Editor’s pick: 9 favourite articles from the BBC World Histories archive to read right now

In their own words: the team behind Apollo 11 describe the 1969 mission to the Moon

In July 1969, a team of astronauts, scientists and computer engineers achieved a remarkable feat: they landed two people on the Moon. As the world marked 50 years since the landing, BBC World Histories spoke to several Apollo 11 team members, who recalled the mission’s trials and triumphs…

Spanish flu: the virus that changed the world

In spring 1918 a disease began to sweep around the planet – a lethal virus that infected a third of the world's population and left upwards of 50 million dead. Laura Spinney explores the devastating impact of the Spanish flu pandemic and – in an update since its first publication – how it compares to the Coronavirus crisis. Read the full article here

You can also listen to Laura discuss Covid-19 and pandemics of the past on this episode of the HistoryExtra podcast.

The big question: should museums return their treasures?

Amid calls for the ‘return’ of artefacts such as the Benin Bronzes, the Elgin Marbles, and art looted by the Nazis during the Second World War, now held in museums far from their places of origin, four experts discuss the ethical and historical aspects of the ‘restitution’ of such treasures. Read the full article here.

Rewriting the past: the history that inspired Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four

George Orwell called Nineteen Eighty-Four “a novel about the future” but it was also a deeply researched story about the recent past. While she was writing The Handmaid’s Tale (1985), Margaret Atwood set herself a rule: “I would not include anything that human beings had not already done in some other place or time.” Similarly, Orwell drew many of the most disturbing elements of his fictional dictatorship of Oceania from totalitarian reality. From Stalinist Russia to the Spanish Civil War, the 20th century offered George Orwell a huge array of material for his dystopian novel. Here, Dorian Lynskey charts the events that inspired a masterpiece.

Emma Dabiri on the changing perceptions of Afro-textured hair

"Afro-textured hair had no stigma before the dehumanisation of black people that emerged from slavery", says Emma Dabiri. Here, the historian, writer and broadcaster talks to Matt Elton about her book, Don’t Touch My Hair, exploring how perceptions of Afro-textured hair fuelled historical prejudice, oppression, slavery and colonial attitudes. Read more here.

The hidden stories of the Holocaust

"There are many aspects of the Holocaust that deserve greater attention. Those who are familiar with Auschwitz might think that there is not much more for us to learn or to discover when, actually, there is plenty more for us to find out and to explore." Seventy-five years after the liberation of Auschwitz in January 1945, historian Nikolaus Wachsmann talks to Matt Elton about the hidden stories of the Holocaust.

From conqueror to youth icon: who was Cyrus the Great?

Why has a simple stone tomb in south-central Iran, used by authoritarian leaders to legitimise their hold on power, now become a focal point for disaffected youth? Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones explores the changing public image of an ancient Persian emperor, you can read the full article here

Out of the closets and into the streets: the legacy of the Stonewall Riots

More than 50 years ago, a riot at a grimy bar in New York City kick-started the nascent US gay rights movement. Writing for BBC World Histories magazine, Chris Parkes explores how the Stonewall Riots transformed the lives of queer people around the world. You can also listen to Chris talking about the revolutionary episode on the HistoryExtra podcast.

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