HistoryExtra podcast

What inspired the daughter of a rural reverend to write about eligible bachelors and drunken misadventure? In this first episode of our four-part series on Jane Austen's life and work, Dr Lizzie Rogers and Lauren Good step back into the influential Regency novelist’s formative years, and explore her earliest writings that show how she began to find her voice. ––––– GO BEYOND THE PODCAST Want to go...

For centuries, sailors crossing the Atlantic believed they were not alone – haunted by ghost ships, watched by mermaids, and stalked by sea monsters. Historian Karl Bell talks to Jon Bauckham about the stories that dominated the maritime imagination, and what role these fishy tales might play in our understanding of the ocean today.  (Ad) Karl Bell is the author of The Perilous Deep: A Supernatura...

Historian Leigh Straw describes one pivotal summer in the life of the Kennedy family. With most of the family in their Cape Cod summer home, the summer of 1944 was marked by personal grief and political legacy. As eldest son Joe Jr flew dangerous missions in the Second World War's European theatre, and Kathleen 'Kick' Kennedy scandalised her parents with an aristocratic English match, the family g...

Born in the tumultuous 15th century, Margaret Beaufort – mother of Henry VII – endured personal tragedy, dynastic danger, and the ever-shifting fortunes of power. Yet she emerged as one of the most influential figures of late medieval England. In this episode, Emily Briffett is joined by historian Lauren Johnson to delve into the remarkable life of Margaret – a mother and patron whose autonomy, de...

Idi Amin is 20th-century Africa’s most notorious ruler – a cartoonish tyrant who has been bracketed with the likes of Hitler and Stalin. And it’s true that, as Uganda’s dictator for most of the 1970s, he oversaw murderous repression as well as the forced expulsion of the nation’s Asian community. But why did so many ordinary Ugandans willingly serve the regime and help to maintain his power? That’...

In the 80 years since Nazi leaders stood in the dock, how has the international community sought to deal with war criminals around the globe? For this concluding episode of our four-part series on the Nuremberg Trials, David Musgrove is joined by the lawyer and author Philippe Sands to chart the long, complex legacy of the events of 1945-46, and to consider whether those accused of war crimes in t...

The Assassins and the Knights Templar are two of history’s most intriguing, enigmatic and legendary groups. While they may seem vastly different on the surface, their intertwined stories reveal a surprising number of parallels – from an almost fanatical strategy fuelled by the 'promise of death' to the nature of their downfall. Speaking to Emily Briffett, Dr Steve Tibble compares their stories, an...

For the Allies it was an enormous triumph and for Nazi Germany it was another Stalingrad. But 80 years on, the battle for Tunisia is barely mentioned in popular accounts of the Second World War, having been totally eclipsed by the iconic clashes in Europe and the Pacific. In his new book, Tunisgrad, military historian Saul David seeks to redress the balance, arguing that this north African campaig...

In the tumultuous aftermath of Henry I’s death, England was thrown into one of the most chaotic civil wars in its history – the Anarchy. At the heart of the struggle stood Empress Matilda: daughter of a king, widow of an emperor, mother of a future dynasty, and the woman who came closer than any before her to ruling medieval England in her own right. Yet, bold and authoritative, Matilda has histor...

William the Conqueror used them to devastating effect in 1066. Robert the Bruce worked out how to neutralise them. And when Richard III was knocked from his, England would never be the same again. Here, in conversation with Spencer Mizen, Robert Liddiard and Oliver H Creighton discuss the decisive role of the warhorse in key turning points of medieval history (Ad) Robert Liddiard and Oliver H Crei...

In October 1946, after a trial lasting almost a year, the Nazi leaders on the dock in Nuremberg received their verdicts. But what did the judges decide? And how did the defendants, and the world outside, respond to the sentences that were handed down? In the third episode of our four-part series on Nuremberg, David Musgrove is joined by the lawyer and author Philippe Sands to explore the conclusio...

From sabotage operations to devastating betrayals, stories of the women of Special Operations Executive are some of the most incredible stories of the Second World War – but, says Kate Vigurs, many remain little known. In her new book, Mission Europe, Vigurs reveals the astonishing bravery of such female agents operating in the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Poland, and Mandate Palestine, many of...

