Dan Snow's History Hit

The Battle of Stalingrad was the deadliest battle of the Second World War, and one of the bloodiest in the history of warfare. Infamous for its atrocious conditions and brutal house-to-house fighting, the battle raged for just over 5 months and concluded with an estimated 2 million casualties. Dan is joined by Iain MacGregor, author of the acclaimed book  The Lighthouse of Stalingrad , to hea...

Of all the air raids carried out during World War Two, none are as enduringly famous as the attack by Lancaster Bombers against the dams of Germany’s industrial heartland. Commemorated in literature and film throughout the decades, the mission – which was codenamed Operation ‘Chastise’ – has come to epitomise British ingenuity and courage throughout the war. On the night of 16-17 May 1943, an auda...

Zeus, the chief deity in Greek mythology, is the Olympian god of sky and thunder and is king of all other gods and men. His tale is one of overthrowing fathers, eating babies and seducing women, both mortal and divine, by changing his own form. He's one of the most complex figures in history, and his story is one that's been retold throughout millennia. To try and make sense of it all, we're going...

Lieutenant-Colonel 'Paddy' Mayne is a legendary figure in the history of the British Special Forces. Valiant but volatile, confident yet conflicted, Paddy embodied the fighting spirit of the SAS. Ben Macintyre is the author of the book  SAS: Rogue Heroes , the only approved history of the unit which was recently turned into a BBC drama series of the same name. Ben joins us to talk about the f...

How has China become the economic superpower that it is today? The decades since the death of Chairman Mao Zedong have seen an unprecedented economic transformation, but how has this been achieved? And how credible is the idea that China’s long-term, strategic vision is the key to the nation’s future? Dan is joined by historian Frank Dikötter, a specialist in modern China and author of China After...

With the 2022 FIFA World Cup well underway, the phenomenon of sportswashing is once again in everybody's minds. Autocracies and democracies alike have long relied on major sporting events to shore up their legitimacy and project their presence on the world stage. But why is sporting prowess so important for consolidating state power and prestige? Is it inevitable, and if not, how do we prevent it?...

What was life really like in Tudor England? This was a society where monarchy was under strain, the church was in crisis and contending with war, rebellion, plague and poverty was a fact of daily life. Yet it was also an age rich in ideas and ideals, where women asserted their agency and found a literary voice.  In this episode of Not Just the Tudors , Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Dr....

How can you condense the history of the world into a book? Well-celebrated historian Simon Sebag Montefiore does just that in his new epic. He takes Dan on an exhilarating journey through the families that have shaped our world: the Caesars, Medicis and Incas, Ottomans and Mughals, and Bonapartes and Habsburgs to name a few. His new book 'The World' captures the story of humankind in all its joy,...

Atlantis is one of the most compelling legends - an advanced, mythical civilisation, wiped out by an unknown phenomenon. The allure of this civilisation, rich in lost knowledge and culture, is obvious. But how do archaeologists separate fact from fiction? How can they be confident about the past, whilst remaining open to new ideas? Flint Dibble, an archaeologist at Cardiff University, joins Dan to...

England plays Wales in the World Cup today so it only makes sense that Dan looks back at what's often called Wales' last war of Independence against the English. No one quite knows how it began, but on the 16th of September 1400 Owain Glyndwr- a man of affluence from a mixed Anglo-Welsh family took the title of Prince of Wales and lead a bold and bloody rebellion against King Henry IV. Although he...

Rome has attracted aspiring conquerors and leaders for millennia, not just as a great metropolis, but as an idea. It has long been a symbol of military might and universal power, defined by political and religious authority as well as great feats of engineering that would leave indelible marks on the regions it conquered, and overshadow empire builders for centuries to come. Dan is joined by Simon...

From a plague in Athens during the Peloponnesian War in 430 BCE, to another in 540 that wiped out half the population of the Roman empire, down through the Black Death in the Middle Ages and on through the 1918 flu epidemic (which killed between 50 and 100 million people) and this century's deadly SARS outbreak, plagues have been a much more relentless fact of life than many realise. Brian Michael...

