HistoryExtra podcast

Professor Zainab Bahrani tackles popular internet search queries, and questions submitted by listeners, about the Mesopotamian city, which was one of the jewels of the ancient world. Topics range from religion, food and kings to the Hanging Gardens and the myth of the Tower of Babel. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices...

Are there any treasures left to be excavated in Egypt? Chris Naunton gives a lecture on some of the most fascinating ancient figures whose tombs are yet to be discovered In a lecture he delivered at our 2019 Chester History Weekend, Chris Naunton discusses his book Searching for the Lost Tombs of Egypt. He talks about some of the most fascinating ancient figures whose tombs are yet to be discovere...

Robert Harris discusses V2, his new Second World War thriller inspired by the German missile campaign in 1944 Best-selling historical novelist Robert Harris discusses his latest thriller, V2, inspired by the German missile campaign in 1944. He explains why he is obsessed by the Second World War, and shares some of the secrets of writing great historical fiction. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/priv...

From debates about colonialism to lessons from previous pandemics, a panel of historians discuss how the past has shaped 2020 – and how the events of this momentous year should change our understanding of the past From debates about colonialism to lessons from previous pandemics, history has repeatedly made the headlines this year. We invited historians Kerri Greenidge, Tom Holland, Suzannah Lipsc...

Natalie Haynes discusses the varied portrayals of women in Greek mythology, uncovering the multi-layered figures who emerge from different retellings  Writer and classicist Natalie Haynes discusses her latest book Pandora’s Jar, which revisits the varied portrayals of women in Greek mythology, finding that the figures who emerge from different retellings and translations are less familiar than we...

Author and filmmaker Catrine Clay discusses her new book, The Good Germans, which explores German opposition to Nazism through the lives of six people who stood up to the Third Reich. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Paul Edmondson, head of research and knowledge at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, responds to listener questions and popular search queries on the life and work of England’s most famous playwright, covering everything from the Bard’s literary inspirations and family relationships, to conspiracies that his plays were penned by someone else.    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more infor...

In a lecture he delivered at BBC History Magazine’s 2019 Winchester History Weekend, Simon Parkin discusses the extraordinary story that inspired his book A Game of Birds and Wolves. He describes how a team of unlikely heroes developed a Battleship-like wargame in order to crack German U-boat tactics at the height of the battle of the Atlantic. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more infor...

Bestselling historical novelist Bernard Cornwell discusses his new book War Lord, the final instalment in The Last Kingdom series. He speaks about why Aethelstan gets short shrift in history and reveals his next project – a new Sharpe adventure novel. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dr Johanna Dale explores how the seventh-century Northumbrian king Oswald become an important and popular saint across medieval Europe, and explains what his story can tell us about religion in the Middle Ages. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kiran Klaus Patel, author of Project Europe: A History, tracks the development of the EU over the postwar decades, considering whether it really did bring peace to the continent and what impact it’s had on economic growth Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the 1930s, eccentric aviator Maurice Wilson hatched a wild plan to fly from England to Everest in a Gypsy Moth plane, and then climb to the top of the mountain solo. Ed Caesar talks about the remarkable story that inspired his new book, The Moth and the Mountain. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Historian and author Karen Jones responds to listener questions and popular search queries about the mass movement of settlers into the American west, from the hardships of homesteading and the violence of frontier life to Hollywood’s obsession with the grizzled gunslinger. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adcho...

In a lecture he delivered at BBC History Magazine’s 2019 Chester History Weekend, archaeologist Howard Williams discusses some of the most intriguing and contentious debates in archaeology today. How should we treat ancient human remains? And has evidence of a Viking warrior woman really been discovered in Sweden? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your a...

Professor Margaret Macmillan discusses her new book War: How Conflict Shaped Us, which explores conflict’s changing yet intrinsic role in human history, and reveals how warfare has often led to societal and scientific progress. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Historian Seb Falk discusses his new book, The Light Ages, which highlights the surprising sophistication of scientific research in the Middle Ages – from astronomy to medicine. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Historian Maggie Andrews discusses her new book co-written with Janis Lomas, which looks at the complex and fascinating history of widows. Often historically viewed as figures of pity and poverty, many widows have also been leaders in women’s and welfare movements, and driving forces for social change. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. V...

Victoria Panton Bacon shares remarkable first-hand testimonies from veterans of the Second World War Victoria Panton Bacon, author of the new book Remarkable Journeys of the Second World War: A Collection of Untold Stories, shares moving first-hand testimonies from veterans of the 1939-45 conflict. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit...

Robert Service responds to listener questions and popular search enquiries about the Russian revolutions of 1917, which saw the beginnings of the Communist era.  In the latest of our series tackling the big questions on major historical topics, historian Robert Service responds to listener queries and popular search enquiries about the Russian revolutions of 1917, which saw Tsar Nicholas II depose...

In a lecture from our 2019 History Weekend in Winchester, Max Hastings tells the dramatic story of the 1943 Dambusters raid.   In a lecture he delivered at our 2019 BBC History Magazine History Weekend event in Winchester, bestselling military historian Max Hastings tells the dramatic story of the 1943 Dambusters raid. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about y...

Neil Price takes us inside the Viking mind to explain how the Norse raiders viewed the world and what drove them to expand across the seas Professor Neil Price, author of The Children of Ash and Elm, takes us inside the Viking mind to explain how the Norse raiders viewed the world and what drove them to expand across the seas. He answers some of the key questions about the period and offers new in...

Helen Fry discusses the top-secret work of MI9, which helped Allied prisoners of war escape during WW2 Historian Helen Fry discusses her new book MI9, which reveals how the secret agency helped Allied prisoners of war make it back to Britain, and shares stories of the Second World War’s most audacious escapes. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad ch...

Charles Spencer speaks to Dan Jones about the White Ship disaster, which plunged the English monarchy into chaos 900 years ago Bestselling author Charles Spencer speaks to fellow historian Dan Jones about the White Ship disaster, which plunged the English monarchy into chaos 900 years ago. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastc...

Daniel Lee discusses the life of an ‘ordinary’ member of the SS Historian Daniel Lee describes how the chance discovery of a cache of documents within a piece of furniture led him to uncover the life of Robert Griesinger, an ‘ordinary’ member of the SS. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Professor Mary Fissell responds to listener questions and popular search enquiries about the history of medicine, from pandemics of the past to grisly early surgeries. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices