This summer, memorial services have been held, and tributes T paid around the globe, to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War which came first in Europe on 8 May 1945, and then in Japan a little over three months later. Eighty years ago, however, the celebrations and sense of euphoria that accompanied the Allied victory proved short-lived, as a dangerous new schism quickly became apparent. Less than a year after VE Day, on 5 March 1946, this emerging threat to Europe’s hard-won peace was summed up memorably, when Winston Churchill warned that ‘an iron curtain has descended across the continent’.
In our cover story for this issue, Taylor Downing introduces a new series in which MHM examines the rapid transition from World War to Cold War, and looks at the newly forged rivalry between the ‘West’, led by the United States, and the ‘East’, led by the Soviet Union, that would dominate military thinking for the next 50 years and beyond. –
Elsewhere, in the final part of his compelling history of treachery, Nigel Jones focuses on the French Revolution, shining a light on the military commanders who turned their backs on the country’s new political leaders, and who gambled everything to take on Napoleon.
Also in this issue: Graham Goodlad continues his study of Germany’s Great War allies, revealing how defeat for the Central Powers in 1918 brought about the break-up of the once-powerful Ottoman Empire; while Stephen Roberts delves deeper into history to analyse the chaos of the First Barons’ War of 1215-1217, and to understand how the disastrous reign of King John gave birth to one of England’s most important agreements.
Finally, Tim Newark travels still further back in time to tell the extraordinary story of Gaiseric, the Vandal warlord who in AD 455 humbled the world’s greatest empire, sacking Rome of its treasures, and even living to tell the tale.
We hope you enjoy the issue!