Illustreret Videnskab Historie Magazine Makes History Fun

Who wants to read about old kings and medieval battles?  Or about people who have been dead for hundreds of years? A lot of people, it seems.  Since its launch almost four years ago, Illustreret Videnskab Historie (Science Illustrated History) has become a major success in the Nordic region. 

"Our vision has always been to tell the greatest and most exciting historical stories from all over the world, stories we think that our readers want to read," says Sebastian Relster, Editor-in-Chief of all Nordic editions of Illustreret Videnskab Historie. "It can be the great wars, the great discoveries, the great technical achievements—but also, for example, the great works of art or the great construction works.  In particular, World War II is always interesting, but also all forms of technology history. And the issue that sold best actually had Genghis Khan on the cover!"

Illustreret Videnskab Historie is part of the Bonnier Publications' Illustreret Videnskab (Science Illustrated) family.  A reader survey revealed that history and archeology were the most popular topics in the magazine.  A history-focused spin-off seemed like the natural next step.

"It is one of Scandinavia's strongest magazine brands, so it is not surprising that we wanted to make use of it," says Sebastian. "The way that we tell stories, with interaction between text and images and the high service level towards the readers, we have borrowed from Illustreret Videnskab."

In October 2005, the magazine was launched simultaneously in Sweden, Norway and Denmark, with Finland following the next year. Published 18 times a year in each country, the magazine is produced in full in the Bonnier Publications office in Copenhagen, but local editors in the other countries translate and add their own material.

Total circulation in Scandinavia is approximately 130,000, with some of the best renewal rates of all of Bonnier Publications' titles.  From 2006 to 2008, they gained a subscriber increase of 50% in Sweden, an increase of 42% in Denmark, and an increase of 85% in Norway.  

Now, the team plans to break into the Dutch market. A few weeks ago, a one-shot was launched in Holland, and if it works out, Bonnier Publications hope to launch a more regular magazine even there.

Sebastian says the key to success is combining education with entertainment.  "We do not demand any special knowledge from the readers—it is enough to be interested in history," he says.

Although the editors do their utmost to make sure that everything in the magazine is correct, with help from an impressive expert panel of historians and archaeologists from different universities in the Nordic countries, errors have managed to slip through.  What is the worst mistake made in the magazine?

"The worst thing I do not really know," laughs Sebastian. "But once, we made the Tour de France bicycle race a thousand times longer than it is—2.2 million miles instead of 2,200 miles. That was a little embarrassing."