The Rest Is History

Is the author’s responsibility to the quality of the novel or the truth of history? What makes a great historical novel and which authors have contributed to our understanding of history. Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook range across literature in search of the best of historical fiction. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Stephen Fry is our guest on The Rest is History as he tells Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook about his enduring fascination with the Greek myths. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

History is littered with conspiracy theories, from Popish plots to JFK’s assassination. But what makes people believe in them and how do they gain currency? As strange stories continue to swirl around the coronavirus vaccine, Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook examine conspiracy theories through the ages. Oh and Dominic finally solves the question of who did kill JFK. Learn more about your ad choic...

As Britain leaves the EU, Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook look at the best & worst comparisons from history that have been made to Brexit.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Is Christmas an ancient ritual or was it invented by Dickens? Dominic Sandbrook and Tom Holland discuss the transformation of Christmas from public to private event and decide when it became a commercial rather than spiritual celebration. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Whose fault was it? Does the question even make sense? Are wars always somebody's "fault"? Was it really the first global war? And should Britain have fought, or stayed out? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Social media has colonised the world but is it really a new phenomenon? Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook debate the effects of technical innovations from the printing press to Twitter. Do they really make a difference? Or was Swift right when he said: “It is the folly of too many, to mistake the echo of a London coffee-house for the voice of the kingdom.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit p...

Can we truly learn from history? And if we can - do we? It’s one of the big questions this week as Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook roam through the centuries in search of certainty. Never get involved in a land war in Asia. That’s our starter for ten. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It’s been described as the most legendary story ever told. But did the Trojan War actually happen? And was it really fought over a beautiful woman? Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook discuss an enduring tale that still resonates to this day. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As a new series of The Crown arrives on Netflix, returning viewers to the 1980s, we look back at the year many Britons consider the worst in living memory. Rocketing unemployment, riots in major cities and a country governed by the most divisive prime minister in post-war British history made 1981 a year to forget. Amidst the gloom was the wedding of Prince Charles to Lady Diana and the greatest A...

Plague, pestilence and statue smashing are back in business. Has 2020 turned out to be the 17th Century in disguise? And if so, has Boris Johnson become the new Oliver Cromwell, determined to crack down on the excesses of Christmas? Dominic Sandbrook and Tom Holland suggest things now are not as bad as we thought. Twitter:  @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Learn more about your ad choices...

Recorded hours after Joe Biden was named President of the United States, we ask if Donald Trump is a modern day Caesar, willing to do anything to stay in power? Or is Trump the natural successor to the disgraced Richard Nixon? Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook draw parallels between the modern White House, the 1970s and ancient Rome. Twitter:  @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Learn more a...

What are the conditions needed for a civil war to start? Could we see a modern industrial nation turn upon itself again? Historians Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook explore examples from ancient history though to Spain in the 1930s and Yugoslavia in the 1990s to work out what it takes for neighbour to murder neighbour. Produced by Jack Davenport Exec Producer Tony Pastor *The Rest Is History Live...

How did certain people come to be called ‘the Great’? Is the notion of great men and women outmoded? Can anyone today be reckoned ‘great’? Historians Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook take a wide ranging stroll through the annals of time, from Nero to Nixon, with a bit of Trump thrown in for good measure. Produced by Jack Davenport Exec Producer Tony Pastor *The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*: To...

Historians Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook are interrogating the past, attempting to de-tangle the present for their new podcast "The Rest Is History" They question the nature of Greatness, why the West no longer has civil wars and whether Richard Nixon was more like Caligula or Claudius.   They're distilling the entirety of human history, or, as much as they can fit into about thirty minutes. L...