July 2021

Articles from the July 2021 issue of BBC History Magazine

Woman wearing a bikini

Why we should remember The launch of the swimsuit that scandalised the world

William Hogarth, seen in a self-portrait with his pug

William Hogarth The satirical artist inspired by the teachings of the Bible

Sylvia Plath seated in front of a bookshelf.

The tragic story behind Sylvia Plath’s writing

Illustration showing the traders who made a fortune during the wake of the Black Death

Merchants of doom: the traders who profited from the Black Death

John F Kennedy with US Army officials during the Cuban missile crisis

“We are eyeball to eyeball, and I think the other fellow just blinked”: how the Cuban Missile Crisis escalated

A photograph of the England team that faced Australia at the Oval in the 1896 Ashes series

Batting for the British Empire: how Victorian cricket was more than just a game

Black and white image of a group of five men sat on the floor in a room in Fiji. One of them is pointing at another with a serious expression on his face.

Cakobau: the first (and last) king of Fiji

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Alice Roberts, author of Ancestors: A Prehistory of Britain in Seven Burials

Alice Roberts “Graves are like time capsules – little microcosms of prehistoric culture" . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Mary Wortley Montagu pioneered inoculation in 18th-century Britain. (Illustration by Rosemary Smith)

Mary Wortley Montagu: the scourge of smallpox

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A colourised portrait of Anton Chekhov, from 1901

History hero William Boyd chooses Anton Chekhov (1860–1904) . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A portrait of William Barnes. The accomplished linguist wanted to adopt a form of English purged of foreign imports

National English: the language that would save England

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HEX_Voices_EmmaDabiri

Emma Dabiri "Harriet Jacobs’ writing transports readers to the world of Southern slavery" . This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.