BBC World Histories - May/June 2020 UK

As I write this at the end of March, nations around the globe are struggling to cope with the consequences – social, economic, political and, most of all, medical – of the coronavirus outbreak. Given the exponential spread and severity of the pandemic, it’s hard to predict the situation you’ll be experiencing when you read this a month from now. We’ve always endeavoured to place the headlines within their historical context, so I spoke to Laura Spinney, author of a major history of the 1918 flu pandemic, about what that contagion can teach us today. You can read her thoughts on
page 12, and hear the full interview on our podcast at historyextra.com/podcast.
Given how distressing the headlines continue to be, though, a full issue of pandemic coverage felt excessive. So within these pages you’ll find the usual mix of places, times, and people: the pioneers who forged California (page 16); the ways in which we still feel the influence of ancient Rome in the 21st century (page 28); and Shakespeare’s surprising impact on American history (page 6). It’s a reminder that, for good or for ill, everything is connected. Indeed, this issue’s Long Read suggests that the kinds of global links through which the coronavirus has spread existed as far back as AD 1000. at’s on page 55.