BBC History Magazine

BBC History Magazine aims to shed new light on the past to help you make more sense of the world today. Fascinating stories from contributors are the leading experts in their fields, so whether they're exploring Ancient Egypt, Tudor England or the Second World War, you'll be reading the latest, most thought-provoking historical research. BBC History Magazine brings history to life with informative, lively and entertaining features written by the world's leading historians and journalists and is a captivating read for anyone who's interested in the past.

BBC History Magazine

WELCOME

Justice through the ages • As society and its values changed, so too did Britain's criminal justice system. Alyson Brown charts important milestones in crime and punishment over the centuries

MEDIEVAL JUSTICE • In the Middle Ages, law was deeply embedded in local communities, says Hannah Skoda. Punishments were harsh, public and guaranteed to strip the criminal of their reputation and dignity

THE REAL ROBIN HOODS • The legend of Robin Hood may have been inspired by real life outlaws. Hugh Doherty looks at the judicial process of outlawry in medieval England and at what it meant to be declared beyond the protection of the law

The outlawry of Fulk fitz Warin • An early 13th-century document records the verdict on a baron and his followers

Smuggling's heyday • Dr Evan Jones visits Bristol to explore the city's thriving trade in illicit goods during the 16th century and reveals a very different type of smuggler to the 19th-century stereotype

SMUGGLING: FIVE MORE PLACES TO EXPLORE

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THE HUNT FOR THE TUDOR HITMAN • In 1536, a London merchant was gunned down with a lethal new weapon in a killing that bore all the hallmarks of a professional 'hit'. But who pulled the trigger, and why? Derek Wilson investigates

The assassin's weapon of choice • The pistol that killed Robert Packington made Europe's rulers decidedly jumpy

Did the clergy have form? • Those who held churchmen responsible for Packington's death were quick to call attention to a similar killing in 1514

THE SACRIFICE OF CAPTAIN KIDD • Angus Konstam argues that the infamous 'pirate' was thrown to the wolves by shadowy aristocrats for crimes he did not commit

A LIFE AT SEA: CAPTAIN KIDD

BRITAIN'S FIRST TERRORIST • In the 1770s, as Britain's American colonies headed towards revolution, George III faced an additional challenge at home. Jessica Warner explains how a disaffected Scot terrorised Britain's dockyards and caused panic throughout the country

A superpower and the young men who hated it • James Aitken wanted to make his mark in the world and allied himself to the American cause that attracted idle adventurers as well as future US statesmen

Profile of a terrorist

STAND AND DELIVER

A DEADLY OBSESSION IN VICTORIAN LONDON • When 40,000 Londoners watched a man hang for slitting an aristocrat's throat in May 1840, opponents of the death penalty railed at the barbarity of the punishment. So why, asks Dr Clare Walker Gore, were they also beguiled by the ghastly spectacle?

The great Victorian letter swindle • Royals, politicians and famous authors were all duped by begging-letter writers in the 19th century. Antonio Melechi probes a precursor of today's email scams

POLICING THE NATION • To what extent does the modern police force – national, professional, consensual, accountable – owe its roots to developments of the 18th and 19th centuries? Clive Emsley leads the...