HistoryExtra podcast

Why did the Spanish Armada set sail? What ships were used by the fleets? And did Queen Elizabeth I really give a famous speech at Tilbury? In our latest ‘Everything you wanted to know’ episode, Robert Hutchinson answers your questions on the Tudor era’s most famous maritime face-off. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices...

Historian Saul David discusses SBS – Silent Warriors, his new authorised history of the Special Boat Service in the Second World War. He explains how this daring maritime unit played a crucial role in Allied victory and highlights some of its most spectacular operations.   (Ad) Sauld David is the author of SBS - Silent Warriors: The Authorised Wartime History (HarperCollins, 2021). Buy it now from...

Dan Jones explores the similarities and differences between the medieval experience and our lives today   In what ways was the medieval era surprisingly modern? Dan Jones, whose latest book is Powers and Thrones: A New History of the Middle Ages, reveals the similarities and differences between the medieval experience and our lives today.    (Ad) Dan Jones is the author of Powers and Thrones: A Ne...

David Potter, author of Disruption: Why Things Change, analyses the causes of huge events that altered human history and guides us on a tour of radical transformation in western history, taking in the Black Death, Adolf Hitler, the printing press and the perils of complacency.   (Ad) David Potter is the author of Disruption: Why Things Change (OUP, 2021). Buy it now from Amazon: https://www.amazon...

Sixty years ago EH Carr’s groundbreaking book, What is History?, explored how we should study the past. Now his great-granddaughter, Helen Carr, has teamed up with Suzannah Lipscomb to edit a new volume, What is History, Now?. Here, they discuss the importance and challenges of writing history in the 21st century.   (Ad) Helen Carr and Suzannah Lipscomb are the editors of What is History, Now? (Or...

An outpouring of bestselling novels and poems flowed from Walter Scott’s pen – from Waverley to Rob Roy. In fact, his writing was so influential that it helped overhaul the world’s view of Scotland, making it synonymous with the Highlands, romantic landscapes and clan honour. Annika Bautz discusses the writer’s work and the impact he had on perceptions of the country.   Hosted on Acast. See acast....

In the latest episode in our series on history’s biggest topics, Annie Gray tackles listener questions on culinary history, from Tudor breakfast and the oldest recipe books to long-forgotten foods and the surprisingly long history of vegetarianism. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

From the Stoke Mandeville Games, which took place just after the Second World War, to this summer’s Paralympics, Ian Brittain describes how sport for disabled people has been on an incredible journey over the past 70 years. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Through canny political manoeuvrings and passionate affairs, the Boleyns catapulted themselves from the sidelines of the Tudor court to the very apex of power. Dr Owen Emmerson, who recently appeared in the BBC docudrama The Boleyns: A Scandalous Family, traces the clan’s meteoric rise – and crushing fall. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choice...

Which stories and historical periods should we be seeing dramatised on screen? What influence can historians have on how these stories are told? And how much does historical accuracy really matter to audiences? On today’s podcast, a panel of experts – Amanda-Rae Prescott, Anthony Delaney and Maddy Pelling – tackle the big questions surrounding period drama in the 21st century and ask: what’s next?...

The Vikings famously raided Britain and Ireland, but they also turned their attentions to Francia and Europe’s western seaboard. Christian Cooijmans explains what we know about interactions between the Franks and the Vikings. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Cecily Neville, mother of Richard III, is typically glossed over in the story of the Wars of Roses. But behind the scenes, she fought her own war, using intrigue, manipulation and the power of words to support her family’s struggle for power. Annie Garthwaite discusses her new novel, Cecily, following the extraordinary life of this forgotten matriarch.   (Ad) Annie Garthwaite is the author of Ceci...

When did the first professional police force come into being? Why do the British police largely not carry guns? And what was the point of police boxes? In our latest ‘Everything you wanted to know’ episode, Chris Williams answers your questions on the history of law enforcement in Britain. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastc...

