CONTENTS Regulars ✪ On the cover
REGULARS 44 Eyewitness: A prisoner of war in
Thailand, 1942 by Leopold Manning ✪
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48 A Year in Pictures: 1958 – Chess
players, communists and chorus lines by Richard Overy 58 Perspectives: The Moriscos are
expelled from Spain by Matt Carr 76 Extraordinary People: Fernão Lopes
by AR Azzam 114 Column: Global Connections
by Michael Scott
THE BRIEFING
8 Viewpoints: Sudhir Hazareesingh
on the French election ✪, Frank Trentmann on religion and consumerism, Gordon Corera on cybersecurity, Rutger Bregman on visions of utopia ✪, and Adam IP Smith on political labels 16 Back Story: South Africa: Can the
This issue we’ve been asking … How far does Macron’s victory in France represent a break from the past? 8 Why is Canada so different from the US?
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Why was a 16th-century Portuguese nobleman voluntarily exiled on St Helena? 76 Which Maori object was found by a young boy when he set free his school’s pet frog? 78 What inspired the Chinese people to keep fighting during the Second World War? 84 Why was one of Khiva’s largest jade-andturquoise-tiled minarets left unfinished? 110
rainbow nation find a brighter future? by Chris Bowlby
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22 History Headlines: Global discoveries
and developments in the world of history
CULTURE 84 In Conversation: Hans van de Ven and
Rana Mitter discuss the former’s book on China’s 20th-century wars ✪ 92 Book reviews: New releases assessed 98 Agenda: Exhibitions, films and TV
JOURNEYS
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1824 expedition to Timbuktu by Charlie English 108 Global City: Sofia by Paul Bloomfield 110 Wonders of the World: Khiva, ISSUE 5 COVER ILLUSTRATION BY JOEY GUIDONE
Uzbekistan by Paul Bloomfield 91 Next issue preview and pre-order
KATE HAZELL/REUTERS
102 In the footsteps of… An ill-fated
CONTRIBUTORS Expert voices from the world of history Zeinab Badawi 8
The producer and presenter of a major new BBC World News TV series explores why ancient African history is largely forgotten. “I’m not suggesting there was a conspiracy, of course – just that there wasn’t enough emphasis placed on African history by either African or non-African leaders,” she says on page 64.
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110
Margaret Conrad
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As Canada marks the 150th anniversary of confederation – an event that’s not been met with universal celebration – Margaret Conrad, professor emerita at the University of New Brunswick, investigates why “tensions frustrate any attempt to present Canada’s history as only a story of triumphal progress” (page 32).
Jacob Dlamini How can South Africa escape the scandals and corruption that have dogged its past few decades? That’s the question explored in this issue’s Back Story feature, starting on page 16. Jacob Dlamini, associate professor of history at Princeton University, shares his thoughts on how the nation could reshape its future.
Charlie English
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COLLECTION OF PUKE ARIKI, NEW PLYMOUTH/JENI NOTT/S C SEKHAR/ FRAN MONKS/AKG IMAGES/AWL IMAGES
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On page 102 the former head of international news at the Guardian traces an ambitious but ill-fated 19th-century expedition across the Sahara to a near-legendary city in Mali. “Timbuktu dominated the west’s ideas about Africa much as El Dorado had once coloured European concepts of the Americas,” he says.
Rosemary O’Kane Professor emeritus of comparative political theory at the University of Keele, O’Kane is among our panel of experts discussing whether terrorism has ever met its objectives (page 24). “In the 21st century, terrorist groups – most strikingly those concerned with ‘global jihad’ – often lack clear political goals,” she argues.
CONTACT US
Website historyextra.com/worldhistories Twitter twitter.com/historyextra Facebook facebook.com/historyextra Email worldhistories@historyextra.com Post BBC World Histories, Immediate Media Company Bristol Limited, Tower House, Fairfax Street, Bristol BS1 3BN, UK Phone +44 117 314 7377
Hans van de Ven China’s experience of the Second World War remains little understood in the west, suggests van de Ven on page 84. He met up with fellow expert Rana Mitter to discuss why Eurocentric views of the conflict remain so prevalent – and how widening it may offer us new perspectives about China’s importance.
This year’s 150th anniversary of the confederation of Canada is being celebrated with gusto – but not by all of its citizens. Margaret Conrad explores the sometimes turbulent history of the vast former British colony
GETTY IMAGES
CANADA: STRONG AND FREE?
