Single Malt History with Gareth Russell

Why did the House of Windsor refuse to save the Romanovs? And why, in 1919, did the British royals then launch a secret mission, headed by a dashing spy, to save the Emperor of Austria? This episode is about a thrilling story from secret meetings at Buckingham Palace through war-torn Austria to a small hunting lodge where a fallen emperor lay trapped with his wife and children. Featuring: Rebecca...

In the 1940s, the Nazis were producing a series of anti-British and anti-American costume dramas, when a high-ranking Nazi's attention settled on the 'Titanic' disaster.  In this episode, I discuss what happened and read an exclusive of my author's note to "The Ship of Dreams," my book about the 'Titanic,' which was not included in the audio version. (Authors' notes usually aren't!) Why did I...

It’s not often you find out that you’re related to your guest, but that’s what happened in the new episode when I was joined by award-winning New York Times bestselling author, Deanna Raybourn, author of the Veronica Speedwell and Lady Julia Grey mysteries. We talk about how Anne Boleyn helped inspire her love of history, our love for Murder on the Orient Express and Suzannah Lipscomb’s podcast, C...

The tumultuous life of a handsome Gascon knight who became the lover of England's king, Edward II. How did he become Lord Lieutenant of Ireland? What happened that terrible night at Warwick Castle? How did the consequences of their love affair shape politics for a decade? And what happened to Edward II when he suddenly disappeared in 1327?

I am joined in today's episode by Dr. Elizabeth Norton, who chats about her biography of Henry VIII's fourth wife Anne of Cleves, England's first crowned queen Elfrida, and her research into the controversy between Thomas Seymour and the future Elizabeth I. 

At the start of the 1920s, a firmly right-wing aristocrat became embroiled in the political chaos surrounding Irish independence, alongside the maintenance of the British state in Northern Ireland. How, and why, did the ultra-conservative Lord Londonderry decide to try a truly radical plan to save the new state's working-class children from inheriting the sectarian bitterness of previous generatio...

I’m joined by Dr. Owen Emmerson (from TV’s “The Boleyns”, “Who Do You Think You Are?”) and Claire Ridgway (“On This Day in Tudor History”, The Anne Boleyn Files) to discuss their new book “The Boleyns of Hever Castle,” exploring the private lives of an aristocratic dynasty and what everyday life was like in a manor house at the dawn of the Tudor era.

Olaudah Equiano's life took him from a blissful childhood in the African kingdom of Benin to the slave auctions of Barbados. He endured life on a tobacco plantations in Virginia, fought battles off the coast of Portugal, he sailed to the Arctic, met Queen Charlotte in Georgian London, and addressed anti-slavery conventions in Belfast.

I am joined by friend of the show, Dr Lauren Mackay, to discuss Eustace Chapuys, whose fascinating life took him from studying near the Holy Shroud of Turin to the heart of the Habsburg and Tudor courts on the eve of the Reformation. He wrote in cyphers, spied for an emperor, and stood witness to rebellions, miscarriages of justice, and diplomatic scandals. Did this erudite clergyman really become...

Dr. Linda Porter discusses her acclaimed biographies of Tudor queens - Mary I and Katherine Parr - as well as her recent bestseller “Mistresses,” on the scandals, politics, adultery, tragedy, and glamour at Charles II’s court.

On 16th October 1793, "the most hated woman in France" was publicly beheaded. How had the former queen fallen from life at Versailles to death before a crowd of thousands? From her controversial trial to her last letter and final journey, Marie-Antoinette's execution became a cultural Rubicon. Seen by some as a moment of revolutionary justice and by others as a warning about the dangers posed by p...

Single Malt History is back for its second season with an episode about Isobel of Gloucester, the queen England never had. Isobel's life is a window into misogyny, monarchy, terrible betrayal, kidnapping, and courage at the heart of the Middle Ages. She was the first, forgotten wife of one of England's most unpopular rulers - and she might even have been Queen of Ireland, too, had things gone diff...

I sit down with Nichelle Tramble Spellman, award-winning producer and showrunner of AppleTV+'s TRUTH BE TOLD to discuss historical fiction, the writing process, favourite reads, ghost stories, bodice rippers, and the power of story telling. . 

If you enjoyed the hit new BBC docu-drama series “The Boleyns,” or are just waiting until it shows internationally, I sat down to talk with a few of my fellow contributors to give you a behind-the-scenes look at what’s new, what’s different, and what’s exciting about “The Boleyns”. (Featuring: doctors Estelle Paranque, Lauren Mackay, and Owen Emmerson)

Join me for some of the grizzly, weird deaths in the 16th century - Sir Marmaduke Constable, who choked to death on a frog; a poisoned earl; a splinter in a king’s eye, a female pastor with other-worldly courage, and an Irish prince killed because of a hangover?

I'm joined in this episode by Dr Nicola Clark to discuss the remarkable women produced by the House of Howard during the Tudor era - queens, duchesses, countesses, rebels, and ladies in waiting who immersed themselves in the debates of the Protestant Reformation. 

I’m joined by best-selling historian Leanda de Lisle to talk about her critically acclaimed books, Lady Jane Grey’s personality, James I’s sexuality, Leanda’s breakthrough with previously unpublished royal letters from the civil war, Margaret Beaufort’s tragedy, and how a Welsh warrior and womaniser changed the monarchy forever.

On 17th July 1918, Russia's ex-tsar, Nicholas II, his wife, their five children, and four servants were murdered in a cellar by members of the local Communist party. Who gave the final order? Why was there a rumour that the youngest Romanov daughter, Anastasia, had escaped death that night? Did the British Royal Family really abandon their Russian cousins? And how close were they to being rescued...

The 16th century produced many remarkable royal women, few more so than Nur Jahan, the refugee who became an empress. Nur Jahan’s extraordinary life is a story of persecution, murder, opulence, art, tiger hunts, drug addiction, and rebellions.

Dr. Nicola Tallis joins me to talk about her most recent book - a biography of Margaret Beaufort. Beaufort has been accused of infanticide, murder, treason, and cruelty in her quest to put her son on the throne of England as King Henry VII. Who better to ask than the author of “Uncrowned Queen” about just how much of this is true?

AJ West stops by to discuss the thrillingly dark true story that inspired his début novel, "The Spirit Engineer". In the summer of 1920, a professor's suicide in the northern Irish seaside town of Bangor lifted the lid on a Belfast Spiritualist church headed by a working-class blouse cutter called Kathleen Goligher, who attracted the attention of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Harry Houdini with her c...

How did Anne Boleyn go from being one of the most influential queens in English history to being executed before a large crowd on 19th May 1536? Was Henry VIII's second wife and Elizabeth I's mother brought down by politics, paranoia, prejudice, or perversion? In this episode, I narrate what really happened on Anne's final day alive and explore whether a cornucopia of incest, adultery, attempted m...

Charlotte Hope, star of “The Spanish Princess,” sits down with Gareth Russell to open up about playing Katherine of Aragon, her character’s tragedy but incredible strength, what she really thinks of Anne Boleyn, and how she prepares for her roles. Lots of laughter. Some strong language. 

On 7th May 1915, a torpedo brought panic, terror, heroism, and heartbreak to the passengers and crew of the luxury liner "Lusitania". This episode is about the experiences of her victims and survivors, the conspiracy theories about what caused the mysterious second explosion and a tragedy that was so intense it shook the German throne - and navy. 

England's forgotten queen, Adeliza of Louvain, led a fascinating life in one of the Middle Ages's darkest periods - it's a story of arranged marriages, illicit love affairs, beauty, betrayal, and the unanswered question of if she helped start one of the bloodiest wars in British history.