Andrew Lownie discusses his new book Traitor King, which delves into the lives of Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson after the abdication crisis of 1936. The discussion ranges from their sympathies for the agents and aims of Nazi Germany to their opulent and eccentric post-war lifestyle.   (Ad) Andrew Lownie is the author of Traitor King: The Scandalous Exile of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor (Bonnie...

Hester Barron and Claire Langhamer discuss their new book, Class of ’37, which looks at what we can learn from essays written in 1937 by 12- and 13-year-old girls from Bolton.   (Ad) Hester Barron and Claire Langhamer are the authors of Class of '37: Voices from Working-Class Girlhood (Metro, 2021). Buy it now from Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Class-37-Voices-Working-class-Girlhood/dp/17894640...

Eric Berkowitz describes the lengths to which rulers – from the first Chinese emperor to Henry VIII – have gone to suppress freedom of speech   Humans have been attempting to stamp out free speech for millennia. Eric Berkowitz discusses the inglorious history of censorship – from the first Chinese emperor to Henry VIII – and explains why he believes that attempts to silence others never work.   (A...

Fatima Manji talks about her new book Hidden Heritage: Rediscovering Britain’s Lost Love of the Orient, which explores the objects and landmarks that are often obscured by the traditional stories told in many heritage sites, and how they point to a more complex British history.   (Ad) Fatima Manji is the author of Hidden Heritage: Rediscovering Britain’s Lost Love of the Orient (Chatto & Windus, 2...

Paul Kenyon discusses his book Children of the Night, which charts the story of modern Romania, and its colourful, chaotic and often corrupt leaders – from unstable playboy King Carol II, to communist dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu.   (Ad) Paul Kenyon is the author of Children of the Night: The Strange and Epic Story of Modern Romania (Head of Zeus, 2021). Buy it now from Waterstones: https://go.skimr...

In the latest episode in our series tackling history’s biggest topics, Dr Rory Naismith, author of Early Medieval Britain, c500–1000, responds to listener questions and popular internet search queries on Britain in the early Middle Ages.    (Ad) Rory Naismith is the author of Early Medieval Britain c500-1000 (Cambridge University Press, 2021). Buy it now from Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Medie...

From bewitched cars and mail-order charms to murder investigations, Will Pooley delves into the surprising history of witchcraft in France from the Revolution to the Second World War, revealing how supernatural beliefs adapted to a modernising society.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As we approach the 60th anniversary of the Berlin Wall’s construction, Major General Sir Robert Corbett and journalists Mark Wood and Alastair Stewart discuss their memories of the divided city and the dramatic events of November 1989. The discussion is chaired by the author Iain MacGregor.   (Ad) Iain MacGregor is the author of Checkpoint Charlie: The Cold War, the Berlin Wall and the Most Danger...

Colin Jones tells the story of Maximilien Robespierre’s fall from power – a dramatic 24 hours that ended with the revolutionary titan facing the guillotine   Maximilien Robespierre awoke on the morning of 27 July 1794 as arguably the most powerful man in Paris – the intellectual driving force behind the French Revolution. Twenty-four hours later he was languishing in a cell, condemned to die by th...

Teachers Richard Kennett and Tom Allen discuss how they have worked with six other teachers to create a new textbook on this previously overlooked element of the city’s history, and its impact on Bristol today. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Left traumatised by the horrors of the First World War, between the 1920s and 1940s people around the world set out to create “perfect” societies – with mixed results. Anna Neima, author of The Utopians: Six Attempts to Build the Perfect Society, charts their efforts.   (Ad) Anna Neima is the author of The Utopians: Six Attempts to Build the Perfect Society (Pan Macmillan, 2021). Buy it now from W...

Eugene Rogan answers listener questions on one of history’s most powerful – and long-lasting – empires   How did the Ottomans dominate swathes of Europe, Asia and Africa for up to seven centuries? How did their sack of Constantinople in 1453 change the course of history? And why did they back the wrong horse in the First World War? Eugene Rogan answers your questions on one of the world’s greatest...