National Geographic History

See how National Geographic History magazine inflames and quenches the curiosity of history buffs and informs and entertains anyone who appreciates that the truth indeed is stranger than fiction with a digital subscription today. And that history is not just about our forebears. It’s about us. It’s about you.

FROM THE EDITOR

National Geographic History

Africa’s Oldest Human Burial Discovered • Archaeologists gained new insights into humanity’s early funerary rituals after discovering a 78,000-year-old grave of a child in Africa.

‘EXCAVATING A SHADOW’

The Life Behind Little Women

Louisa May Alcott, Author of Her Own Story • Alcott published Little Women in 1868, and it has never been out of print. The book’s success enabled its creator to live life on her own terms while supporting herself and her family.

THE QUESTION OF MARRIAGE

BROUGHT TO LIFE

A SISTER’S SACRIFICE

BROKEN BEAUTY

The Japanese Tea Ceremony • For centuries Japan drew on the Buddhist origins of tea drinking to create a ritual rich in moral and aesthetic values. With its roots in China, the tea ceremony today has come to epitomize Japanese culture.

THE RECIPE FOR A JAPANESE TEA CEREMONY

THE MASTER’S LAST CEREMONY

THE LIGHTHOUSE OF ALEXANDRIA • Near the mouth of the port of Alexandria stood a giant tower over 350 feet high. Its light shone so bright that contemporaries compared it to a star.

ONE THOUSAND YEARS OF LIGHT

THE GREAT HARBOR • This Mediterranean city, founded by Alexander the Great in 331 B.C., became the main center of trade and culture in the ancient world during the Ptolemaic dynasty. The ruins now rest under the sea and beneath modern buildings. This recreation shows what the city probably looked like during the reign of Cleopatra VII (r. 51-30 B.C.), the last of the Ptolemies.

Lighthouses of Antiquity

Submerged Wonders

ALEXANDRIA’S COLOSSAL WONDER

THE BIRTH OF JESUS • With its shepherds and wise men, the Christmas story inspires wonder. Although many of the scenes of Jesus’ birth are historically unverifiable, certain pieces can be tied to the events sweeping the world into which Jesus was born.

1 Little Town of Bethlehem

2 Holy Night

3 The Three Wise Men

4 Herod the King

5 The Flight Into Egypt

VIKINGS IN THE MEDITERRANEAN • In 859 Viking longboats headed south. After raiding the coasts of France and Spain, they entered the Mediterranean and unleashed their fury on Muslim and Christian communities who once thought themselves safe from the “Northmen.”

WHEN THE NORTHMEN SAILED SOUTH

A VIKING ODYSSEY

CAPTURING THE KING

DRAGONS OF THE SEA

AMERICA’S FIRST CITY CAHOKIA • These mounds in the Midwest were part of the largest pre-Columbian city north of Mexico, spanning nearly 4,000 acres and home to tens of thousands of people.

THE RISE OF CAHOKIA

Grand Civilization

Life Along the Rivers

MISSISSIPPIAN CULTURE

TOUCHING THE SKY

MYSTERIOUS DECLINE

THE ORIENT EXPRESS • Since its maiden voyage in 1883, the Orient Express had become synonymous with extravagance and intrigue as it shuttled the elite across Europe to the Bosporus in unparalleled comfort and luxury.

THE GOLDEN AGE OF THE ORIENT EXPRESS

GRAND DIPLOMACY

SCANDALS AND ROMANCE

HIGH SOCIETY • The Orient Express provided an experience similar to luxury hotels such as the Ritz and the Savoy.

MURDER TRAIN

A CATALOG OF ACCIDENTS • The Orient Express suffered numerous accidents, attacks, assaults, and robberies. Extreme weather conditions also had a dramatic impact on the train and its passengers.

PIECES OF THE PAST

Sardinia’s Stone Giants...