Christmas issue is on sale now!

Our big story…

THE DARK AGES

Explore the story of Britain in the Dark Ages – a time of brutish and uncivilised raiders and tyrannical rulers. How did the British Isles end up in such a dire situation after the relative culture and sophistication of the Romans?

Plus… KING ARTHUR

He is Britain’s eternal hero, the leader of legend whose adventures and exploits have been told and retold for over a millennium. But Arthur’s ‘real’ life is a mystery – one we may never get to the bottom of…

Also inside the issue…

WALKING TO FREEDOM
Rosa Parks’ refusal to give up her seat on the local bus to a white man initiated a chain of events that would change the course of American history

NELSON’S LAST GREAT VICTORY
How Admiral Nelson’s crushing defeat of the French and Spanish navies at Trafalgar in 1805 established Britain as the dominant world naval power for the next century

GUNFIGHT AT THE OK CORRAL
Why the legendary shoot-out in the Old West was not the simple good vs bad clash that the 1993 blockbuster Tombstone suggests.

CHRISTMAS SPECIAL ISSUE! With…

Peace in the trenches: World War I’s Christmas truce
George Washington’s Christmas crossing of the Delaware
The real Father Christmas
The festive theft of the Stone of Scone
Why do we say: ‘Bah, Humbug’?
And a CHRISTMAS SPECIAL Q&A!

Plus…

The Berlin Blockade – one of the first Cold War hostilities

Royal bottom wiper to whipping boy – the 10 worst jobs in history

Across Arabia’s sands – the great adventures of explorer Wilfred Thesiger

Visiting Britain’s gothic churches

A look at the big anniversaries, events and exhibitions of 2015

You could win a prize by completing this month’s historical crossword

… and much, much more!