HistoryExtra podcast

Historian Richard Overy describes the situation in Britain and Europe as the Second World War came to an end. Meanwhile, we're joined by TV producer Steve Humphries to talk about his new series Britain's Greatest Generation, which contains interviews with surviving veterans of the conflict.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcas...

David Starkey, one of Britain's best-known historians, joins us to offer his views on the Great Charter as it approaches its 800th anniversary. Meanwhile, we speak to Professor Dan Stone about the liberation of the Nazi concentration camps and about how these events impacted on all those involved. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit...

Historian Hannah Skoda pays a visit to Merton College in Oxford to explore the origins of one of the world's most famous educational institutions. Meanwhile, Anna Thomasson talks to us about her new book on the relationship between the artist Rex Whistler and the author Edith Olivier. Plus, we continue our First World War oral history series. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more informa...

On the centenary of the Battle of Gallipoli, Australian writer Peter FitzSimons describes the disastrous Allied campaign of 1915. Meanwhile, historian Cormac Ó Gráda, author of Eating People Is Wrong, explains how famines occasionally resulted in cannibalism. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

John Man – author of a new biography of Saladin – explains how the medieval Muslim leader was able to triumph over the crusaders. Meanwhile, we talk to historian June Purvis about why the votes for women campaign turned to violence.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Nobel Prize-winning scientist Steven Weinberg discusses his new book that charts thousands of years of scientific discovery. Meanwhile, actor and TV presenter David Suchet speaks to us about his upcoming BBC documentary series on the first Bishop of Rome. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week's episode is an immigration history special. Historians Robin Fleming and Mark Ormrod draw on the latest research to examine the lives of migrants into England during the anglo-Saxon and medieval periods. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

With just a few days to go until the reburial of the last Plantagenet king in Leicester Cathedral, we speak to two experts with close connections to the event. Phil Stone, chairman of the Richard III Society, considers the ways that the recent discoveries have changed our view of the king. Meanwhile, Alexandra Buckle of Oxford University, explains how her research will inform the reinterment cerem...

As the new BBC TV series Back in Time for Dinner is due to air, we talk to food writer Mary Gwynn about how our mealtime tastes have changed over the past 70 years. Meanwhile, historian Jane Robinson discusses her new book In the Family Way, which looks at the stigma that often used to be faced by unmarried mothers and their children. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Le...

Charlotte Hodgman visits Stratford-upon-Avon to explore the birthplace of William Shakespeare in the company of expert Paul Edmondson. Meanwhile, Oxford historian Eugene Rogan discusses the final years of the Ottoman empire and explains how the First World War led to its downfall. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.co...

Acclaimed biographer Richard Davenport-Hines talks to Matt Elton about his new book on the 20th-century economist John Maynard Keynes, which focuses on the man rather than his work. Meanwhile, classical historian Peter Jones tackles some important questions about the Greek world Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/...

This week we are broadcasting a lecture that was delivered at our History Weekend festival in Malmesbury in October 2014. Historian Juliet Barker speaks about the great uprising of 1381, and challenges a number of misconceptions about the revolt. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Science writer Steven Johnson discusses his new BBC TV series How We Got to Now, which explores some of the greatest innovations in history. Meanwhile, Dr Matthew Beaumont describes how famous Londoners have gained inspiration from walking the city's streets at night over the centuries. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoi...

Charlotte Hodgman visits a former Victorian workhouse in the company of historian Samantha Shave to see whether life inside really matched the Dickensian legend. Meanwhile, we speak to Sir David Cannadine on the challenges of editing the gigantic Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoic...

Historian Lisa Hilton explores the life and reign of the Virgin Queen, subject of her new biography Elizabeth I: Renaissance Prince. Meanwhile, BBC Radio 4 presenter Anita Anand discusses Sophia Duleep Singh, the goddaughter of Queen Victoria who went to to campaign for women's rights Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoice...

The authors of new Penguin biographies of Henry VIII, Edward VI, George V and George VI discuss these kings' lives and reigns. They also consider wider themes relating to British monarchy in a debate chaired by Helen Castor. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Tudor historian John Guy, author of a new short biography of Henry VIII, discusses the Tudor king's life and relationships and what he's learned about Henry over his many years of research. Meanwhile, medievalist Thomas Asbridge tells us about a 12th-century English king who never sat on the throne and his friendship with William Marshal, famed as ‘the greatest knight'. Hosted on Acast. See acast....

As the BBC TV dramatisation of Wolf Hall is shortly due to air, series director Peter Kosminsky reveals the challenges and joys of filming Hilary Mantel's acclaimed novels. Meanwhile, Professor David Crouch visits Wallingford Castle in Oxfordshire, which played an important role in the 12th-century battle for England's throne between King Stephen and Empress Matilda. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com...

Princeton historian Stephen Kotkin, author of a major new biography of Josef Stalin, describes the Soviet leader's path to power. Meanwhile, BBC journalist Chris Bowlby gives us the lowdown on his forthcoming Radio 4 documentary about Adolf Hitler's notorious book, Mein Kampf. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/ad...

For our Christmas Eve podcast, it's the return of our annual history quiz. Test your knowledge of all things historical with four themed rounds of questions written by QI elf Justin Pollard and delivered by the BBC History Magazine team. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Christopher Harding analyses the motivations of the Japanese kamikaze pilots, while Peter Firstbrook describes the life of the man whose life was famously saved by Pocahontas Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Esmée Hanna explores the wave of protests that took place in a number of British universities in the 1960s. Meanwhile, Rick Stroud tells the story of the audacious kidnap of a Nazi general in Crete during the Second World War and describes the role of British agents in the adventure. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices...

Historical author Michael Pye explores several centuries of the North Sea's history to reveal how its waters aided all manner of social, economic and cultural development. Meanwhile, Charlotte Hodgman visits Flag Fen in the company of archaeologist Francis Pryor to discover what the site tells us about life in Bronze Age Britain Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn mo...

Historian Adam Zamoyski discusses his new book, Phantom Terror, which reveals how Europe's rulers lived in fear of conspiracies in the years between the revolutions of 1789 and 1848. Meanwhile, crime writer Val McDermid highlights some of the scientific techniques that have been used to catch criminals in the past Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your a...

Dominic Sandbrook gives us the lowdown behind his new TV series Tomorrow's Worlds: The Unearthly History of Science Fiction. Meanwhile, Lucy Worsley explains how the dances of the past can reveal a great deal about Britain's social history. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices