What's In This Month's Issue?

This month we mark the centenary of one of the most dramatic episodes in modern English history, the General Strike of May 1926, when nearly two million workers downed tools for nine days and brought the country to a standstill.

Our first article tells the story of the strike itself: how it came about, what those nine days actually looked like, and why it ended the way it did. Our second feature looks at the world behind the strike: the coal mines and the communities that depended on them.

The conditions that miners worked in every day in the early 20th century go a long way to explaining why, when the moment came, so many people were willing to walk out in their support. This month’s gallery features (modern) photos of many of the places which still bear the mark of the coal industry.

Our ‘Famous Briton’ this month is Stanley Baldwin, the Prime Minister who steered the country through the strike. He’s not the most celebrated of British prime ministers, but he’s one of the more interesting: a quietly shrewd man who led Britain through some turbulent years with a steadiness that was rather more deliberate than it appeared.

Finally, the quiz this month has a broader theme, Britain in the 1920s, taking in the decade’s politics, culture, science and sport. See how many you can get.