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THEBRIEFING 6 Viewpoints: Phil Tinline on the modern
influence of historic geopolitics, Anne McElvoy on the ongoing impact of the rift along the Rhine, and Chitralekha Zutshi on the roots of tensions in Kashmir J
12 History Headlines: Discoveries and
developments in the world of history
CULTURE 76 Interview: With his series As Others
See Us returning to BBC Radio 4, Neil MacGregor explores how nations around the globe view Britain’s past J
82 Agenda: The latest exhibitions, TV and
films, plus the books to read this autumn JOURNEYS 86 In the footsteps of… Ibn Battuta’s
astonishing medieval journeys through Africa and Asia by Justin Marozzi REGULARS 30 A Y e a r i n P i c t u r e s : 1948
by Richard Overy 64 E x t r a o r d i n a r y P e o p l e : Yasuke,
the black samurai by Thomas Lockley J
98 Museum of the World: A remarkable
15t h- c ent u r y ma nu s c r ip t by Bryan C Keene
38 S u b s c r i b e to
BBC World Histories – start a 14-day trial and enjoy a FREE issue today! 96 S h a r e y o u r
thoughts about the magazine for the chance to win a £250 Amazon voucher
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Expert voices from the world of history
Carrie Gibson The story of Hispanic settlement in North America provides key insights into contemporary issues of migration. As the historian and author explains on page 14, there is a “long, intertwined history between Spain, the United States and its southern neighbour republics, much of which has faded from public memory”.
Karen R Jones “The history of ‘how the West was won’ (or lost) was much more variegated than the vision presented in traditional historical readings and countless Hollywood westerns,” the University of Kent historian explains on page 56, exploring a less well-known narrative of 19th-centur y pioneer women on t he US f ront ier.
Dorian Lynskey On page 66 the Guardian writer reveals the events that influenced George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four (1949). “[He] learned about many of the features of Stalinism that would feed into his great novel: the cult of personality; the rewriting of history; the assault on freedom of speech and thought,” says Lynskey.
Neil MacGregor The historian and broadcaster discusses As Others See Us, his new BBC Radio 4 series exploring how other nations view Britain’s history, on page 76. “Without exception, people in other countries know a great deal more about Britain and its history than British people do about them and theirs,” he says.
Dan Stone The professor of modern history at Royal Holloway University of London looks at concentration camps on page 23. “Historians are obliged to stress that the various examples are not all the same: they occurred at different times, in different places, and were administered by different regimes with differing ideologies,” he writes.
Chitralekha Zutshi India’s move to revoke the special status of Jammu & Kashmir has sparked global debate. On page 10, Chitralekha Zutshi, professor of history at The College of William and Mary in Virginia, explores the decision. “The secular, federal consensus with which India came into existence seems to be of the past,” she suggests.
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