The new BBC TV series Civilisations: Rise and Fall charts the decline of some of history's most famous cultures, from the Aztecs to the ancient Egyptians. Three of its experts – Islam Issa, Caroline Dodds Pennock and Luke Kemp – joined Matt Elton to explore some of the series' major themes, and why stories of a civilisation's decline might be more complicated than we first think. The HistoryExtra...

From his possible espionage work for the Elizabethan state to his open flirtations with atheism and subversive sexual themes, the brief life of playwright Christopher Marlowe tells us much about the shadowy edges of 16th-century England. Stephen Greenblatt joins Elinor Evans to discuss the subversive, dangerous life of 'Kit', who became both a collaborator and rival of his contemporary, William Sh...

On 30 January 1649, Charles I was led on to a freshly erected scaffold outside Whitehall’s Banqueting House in London. Thousands of spectators watched in shock and awe as the king of England, Scotland and Ireland was executed as a traitor. It was the climax of one of the most destructive sagas in Britain and Ireland's history – but what led to this brutal outcome? Was conflict inevitable? HistoryE...

When the Nazi leaders went on trial in Nuremberg from November 1945, the true horrors of their regime were exposed to the world. In the second episode of our four-part series on the trials, the lawyer and author Philippe Sands chronicles the dramatic days when the likes of Hermann Goering and Hans Frank were forced to face their accusers in the courtroom. As he explains to David Musgrove, these we...

A recent documentary drawing conclusions from new analysis of Adolf Hitler’s DNA has sparked headlines around the world. But how did the programme’s researchers get hold of the key evidence? And what issues – and implications – are prompted by linking the Nazi leader with a range of physical and psychological conditions?   Two of the experts behind the documentary, Turi King and Alex J Kay, spoke...

Fears of the undead rising from their graves to cause trouble have recurred in societies around the globe throughout the centuries. But why was your mother-in-law especially likely to become a vampire? What makes Count Dracula a highly unusual bloodsucker? And how would you best mutilate a vampire's corpse to neutralise their threat? Speaking to Ellie Cawthorne, Professor John Blair shares stories...

When did poo become a problem? Why was manure so important in the medieval economy? And why don't we have vacuum-powered sewers? All these questions – and more – are answered in this brief history of both animal and human manure. David Musgrove speaks to Richard Jones to find out more. The HistoryExtra podcast is produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine. Learn more about your ad choices. V...

US president James Garfield's life is often overshadowed by his untimely death in 1881, as the second president to be assassinated in office. However, his story is now once again in the limelight, thanks to the new Netflix drama Death by Lightning. Historian and biographer CW Goodyear talks to Elinor Evans about a man who, though his time as leader was fleeting, remains a fascinating figure – and...

As Britain's influence on the world around it grew throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, so too did the world influence Britain – and a key part of that influence was the arrival of people from other places and cultures to its shores. Kieran Connell's new book, Multicultural Britain, explores the experiences of some of these people, and the ways in which their stories combined, sometimes fractio...

At the end of the Second World War, the victorious Allies had to decide the fates of the surviving leaders of a regime that had initiated the bloodiest conflict in history, and perpetuated the Holocaust. The answer, beginning just a few months after VE Day, was the world’s first ever international criminal trial, held in the German city of Nuremberg. As we reach the 80th anniversary of these event...

On her deathbed Elizabeth I named the Scottish James VI as her successor, ensuring a smooth transition from the Tudor to Stuart monarchies. That, at least, is what we've long believed. But an explosive new discovery casts doubt on this version of events, suggesting that the Stuart succession was far less secure than we may have thought. In her new book, //The Stolen Crown//, historian Tracy Borman...

When an elderly man with a battered suitcase walked into the British embassy in Vilnius in 1992, few could have guessed what he was about to hand over. Gordon Corera tells the story of Vasili Mitrokhin, an under-the-radar Soviet archivist who copied thousands of classified KGB documents over 12 years. Speaking to Elinor Evans, he reveals how a project that began as a private rebellion against the...

In the late 19th century, when female reporters were largely confined to newspapers' society pages, Nellie Bly's daring investigations and headline-grabbing exploits made her a household name. From her audacious exposé from inside a New York asylum – after convincing doctors she was insane – to becoming the 'real Phileas Fogg' by racing around the globe, Bly’s adventures captivated the world. Hist...