The April/May 2022 issue of Military History Matters, the British military history magazine, is out now.
The best way to access the magazine is to subscribe. Click here to find out more. To read the digital archive, click here. You can also access the magazine online (as well as exclusive extra content) at our new website, The Past.
IN THIS ISSUE:
Renaissance warfare: a military revolution
The military history of the Renaissance period has been neglected. In our special this issue, we attempt to address this imbalance by looking at the transformation of warfare in the early 16th century. First, we offer an overview of the Italian Wars and the changes in military organisation that they fostered. Then we analyse one signal encounter, the Battle of Bicocca, fought exactly 500 years ago this spring.
Churchill’s darkest hour: the fall of Singapore and the military disasters of 1942
Taylor Downing looks at a doom-laden year for the British war effort
The charge of the Iron Fleet: Charleston, 7 April 1863
Michael Laramie describes the attack on Fort Sumter by a fleet of Union ironclads
But for a few misplaced bombs: the Butterfly Effect
John Lock looks at the accident that triggered the Blitz
A tale of three farms: conflict archaeology
Euan Loarridge describes a major project to investigate the battlefield of Waterloo
Also in this issue:
The latest in a new series on classic military history books, War Culture, Book Reviews, Museum Review, Back to the Drawing Board, Listings, Competitions, and more.
To subscribe to the magazine, click here. To subscribe to the digital archive, click here. You can also access the magazine online (as well as exclusive extra content) at our new website, The Past. Find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
From the editor:
The Renaissance is famous for its art. But it was not just a cultural revolution. It was an age of transformation that affected all aspects of life, including warfare.
Our special this issue takes a close look at this strangely neglected period of military history. By the late 15th century, the crude head-to-head collisions characteristic of medieval battles were giving way to a new kind of war based on firepower, manoeuvre, and combined-arms operations.
Much of it was experimental. It was a while before commanders mastered the tactics of the ‘pike-and-shot’ era. But that only makes it more fascinating: we bear witness to a military revolution in the making.
Also this time, we have the second of John Lock’s ‘butterfly effect’ articles, this time looking at how ‘a few misplaced bombs’ saved the RAF from defeat in the Battle of Britain. Continuing the Second World War theme, Taylor Downing, our regular film reviewer, takes us to ‘Churchill’s darkest hour’ – not, it seems, 1940, but 1942, a doom-laden year that began with the fall of Singapore.
Completing the issue, naval historian Michael Laramie describes ‘the charge of the iron fleet’ at Charleston in April 1863 – classic confrontation of shore batteries and ironclads – while archaeologist Euan Loarridge reports on a project that brings together professionals, students, and military veterans in an ongoing investigation of the battlefield of Waterloo.
We are profoundly sorry to report Neil’s death, on 4 February 2022, shortly before this issue went to press. Read Current Publishing’s tribute to him here.
To subscribe to the magazine, click here. To subscribe to the digital archive, click here. You can also access the magazine online (as well as exclusive extra content) at our new website, The Past. Find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.