History Magazine

And I truly believe that!

I began my subscription to this magazine a month before the first issue even came out sight unseen. I knew, from the original description, that it was exactly what I was looking for.

Where most magazines seem to cover late 19th century and twentieth century life, History Magazine delves into the more distant past not being afraid to study everyday life from 300, 400, 500, and even 1000 years ago. The variety of history between each cover astounds me. For example, in the most recent issue (as I write this) January 2008 there are articles on New Year's Eve 1907, the history of the game Ping Pong, happenings in the decade of the 1610's, hairwork jewelry, facts and folklore about the Liberty Bell, the mystery of the ghost ship Mary Celeste, and numerous other articles.

It's evident that the articles are written by folks with a passion for the past, although they do not tend to get too detailed (thank God!) and stodgy like so many others.

History Magazine tends to lean heavily on American History with a good wealth of world history thrown in, which, again, is exactly what I like. It also covers everyday life social history even what can be considered mundane (the history of the fountain pen can be found in the most recent issue as well). But, other history magazines tend to over-look these things, and that's why I continue to subscribe.

I suppose the schooled history majors may thumb their collective noses at such an appealing magazine, due to the fact that it's a great bathroom reader, but for those of you who would like their history presented in an entertaining style, without all of the stodginess thrown in, I recommend this magazine.

Every two months I look forward to reading History Magazine. I've been a subscriber for years and I always feel pleasantly surprised by the variety of topics covered. In every issue I read about topics that had never occurred to me in a historical sense.

The articles are not long, they are plainly written, and there are plenty of pictures. This is NOT a scholarly journal of history. In general the articles are not written by historians (often freelance writers) and I'm sure that most of the "research" is done with relatively few secondary sources. That being said, History Magazine doesn't pretend to be a scholarly journal and there is still much to be enjoyed and learned from reading it. Many of the articles have inspired me to dig deeper into topics that I might never have known about. History Magazine really whets my history appetite.

The topics focus mostly on Western history, from ancient times to the present. However, the magazine does ask its readers to suggest ideas for articles, and I suspect that if enough readers expressed an interest in, say, Oriental or African history, then there would be more of that. Perhaps one day I will offer a suggestion to see how closely they listen to one reader!

To top things off they have a wonderful customer service department, the magazine contains relatively few advertising pages so you don't have to search for the articles, each issue has 10-15 articles of great variety, and they have the best guarantee of any magazine I know of: you can cancel your subscription at any time without hassles. But if you enjoy history, you won't want to cancel. I have hundreds of "real" history books, but this is my favorite magazine. The story of people in the world is endlessly fascinating.

One more note: Every year or so I try an issue of that other world history magazine for laypeople, BBC History, which contains articles written by "real" historians. But for reasons I can't fully explain I just can't seem to enjoy it enough to subscribe (I won't try to explain here, and I'm not criticizing it). I'm pointing this out for those who might want to look at each of these magazines and decide for themselves whether they prefer one or both.

Buy History Magazine Now

This is a decent history magazine for the price. The better magazines are pretty much cost prohibitive, so this is a nice alternative for history buffs. It usually includes a variety of articles, usually about lesser known historical events. The writing is nicely done, never too scholarly, and easy to read. For those who are historians by profession or history students, it might be a little on the "light" side, but if you simply enjoy reading about little-known historic, trivia-like events then this is the magazine for you.

Read Best Reviews of History Magazine Here

I have only gotten issue so far, but thoroughly enjoy the content. It is a fairly quick read. The information is interesting and enough to peak your interest, so if you want to know more detail you can follow through.

Follow up:

I love this magazine. I don't have a lot of free time and the articles are interesting, informative, and a quick read. I really enjoy getting a brief, but well written look into many of the diverse articles that the magazine covers.

Want History Magazine Discount?

Definitely worth a look. I still prefer reading a magazine rather than on a screen and this magazine is very interesting.