This month sees everyone’s favourite MI6 agent return to the big screen in what will be the 25th James Bond film.Whether you’re a Bond fan or not, it’s hard not to be intrigued by them urky world of espionage, particularly activities that took place at the height of 20th-century intelligence gathering: the Cold War.!is month’s cover feature explores how spies were recruited, the associated dangers, and some of the gadgets and gizmos used on the job – from shoe bugs to poison-injecting umbrellas. Find out more from page 26.
We’ll also be delving into another mystery from history, in the shape of the troubled artist Vincent van Gogh trying to get to the bottom of why he cut off his own ear (p66), and we discuss what might have happened had Boudicca driven the Romans from England in AD 60/61 (p74).
Elsewhere in the issue, don your Mickey Mouse ears and head to Disneyland to read the story behind Walt Disney’s monumental building project – from rapidly spiralling costs to the park’s disastrous opening day in July 1955 (p37).We’ll also be exploring the Haitian Revolution of 1791,which saw thousands of enslaved Africans rise up against French rule in the most successful slave revolt in modern history (p50), and stepping through the doors of Bethlem Hospital – better known, thanks to a controversial history, as Bedlam(p57).
Finally, we find out the reasons behind some of the curious, and often insulting, nicknames given to rulers over the years (p47).

Have a great month!

Charlotte Hodgman
Editor

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• History of War – Issue 79, 2020
• BBC Music – April 2020