Dan Snow's History Hit

On the night of October 10th, 1917, a revolutionary disguised as a priest slipped into an apartment in Petrograd and browbeat his comrades into an armed insurrection. The revolutionary in question was Vladimir Lenin, and two weeks later, he and the Bolsheviks seized power in a coup that set the course of the 20th century. Victor Sebestyen, author of 'The Russian Revolution', joins us to tr...

Henry VIII is dead and England has replaced him with a boy king. But the one really pulling the strings of power behind the young and inexperienced Edward VI is one of Tudor England’s most formidable power players: John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland. Remembered by his enemies as the ‘Wicked Duke’, Dudley was ruthless and ambitious - but also a skilled statesman who helped rescue England from war,...

They projected themselves as fearless protectors bound by a code of chivalry, yet in their wake they left trails of bloody street duels and ritualised finger-chopping. From 17th-century dispossessed samurai turned street muggers, to powerful paramilitary bosses infiltrating national politics, the yakuza's evolution is a masterclass in criminal survival and reinvention. Andrew Rankin, author of...

The nuclear close calls, rogue commanders, silent standoffs and split-second decisions that nearly resulted in nuclear armageddon… In this episode, Dan breaks down the edge-of-your-seat crisis that almost triggered Doomsday, and explains how individual heroism and blind luck saved humanity from extinction. Produced by James Hickmann and edited by Natasha Hughes. Sign up to History Hit for hundreds...

In 1913, a celebrity explorer led an ambitious expedition into the frozen Arctic - and straight into disaster. From the ensuing catastrophe emerged three incredible stories: a captain's desperate 700-mile trek across treacherous sea ice; an Inuit mother's gruelling efforts to survive on the most remote island on Earth; and the 5-year journey of their charismatic, deceitful leader, who vent...

They called her a treasonous nymphomaniac who bankrupted France for diamonds and cake. The revolutionaries didn't just execute Marie Antoinette - they waged a brutal smear campaign to ruin her first. But what if almost everything you’ve been told about 'Madame Déficit' is a lie? From fake royal sex scandals to a black-market diamond heist that brought down a monarchy, this is how a tee...

At its height, Ming China was one of the most powerful states on Earth. Its cities bustled with merchants and scholars, its goods travelled across continents, and its treasure fleets sailed as far as East Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. At the heart of this vast empire stood the Forbidden City- a spectacular symbol of imperial authority. But prosperity bred corruption, power created enemies, and...

The fate of the Mediterranean hung in the balance during this bloody battle between the Knights of St John and the armies of Suleyman the Magnificent in the summer of 1565. The Ottoman Empire had carved its way across three continents and now turned its sights to the tiny island of Malta. Tens of thousands of Ottoman troops descended. What followed was one of the most ferocious sieges of the 16th...

This is an extraordinary story of espionage, betrayal and an unlikely friendship between spies on opposite sides - and of a man who risked his life and shaped the course of history, for a deeply personal and unlikely reason. In 1981, Washington feared a Soviet takeover of Iran could trigger military intervention and potentially a nuclear war. A KGB officer - Vladimir Kouzichkin - was stationed in...

Dan explains how England’s last great Viking invasion met its brutal end. At Stamford Bridge in September 1066, King Harold Godwinson’s army faced Harald Hardrada, the most feared warrior of his age, in a battle of extraordinary courage and bloodshed. Relying on new archaeological discoveries, Dan brings this pivotal clash to life in vivid detail. You can also watch our explanation of the Bayeux T...

Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Hudson, the East River - today, these are the very heart and soul of New York City. But in 1776, they were the battlefield on which the American Revolution nearly died. Today Dan explains this crucial battle, fought between the largest invasion fleet North America had ever seen and George Washington's Continental Army. Written by Dan Snow and edited by Dougal Patmore. We n...

Babylon has a PR problem, and it's 2,600 years in the making. The Bible remembers it as the ultimate city of sin, the place that crushed Jerusalem and dragged the Jewish people into exile. But if you look beyond this chapter, you find history's first true megacity. An ancient metropolis so influential that even the empires that conquered it couldn't resist becoming Babylonian themselves. Dan sits...

The two great Dans of history - Dan Snow and Dan Jones - team up to explore the stories behind some of the world's best historical sites. Dan Jones explains the mysteries of the Templars' Tunnels in the Old City of Acre and Dan Snow tells the story of Nelson's last moments on HMS Victory (now in Portsmouth's historic dockyard). They explore the myths and reality of Harselik - believed to be the s...