The next generation Three generations of Cree First Nations in 1916, with the grandsons dressed in First World War uniforms. Canada’s relationship with its diverse people, and with the rest of the world, has shifted multiple times since confederation
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AFRICA ALAMY
THE SECRET HISTORY
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As the BBC launches a major new TV series on the history of Africa, the programme’s producer and presenter Zeinab Badawi explains why such an undertaking is important in reshaping our view of the continent’s history INTERVIEW BY MATT ELTON
ACCOMPANIES THE BBC WORLD NEWS TV SERIES THE HISTORY OF AFRICA
Statues of pharaohs from the Nubia region (in what’s now Egypt and Sudan), home to one of Africa’s earliest civilisations. A new BBC TV series explores the continent’s ancient history, often obscured in recent retellings by later crises and conflicts
JOURNEYS Alexander Gordon Laing’s trans-Sahara expedition to Timbuktu
T
Leone, Laing was appointed by the secretary of state for war and the colonies, Lord Bathurst, to lead a new mission to locate the “farfamed Capital of Central Africa”, as he described Timbuktu. This, he wrote, was his destiny: “Tis that which bids my bosom glow, To climb the stiff ascent of fame, To share the praise the just bestow And give myself a deathless name.” Laing arrived in Tripoli in May 1825, where he was met by the British consul, a hard-drinking patriot named Hanmer Warrington. Laing embarked on a whirlwind romance with Warrington’s daughter, Emma, marrying her on 14 July. Four days later, on 18 July, he rode out of Tripoli and into the searing heat of the Sahara. Across the burning sands
Laing had engaged as guide a merchant, Sheikh Babani, agreeing a sizeable fee for the sheikh to lead the Scotsman to Timbuktu, a journey that would – the sheikh promised – be completed in two and a half months. First Babani’s caravan set out for the ancient oasis town of Ghadames, today on the Libya-Algeria border south-west of Tripoli. It is a distance of less than 300 miles as the crow flies, yet Sheikh Babani took a roundabout 1,000-milelong route. By the time the caravan reached Ghadames on 13 September, the camels were skeletal – several were lame – and the men had run out of food. Laing stayed in Ghadames for six weeks, pining for Emma; in a letter to Warrington, he even threatened to abandon his mission in order to return to his young bride. But his sense of destiny prevailed, and on 27 October the party set out
Scores of travellers had been dispatched to find the city of Timbuktu, but every attempt had ended in failure – or death
An engraving of Alexander Gordon Laing by Samuel Freeman
Alexander Gordon Laing: explorer, soldier, glory-hunter Alexander Gordon Laing (1794–1826) was born in Edinburgh, the son of a schoolmaster. He worked briefly as a teacher himself before escaping into the army, with early postings to the exotic territories of Barbados, Jamaica and, in 1819 or 1820, Sierra Leone. In west Africa, Laing led a number of missions into the interior, demonstrating the courage, physical robustness and talent for self-promotion that would be essential to the attempt on Timbuktu that was taking shape in his head. In 1824, in poor health, he was sent home to report on a disastrous British defeat by the Ashanti empire (in what’s now Ghana) to the secretary of state for war and the colonies, Lord Bathurst. To the irritation of his commanding officer in Sierra Leone, who complained that Laing was “unwize, unofficerlike, and unmanly”, and that his “military exploits were [even] worse than his poetry”, the 29-year-old major ingratiated himself with Bathurst and was appointed to lead a Timbuktu mission. In May 1825 Laing arrived in Tripoli (now capital of Libya), where he was greeted by the British consul, Hanmer Warrington. He immediately embarked on a whirlwind romance with Warrington’s daughter, Emma. She and Laing were married on 14 July 1825, four days before the groom set out on his ill-fated expedition to Timbuktu. Laing was murdered, probably on 26 September 1826, shortly after leaving Timbuktu in the company of a Barabish Arab described as “the enemy of God and his prophet”, who ordered the killing.
AKG IMAGES
imbuktu: even today, the name of this ancient city in Mali conjures up exotic images, evoking the heady romance of the Sahara. But in the early 19th century, it was the stuff of legend. Timbuktu dominated the west’s ideas about Africa much as El Dorado had once coloured European concepts of the Americas. It was believed to govern a rich sub-Saharan region called the Sudan, from the Arabic Bilad al-Sudan: “land of the blacks”. Rumours of its existence had circulated in Europe for centuries, and its wealth had been trumpeted since at least the 14th century, its houses reportedly roofed with gold. Scores of travellers had been dispatched, but every attempt had ended in failure – or death. In 1824 a more concrete incentive appeared: the French Société de Géographie offered a prize for the first explorer to attain and document Timbuktu – a reward that quickly reached the substantial sum of 10,000 francs, accompanied by a Great Gold Medal of Exploration and Journeys of Discovery. As word of the prize spread, the quest took on a more competitive edge. However, the man fated to become the first modern European to reach this elusive city was motivated not by the prize but by a more personal impulse – or so he claimed. Alexander Gordon Laing, a goodlooking, self-absorbed army major from Edinburgh, was desperate to avoid the “middle station” of British life. “I shall do more than has ever been done before,” he once wrote, “and shall show myself to be what I have ever considered myself, a man of enterprise and genius.” In 1824, at the age of 29 and having served in the Caribbean and Sierra
Laing departs Tripoli in the caravan of Sheikh Babani, which takes a circuitous route towards Ghadames through searing heat
Laing’s party arrives in the oasis town of Ghadames, where they stay for six weeks The caravan arrives in the ancient trading post of In Salah
Laing and Babani set out across the arid Tanezrouft region
Laing is attacked by Tuareg. Left for dead, he rides a camel 400 miles to a Kunta Arab camp at “Azoad” Laing departs Timbuktu on the advice of a treacherous Barabish Arab sheikh, and is murdered a few days later
While Laing recuperates at “Azoad”, disease ravages the Kunta Arab camp, killing Babani and their host
After a journey of nearly six weeks from “Azoad”, Laing reaches Timbuktu
ILLUSTRATION BY THERESA GRIEBEN
INSIDE THE FIFTH ISSUE...
Expert voices and fresh takes on our global past – and how it shapes our lives in the 21st century
Can South Africa escape its past to find a bright future?
As the nation marks its 150th anniversary, we explore its turbulent history
ISSUE 5 In search of the fabled African city of Timbuktu
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