May 2019 (Issue 68)

Expert articles from the May 2019 issue of BBC History Revealed Magazine

Writer JRR Tolkien smokes a pipe

JRR Tolkien The making of Middle Earth

Paratroopers over Dien Bien Phu

Dien Bien Phu: the battle that split Vietnam

Madame Tussaud's exhibition at Baker Street, London. But who was her first waxwork? (Photo by Bettmann, via Getty Images)

Q&A Who was Madame Tussaud’s first waxwork?

An engraving of the thin Red Line, depicting the 93rd Regiment at the battle of Balaklava

Q&A What was the Thin Red Line?

Tyburn, just north of Marble Arch, served as the capital's hanging spot for centuries. (Photo by Culture Club/Getty Images)

General History

An A-Z guide to the history of executions

The pirate Blackbeard

10 brilliant beards from history

Women in ancient Athens

Love, magic and murder: the strange death of Philoneos in 430BC

A biplane takes off from Newfoundland

Alcock and Brown: the first aviators to fly across the Atlantic

Edward the Confessor depicted on the Bayeux Tapestry.

Q&A What did Edward ‘confess’?

Record producer Joe Meek

Joe Meek: the life and legacy of the British record producer