The October/November 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:
Monty and Alamein: ‘The end of the beginning’
To war-weary Britons in the autumn of 1942, victory in North Africa under General Bernard Montgomery came as a much-needed relief. For Montgomery himself, Alamein was to make his reputation as a national hero, although even in his moment of triumph there were portents of some of the controversies to come. In a two-part special, Graham Goodlad assesses the life of Britain’s best-known commander of WWII, and then analyses the battle itself.
Why the Armada failed: England’s deliverance in 1588
It was one of the greatest disasters in Spain’s history, yet it came within hours of success. Geoffrey Parker explains what really happened
But for one man… The Butterfly Effect
John Lock looks back at the Cuban Missile Crisis of 60 years ago, the dramatic Cold War stand-off that almost led to nuclear war
The end of everything: the Battle of Mohács, 1526
Suleiman I’s central European campaign culminated in devastating defeat for Hungary. Andrew Southam describes the action
Hell and high water: the submarine in warfare
John Medhurst traces the history of the submarine in conflict, from the earliest experiments to the First World War
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 acting editor
Many of us like to think we are familiar with the story of the Spanish Armada: how a vast force sent by Philip II to conquer these isles was scattered to the four winds after the English fleet, inspired by the genius of Queen Elizabeth I, won a decisive victory in the Channel. As we learn in this issue of MHM, however, it turns out that most of us have only a partial understanding of this central event in English and Spanish history.
In our cover story, Geoffrey Parker, co-author of a new book about the Armada, explains that we have long known a great deal about how England avoided invasion, thanks to the publication of the major Elizabethan documents. But it is only now – with the disclosure of new evidence from Armada shipwrecks, and from archives in Spain, Belgium, and Italy – that it has become possible to tell the full story.
Also in this issue, we mark the 80th anniversary of El Alamein, one of the pivotal battles of the Second World War. In our two-part special, Graham Goodlad assesses the career of Bernard Montgomery and analyses how the controversial general led the Eighth Army to victory.
Elsewhere, you’ll find two features on submarine warfare. In the first, John Lock recalls the underwater drama of the Cuban Missile Crisis. In the second, John Medhurst looks further back in time to explain how these strange new vessels were able eventually to revolutionise conflict.
And finally, Andrew Southam tells the grim story of the Battle of Mohács, the devastating 1526 defeat of Hungary by the armies of Suleiman the Magnificent, which signalled the country’s demise as a unified independent kingdom.
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, and Instagram.