The February/March 2024 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:
Disaster to triumph: Burma, 1944
Fought amid jungles and mountains near the border between India and Burma (now Myanmar), Imphal and Kohima was voted ‘Britain’s greatest battle’ in a poll for London’s National Army Museum. In our two part special for this issue, timed to mark the battle’s 80th anniversary, Graham Goodlad first explains how Lieutenant-General William (Bill) Slim managed to build the multinational British Fourteenth Army into formidable force, then analyses the battle and its aftermath to understand how this savagely fought victory turned the tide in Burma and finally brought an end to years of Japanese expansionism.
1385 and all that: the failed French conquest
The Norman Conquest remains a key event in English history, but later French invasions have been forgotten, as Duncan Cameron explains
The last charge: Mars-la-Tour, 1870
A crucial battle of the Franco-Prussian War was also the site of perhaps Europe’s last successful cavalry charge, as William E. Welsh reveals
The spies who never were: the Deceivers
In the third part of our series on deception in WWII, Taylor Downing uncovers the true story of the double agents Brutus and Garbo
Hell and high water: the Kaiser’s U-boats
At the outbreak of WWI, a devastating new weapon changed the rules of naval warfare. David Porter analyses a submarine threat
Also in this issue:
The latest in our 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 (X), and Instagram.
BOOK AWARDS 2024 – VOTE NOW! Military History Matters has curated a list of last year’s best military history titles: the nominees for this year’s MHM book awards. But now we need your help to select the winners! Find out more.
From the editor:
Over the year to come, MHM will be marking the 80th anniversaries of some of the epic battles – from D Day onwards – which together made 1944 the decisive year of the Second World War in the West.
In this issue, however, we are reminded of the conflict’s global reach, as we look back on another crucial engagement in that year, which would also change the course of the war – but which took place thousands of miles from the Western Front.
In our two-part special feature for this issue, Graham Goodlad analyses the Battle of Imphal and Kohima – considered by many to be the ‘Stalingrad of the East’ – and profiles Bill Slim, the inspirational commander who led his ‘Forgotten Army’ of British and Commonwealth troops to victory on the India–Burma border.
Elsewhere, our military technology expert David Porter investigates the development of the Kaiser’s U-boats during World War I, and reveals how this new submarine threat changed the rules of naval warfare.
Also in this issue, Duncan Cameron travels further back in time to understand how repeated attempts by France to invade England at the end of the 14th century came to end in failure; while William E Welsh examines the 1870 Battle of Mars-la-Tour, famous as the site of perhaps the last successful cavalry charge in Western European warfare.
Last but not least, Taylor Downing continues his fascinating series on the use of deception in World War II by telling the extraordinary story of the double agents Brutus and Garbo, and MI5’s top-secret XX Committee.
And finally, don’t forget to vote in the MHM Book Awards 2024! You can find more details about the shortlist and how to take part here.
We hope you enjoy this issue!
Laurence Earle
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 (X), and Instagram.