Yesterday the UK Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the Scottish government is not allowed to hold a second independence referendum without Westminster's agreement. It means, for now, Scotland will stay in the United Kingdom, though for how long is unclear. The union between the nations of Great Britain goes back to 1707. On each side of the border, statesmen started to realise that a closer rel...

Dan teams up with his parents and esteemed journalists Peter Snow and Ann MacMillan to explore the lives, loves, triumphs and disasters of a monarchy that is the envy of the world. They offer a unique insight into those born to rule, whether villains or heroes – from cruel King John and warrior-king Edward III to our own Elizabeth II: dutiful, discreet and the longest-reigning queen in the world....

Central Park is an oasis of nature in New York City, amidst the countless skyscrapers and gridded streets of Manhattan. Over 800 acres of sweeping fields, shaded pathways and picturesque vistas attract more than 42 million visitors a year. It was created to give free and equal access to recreational space for all. But, as Don hears from Leslie Alexander, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Professor of Hi...

Mike Sadler is the last surviving original member of the SAS and is featured in the new television series SAS Rogue Heroes as a dashing young man and master of desert warfare. Major Sadler, now 101, was the navigator for the regiment’s founder David Stirling, guiding raiding columns for hundreds of miles behind enemy lines in North Africa. In this archive interview, he talks to Dan about how he ca...

For centuries, the pub has played a central role in our lives and communities. Throughout Britain, there are many pubs saying that they are the oldest - some of them even claim to have Medieval origins. In this episode of Gone Medieval , Dr. Cat Jarman welcomes back award-winning buildings archaeologist Dr. James Wright to explore how long we have actually had pubs and which of them can truly clai...

Rising interest, cost of living crisis, energy prices at an all-time high- is Britain's precarious financial situation the fault of policymakers or global forces? On the day the chancellor reveals the Autumn budget Dan and Dr Charles Read, economic historian and fellow at the University of Cambridge make sense of how Britain got here. They break down gilts, bonds and interest rates, how voters swi...

In part 2 of this series on Easy Company and the American 101st Airborne Division, we are back in the village of Aldbourne, following in the steps of the infantrymen as they trained, relaxed and got to know Britain in preparation for the liberation of Europe. The team make an exciting discovery that gives them a direct link to soldiers of Easy Company. This episode was produced by Marian Des Forge...

In the first of this 2-part series dedicated to the legacy of Easy Company and the American 101st Airborne Division, Dan visits the idyllic country village of Aldbourne in Wiltshire, where the 'Band of Brothers' were stationed. Joined by a group of volunteers, including military veterans and archaeologists, Dan and the team dig into the 'friendly invasion' of the Second World War and see what can...

In December 2021, marine archaeologists working alongside the Swedish Navy came across the wreck of a 17th-century warship in the Stockholm archipelago. Its identity remained a mystery until earlier this year when she was positively identified as the elusive 'Äpplet', sister ship to the ill-fated 'Vasa' that sank during her maiden voyage. Marine archaeologist Jim Hansson joins us to explain the si...

Often faster than letters sent by ship, WWII soldiers stationed in South East Asia would send heartfelt and humorous video messages to their loved ones who'd gather in cinemas across Britain. Using the revolutionary technology of the time the men spoke directly to the camera, addressing their families and partners watching back home in Britain, it was a way the government ensured those fighting fu...

For at least 1,500 years, since the mists swirling around the Dark Ages began to clear, the British Isles have had monarchical rulers. For hundreds of years, they were the central figures of the nation: the focus of its politics and society, consecrated by God, endorsed (or not) by the nobility, the arbiters of its arts and culture, the makers of its laws, the directors of its government and the l...

On November 9th, 1989, 33 years ago to the day, the Berlin Wall that had symbolised the ideological and physical division of Europe came crumbling down. We remember this in the West as a triumph of Democracy and the beginning of a new, post-Cold War world. But was it that clear cut for the people whose lives were most closely touched by this momentous occasion? How did people in Germany respond to...

As protests continued across Iran, a number of Iranian-made kamikaze drones were fired by Russian forces at targets thousands of miles away in Kyiv, Ukraine. It marks the first time that these Iranian weapons have been used against a European capital, as well as a new low for relations between Iran and the West - which were already under strain. So how did we get here? In this episode of Warfare ,...