History Revealed brings the past to life for everyone. It’s an action-packed, image-rich magazine with zero stuffiness. Each issue has a central section that takes a closer look at one of history’s big stories, such as the Wild West or Ancient Rome, telling everything you need to know. We also explore the lives of the truly famous, follow the great adventures of the past, taste the blood and thunder of battles, and look at how closely Hollywood blockbusters have told history. Plus, we answer questions about some of the more surprising and strange aspects of the past. If you want to get into history, subscribe today.
WELCOME
THIS MONTH'S BIG NUMBERS
1977 A MAMMOTH TASK
C1925 MAMBO ITALIANO
1936 MOVE OVER, MAD MEN!
THINGS WE LEARNED THIS MONTH... • RECENT HISTORY HEADLINES THAT CAUGHT OUR EYE
Jouster at the Royal Armouries
Ramblers take part in the Kinder Scout trespass
DID YOU KNOW?
BBC 100 • EVERY MONTH THROUGHOUT 2022, WE’LL BE COMMEMORATING THE BBC’S 100TH BIRTHDAY WITH A TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE...
OTHER ANNIVERSARIES • A LOOK BACK AT OTHER EVENTS THAT HAVE TAKEN PLACE IN APRIL THROUGHOUT HISTORY
PARANORMAL COLD CASE INVESTIGATING HISTORY’S MOST SPINE-CHILLING ENCOUNTERS • BBC Radio’s Danny Robins speaks to a woman who spent two years terrorised by a ‘poltergeist’ in her student digs. But was it actually trying to help her?
The Declaration of Arbroath
George Washington: the father of a nation • The Virginian commanded the Continental Army that won America independence from Britain, and later became the nation’s first president. But what other milestones marked Washington’s path to greatness?
THE HISTORY OF WITCHCRAFT
SIX CENTURIES OF FEAR AND PERSECUTION • We look at some of the most significant witch hunts, trials and executions in European and American history, and the laws that fuelled people’s superstitions
A CAULDRON OF CULTURES • Professor Ronald Hutton reveals how ancient civilisations helped shape early modern beliefs about witches and witchcraft
ROUGH INJUSTICE • Professor Marion Gibson reveals how England’s early modern legal system dealt with suspected ‘witches’
TWO NOTORIOUS WITCH TRIALS
ON THE PROWL • Hunting witches was a lucrative profession, giving plucky vigilantes the opportunity to earn high wages and gain social standing within communities gripped by fear and worry
SCOTLAND’S WITCH HUNTS • Astonishing numbers of suspected ‘witches’ faced trial, torture and execution north of the border, as these stories and statistics demonstrate...
TORTURE • Torture as a way of extracting ‘confessions’ from alleged witches was legal in Scotland, as it was on the continent. These four individuals make up just a handful of those who were subjected to unspeakable terrors and pain...
JANET CORNFOOT
JANET MATHIE
FACT OR FICTION? • Most people’s knowledge of ‘witches’ stems from popular horror tropes involving warty-faced women stirring cauldrons, or innocent young girls being drowned in ponds. But how much of this is based on pure mythology? Professor Owen Davies addresses eight popular misconceptions about the history of witchcraft in Europe
ISLAND OF THE DEAD • In Haiti and the Dominican Republic, some people still claim they have the ability to practise magic and command zonbi spirits. Professor Lauren Derby explores the history behind this unique form of Caribbean sorcery
AN AMERICAN HORROR STORY • In 1692 and 1693, the New England settlement of Salem was gripped by a witch-hunting frenzy that would leave more than a dozen people dead – and countless lives ruined
DID YOU KNOW?
WHY DID THE SALEM WITCH TRIALS HAPPEN? • A complex mixture of factors only left the settlers...