The October issue of Military History Monthly, the British military history magazine, is now on sale.
To subscribe to the magazine, click here. To subscribe to the digital archive, click here.
In this issue:
RISE OF THE IRONCLAD: the American Civil War and the birth of US naval power
Our special this month looks at the prodigious rise of US naval power. The American Civil War saw revolutionary changes in the technology of water-based warfare: most importantly, the shifts from wood to iron, and sail to steam. In our first feature, Patrick Boniface takes a look at Abraham Lincoln’s role as father of the modern US Navy. In our second, MHM Editor Neil Faulkner explores the pioneering technology of the Confederates during the war.
CHE GUEVARA: great revolutionary or military bungler?
Edmund West and Chris Bambery go head-to-head in a debate on the conflicted legacy of legendary guerrilla commander Che Guevara.
CUCKOO IN THE NEST
The Sopwith Cuckoo: the ominous bird that threatened the German Navy.
Phillip MacDougall traces a top-secret plan to torpedo the German High Seas Fleet.
Black Watch at Fontenoy, 1745
Patrick Mercer recalls the debut of this formidable Highland regiment.
San Cristóbal: world’s largest prison break?
Jules Stewart sheds light on a little-known mass PoW breakout during the Spanish Civil War.
Also in this issue:
- In the second of a new series on Women at War, we recount the heroics of SOE agent Noor Inayat Khan.
- Taylor Downing reviews cinematic depictions of the Dunkirk evacuations, including Christopher Nolan’s latest blockbuster.
- In our regular War Culture section, Simon Coppock appreciates the art of Roger Fenton, one of the first war photographers and distinguished recorder of the Crimean War.
- Stephen Miles visits the Regimental Museum of the Royal Welsh.
- Behind the Image
- Book Reviews
- Competitions
- And much more!
To subscribe to the magazine click here. To subscribe to the digital archive click here.
From the editor
MHM Editor Dr Neil Faulkner
The United States became a global superpower in the early 20th century. Its military and maritime power would create ‘the American Century’. Its armed forces remain to this day overwhelmingly predominant over those of any other single state.
When did such prodigious military power first emerge? The American Civil War was the great turning point. When it started, the US Army numbered 16,000 men, the US Navy just 90 ships. Before the war ended, the Union Army had grown to 600 ,000 men , and the US Navy had in service almost 700 ships.
Our special this issue focuses on the Civil War navies. Patrick Boniface charts the role of Abraham Lincoln, seeing him as the true founder of the modern US Navy, and my complementary piece analyses the Confederate ‘naval revolution’.
Also this issue, we have a debate between Chris Bambery and Edmund West on the military achievements of Che Guevara (50 years after his death in October 1967), an article on the long-hidden First World War roots of torpedo-bombing by naval historian Philip MacDougall, a report on history’s biggest POW breakout from Jules Stewart, and a focus on the Black Watch at Fontenoy in 1745 in Patrick Mercer’s regiment series.