdam 1648
89 MISCELLANY 89 Q&A and quiz
92 Prize crossword
98 MY HISTORY HERO David Bailey on Alfred Hitchcock
60 SUBSCRIBE
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Vikings at sea
HOW THE VIKINGS RULED THE WAVES
Gareth Williams, who is curating a major new exhibition on the Vikings at the British Museum, unlocks the secrets of the Norsemen’s superlative seamanship
Listen to Gareth Williams ONTHE PODCAST
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BBC History Magazine
The bow of the Oseberg ship, which was excavated from a burial mound in Norway. It was the Vikings’ skilled use of vessels such as this – rather than their prowess in battle – that made them such potent raiders
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One of the most enduring images of the Viking Age in the popular imagination is the longship, with its dragonhead, row of shields, and large square sail. Unlike the equally popular horned helmet (a Romantic fabrication of the 19th century), the longship is a fitting symbol for the Norsemen. The 250 years between AD 800 and 1050 saw a remarkable expansion from the Scandinavian homelands of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, involving a combination of raiding, conquest, peaceful settlement and long-distance trade.
That same period saw the Vikings develop a remarkable network of international contacts that spread from eastern Canada in the west to central Asia in the east, and north Africa in the south. Many of these contacts were peaceful, and in recent years the Vikings have become known for more than just their established reputation as violent, devious raiders.
Having said that, this reputation was far from unfounded, and would have been all-too familiar to contemporaries around the Viking world. The Persian geographer Ibn Rusta’s assessment of the Vikings in Russia is damning: “Treachery is endemic, and a poor man can be envied by a comrade, who will not hesitate to kill him and rob him.” Meanwhile, you can almost feel an anonymous ninthcentury Irish monk’s relief as he notes:
“The wind is sharp tonight, It tosses the white hair of the sea, I do not fear the crossing of the Clear Sea [Irish Sea], by the wild warriors of Lothlind [Vikings].” This quotation reminds us of how far the Viking expansion relied on their ships: remarkable vessels that could carry settlers across the Atlantic, trade goods along the river systems of Russia, and be used with devastating effect in raids around Europe.
Charlemagne’s biographer Einhard tells us
“Vikings crossed the Atlantic, traded goods along Russian rivers and carried out devastating raids across Europe”
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USPS Identification Statement BBC HISTORY MAGAZINE (ISSN 1469-8552) (USPS 024-177) March 2014 is published 13 times a year under license from BBC Worldwide by Immediate Media Company Bristol Ltd, 9th Floor, Tower House, Fairfax Street, Bristol BS1 3BN, UK. Distributed in the US by Circulation Specialists, Inc., 2 Corporate Drive, Suite 945, Shelton CT 06484-6238. Periodicals postage paid at Shelton, CT and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to BBC HISTORY MAGAZINE, PO Box 37495, Boone, IA 50037-0495.
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T O P F O T O
36 Alternative histories nd Britain outside the EU
43 “Upon meeting Katherine Parr he could not have been more relieved”
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