MHM December 2019

The December issue of Military History Matters, the British military history magazine, is now on sale.

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In this issue:

ON THE COVER: The Battle of Midway

Stirred in our memory by a new film and astonishing discoveries, the Battle of Midway can never be forgotten. Ending the Japanese supremacy that began with Pearl Harbor, it saw the Americans force their enemies onto the defensive, changing the course of the war. In this issue, Neil Faulkner examines the key ingredients of the American victory, providing a detailed account of the action, including the ‘fatal five minutes’, which changed history for good.

Agincourt: St Crispin’s Day revisited

Fred Chiaventone reconsiders the epic clash that inspired Shakespeare.

Wellington: Lessons in failure

Contrary to myth, the ‘Iron Duke’ lost many a battle. Stephen Roberts looks at how he heeded his own mistakes.

Curtis LeMay: Terror from the skies

Tom Farrell on the career of the commander with a thirst for aerial destruction.

Regiment: 1st Battalion, Royal Sussex Regiment

Patrick Mercer on the Battle of Abu Klea – a ‘savage’ battle against the Sudanese.

Also in this issue:

War Reporters, War Culture, Book Reviews, Museum Review, War on Film, Back to the Drawing Board, Listings, and more.

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From the editor

With the release of top director Roland Emmerich’s new blockbuster, our special this time focuses on the Battle of Midway.

Hollywood has to oversimplify battles, compressing complex action extending over hours or days and involving tens of thousands into a couple of hours of cinema. The question is not whether every detail is right, but whether the essence of the clash is represented.

The earlier Midway film (1976) was criticised for overloading the audience with military minutiae. Will Emmerich do better? Our special should equip readers with the knowledge to make an assessment. Letters welcome.

Also this issue, we have Fred Chiaventone’s provocative article on Agincourt, arguing that the English longbowmen probably killed more French knights with hand weapons than with arrows.

Tom Farrell offers an account of the career of Curtis ‘Bombs Away’ LeMay, America’s leading advocate of strategic bombing during both WWII and the Cold War.

Stephen Roberts also courts controversy with an article on Wellington’s often faltering performance in the Peninsula, while Patrick Mercer reports on the struggle of the Royal Sussex to defend a broken square in the Sudan in 1885.

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