COVER ILLUSTRATION: DAVIDE BONAZZI–SALZMANART. THIS PAGE: ALAMY/STEVE SAYERS–THE SECRET STUDIO 3China’s growing power has made
headlines throughout 2019 – yet it’s
a story with long historical roots.
Since we launched this magazine almost three years ago,
one word has dominated the pinboard on which we share
cover ideas: ‘China’. You need only recall fears that tele-
coms giant Huawei may be spying on rival nations, or
US president Donald Trump denouncing what he sees as
China’s unfair trade practices, to grasp why. This issue we
explore aspects of the history of tensions between China
and the west – economic (page 6),
political (page 14) and military,
notably the 19th-century
Opium Wars that marked
the beginning of the end for
imperial China (page 20).
Elsewhere, we look at
other ways in which history
challenges simplistic notions
of national boundaries. On
page 28, Lewis Dartnell charts
how an understanding of nature –
speci fic a l ly, trade winds – drove the creation and expan-
sion of European empires. And, on page 64, Matt Carr
follows the perilous journeys undertaken by some of
Europe’s Jewish people to escape encroaching Nazism
during the Second World War.
It’s not just human action that shaped the global past,
though – it’s ideas, too. If a history of hair sounds like an
overly frivolous subject, our interview with Emma Dabiri
should change your mind. On page 72, she discusses how
European attitudes towards Afro hair fed colonialism- and explores the legacy of that today. It’s a fascinating,
thought-provoking read.
We’ll be back on 12 September
with, among other things, a look at
the women of the American West
and expert takes on how the Second
World War still shapes today’s
world. Until then, enjoy the issue.
Matt Elton
Editor
[email protected]WELCOME ISSUE 17
BBC World Histories explores the
history behind the headlines, and offers
fresh perspectives on our global pastMORE FROM US
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