Flying aces, flaming wreckage and deadly dogfights in the skies defined the First World War’s brutal air war. From fragile reconnaissance planes to lethal fighter aircraft, aerial warfare evolved at astonishing speed. Today we hear the stories of legendary aces like the Red Baron, the tactics that transformed air combat, and the brutal reality faced by the young men who fought and died in the worl...

In the Middle Ages, Krakow was one of Central Europe’s greatest cities: a thriving crossroads of kings, merchants and legends, crowned by a royal castle and haunted by tales of dragons. But in 1241, catastrophe arrived. Mongol armies swept in from the east, devastating the region and reducing Krakow to ashes. Yet from the ruins, the city would rise again, stronger and grander than before. Join Dan...

This is the turbulent reign of that infamous Tudor monarch, Henry VIII. His spectacularly complicated love life, break with Rome, political executions and ruthless pursuit of power. Today we examine his rule and the many unfortunate people who crossed his path, and ask whether his actions make him England’s most evil monarch. To investigate whether Henry VIII truly deserves the title, we're joined...

A deep dive into the rise and fall of Osama bin Laden, from his affluent childhood in Saudi Arabia to his assassination during the biggest manhunt in modern history. For this, Dan is joined by Jason Burke, author of 'The Revolutionists: The Story of the Extremists Who Hijacked the 1970s’, to make sense of the forces that inspired the world's most infamous Jihadist, the beginnings and growth of Qae...

No throne on Earth came close to rivalling it. The court of Kublai Khan stood at the centre of an empire that threw every other power of its age into shadow. Vast and wealthy beyond comprehension, it seemed a world away from medieval Europe. Yet one young Venetian made the staggering 4-year journey, and wrote down everything that he saw. His name was Marco Polo. Today, Dan draws on Marco's extraor...

A deafening impact, a shattered destroyer, and a legacy that completely revolutionised warfare at sea. When HMS Tiger sank beneath the waves one dark night in 1908, over half of her crew were lost to the depths, and the nation went into mourning. But this was more than a tragic, peacetime accident. It was a warning that the age of steam, steel and speed had transformed warfare faster than navies c...

What happens when a civilisation at its peak begins to fail? Historians have long been fascinated by the Maya Collapse in the 9th century: why the great cities of Mesoamerica were abandoned, why their populations disappeared, and why the construction of magnificent monuments came to a halt. To trace the story of this mighty fall, Dan travels to the ancient Maya cities hidden in the jungles of Beli...

For more than 3,000 years, the Maya built one of the Ancient world's greatest civilisations. They raised towering pyramids in the rainforest, mastered the environment and established powerful dynasties- long before the rise of the Aztecs or the Inca. Their city-states waged wars, forged alliances, and practised elaborate rituals as they competed for power across Central America. In a special mini-...

Today, we trace Julius Caesar’s dramatic invasions into Britain - two bold expeditions that tested Rome’s reach at the very edge of the known world. Ships were battered by storms, soldiers struggled with unfamiliar tides, and British warriors offered fierce resistance. Caesar never secured a lasting conquest of the island - so what drove him to try? Military necessity, retribution or a calculated...

Newcastle, Liverpool, Glasgow, Cardiff - all of these places and more were bombed during the Blitz. From the devastated shipyards of Tyneside to the bombed-out docks of Shieldhall, we strip away the myth of the Blitz spirit to uncover the raw, human cost of the air war beyond the capital. Joining us is the historian and former RAF navigator John Nichol, author of 'Blitz: When World War Two Came Ho...

It’s where our ancient instincts to travel, to trade, to reunite with family and explore meet modern technology and innovation. From muddy airfields to gleaming cathedrals of designer shopping, fancy restaurants and even botanical gardens- the airport has become this weird and wonderful place that tells the story of the modern world. For the 80th birthday of Heathrow - one of the world’s pioneerin...

Before 1200 BC, the ancient world was more connected than you'd ever imagine. Egyptian pharaohs, Hittite emperors and Mycenaean warrior-kings trading gifts, forging alliances and going to war across the glittering Mediterranean. Then, in just a few decades, it all collapsed... Professor Eric Cline joins us to unravel this lost Bronze Age world: the real diplomacy behind Homer's epics, the letters...