JANUARY 2019
WELCOME
Welcome to our rst issue of 2019. If you’re looking to escape the January blues this month then a trip to the cinema might well be in order as two major historical lms will soon be hitting the screens. First up is The Favourite, which stars Olivia Colman and takes a somewhat unconventional look at the Stuart court. That’s followed by Tudor biopic Mary Queen of Scots, which is based on a biography by historian John Guy.
In this month’s edition we bring you the history behind both of these lms. In our cover feature, on page 40, Kate Williams considers who was ultimately responsible for Mary, Queen of Scots’ downfall. Was it Elizabeth I , Lord Darnley or even Mary herself? Then, on page 60, Hannah Greig, consultant on The Favourite, shows how the womandominated royal court presented on screen isn’t too far from reality.
One hundred years ago this month, the world was still trying to cope with the a ermath of war. Seeking to shape the peace, the victorious leaders met in Paris for a conference that would ultimately produce ve treaties, including the Treaty of Versailles, which dealt with Germany. Over the subsequent century, the peacemakers of 1919 have been regularly criticised for the harshness of the postwar settlement. This, it’s argued, paved the way for another global con ict just 20 years later. But in this month’s essay, on page 31, David Reynolds argues that we should be more sympathetic to the Allied leaders and the predicament they faced. It’s a topic that continues to provoke debate, so please let us know what you think.
Rob Attar Editor
THIS ISSUE’S CONTRIBUTORS
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C O V E R C R E D
I N O T T
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Hannah Greig Acting as historical consultant to The Favourite provided a welcome opportunity to revisit my research and long-standing interest in the early 18th-century court and the politically in uential women who surrounded it. P Hannah introduces us to the powerful women of Queen Anne’s febrile court on page 60
Piers Brendon My feature on 20th-century leaders re ects themes in my most ambitious book, The Dark Valley: A Panorama of the 1930s. This opens up the age through mini-studies of key gures such as Churchill, Roosevelt, Stalin, Hitler, Mussolini, Franco and Mao Zedong. P Piers reappraises the Great Man theory of history on page 20
Eric Lacey The Anglo-Saxons were astute observers of their natural world. This is sometimes overlooked because they rationalised it through recourse to supernatural agency. P Eric explores how 10th-century Anglo-Saxon warriors would have reacted to seeing wolves, ravens and eagles on the battlefield on page 47
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