The May issue of Military History Monthly, the British military history magazine, is now on sale.
In this issue:
SPECIAL: BRITANNIA – THE REAL STORY
This month, our special delves into the true history behind the fictional new TV series Britannia. The Roman invasion of Britain pitted two very different military entities against each other: the Romans and the Celts. In our first feature, Mark Corby recaps the evolution of the Roman Army into the world’s most professional military force; in our second, MHM Editor Neil Faulkner takes a detailed look at the heavily contrasting Celtic way of war.
Arctic underdogs: Battle of Suomussalmi, 1939-1940
Edmund West analyses the heavily outnumbered Finnish Army’s crushing victory over the Soviets during the icy winter of 1939-1940.
Afghanistan: an unconquerable territory?
Jules Stewart looks at the military long durée, from ancient history to the present day, of the embattled territory of Afghanistan.
Irish independence and the Black and Tans
Patrick Mercer recaps the notorious actions of Britain’s counter-insurgency units in the Irish War of Independence, 1919-1921.
Churchill’s lucky escape
Colin Pomeroy reports on a little-known incident that almost landed Britain’s wartime prime minister in Nazi hands.
Also in this issue:
War on Film; Women at War; Book of the Month; Book Reviews; Museum Review; Event Listings; Competitions; and much more.
To subscribe to the magazine, click here. To subscribe to the digital archive, click here.
From the editor
The Roman conquest of Britain has become the basis of a new TV historical drama. The producers have made no claim to authenticity – which is fair enough – but we thought it might be useful to take a look at what really happened.
So our special this time focuses on the fatal collision between two very different ways of war in the British Isles between AD 43 and 84. Mark Corby argues that the Roman Imperial Army had become, by the 1st century AD, quite possibly the most thoroughly professional army the world has ever seen. In my piece, I contrast that military machine with the Celtic battle-arrays it confronted in the four major battles recorded in the ancient sources.
Also in this issue, Edmund West recalls the Battle of Suomussalmi between Soviet invaders and Finnish defenders, fought near the Arctic Circle in the winter of 1939/40, and Jules Stewart offers an overview of 2,500 years of Afghan military history from Cyrus the Great to George Bush.
Patrick Mercer’s ‘Regiment’ this month focuses on the notorious Black and Tans, specially recruited for service against the IRA during the Irish War of Independence in 1919-1921, while Colin Pomeroy reports in ‘Sideshow’ on a hazardous transatlantic flight that almost led to Churchill’s capture by the Nazis.
To subscribe to the magazine, click here. To subscribe to the digital archive, click here.
