The rise of Alfred the Great
As the Viking Great Heathen Army refused to leave Anglo-Saxon England, the pressure mounted on the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms to respond, placing the future of the land in the hands of Alfred the Great. In ...
11 Apr 44min
Stalin's murderous vendetta against Trotsky
Mexico City, August 1940: a study door closes, an ice axe is raised and the Bolshevik Revolution’s greatest exile meets his grisly end. But what led to this dramatic moment? Danny Bird speaks to Josh ...
9 Apr 38min
A new take on the battle of Hastings
It's long been assumed that King Harold's English army arrived tired and in disarray at the battle of Hastings, having had to march over 200 miles from fighting the battle of Stamford Bridge. Tom Lice...
7 Apr 33min
Mrs Beeton: life of the week
Mrs Beeton is a name synonymous with 19th-century domesticity – most notably in connection with the iconic Book of Household Management. But who was the real woman behind the name? Emily Briffett is j...
6 Apr 37min
The battle of the Arctic: the overlooked crucible of WW2
The US and UK supplied the USSR with vast amounts of military materiel during the Second World War via the Arctic convoys. In this episode, Hugh Sebag-Montefiore speaks to David Musgrove about the imp...
5 Apr 37min
How the Vikings pushed Anglo-Saxon England to the brink
During the latter decades of the ninth century, the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms faced an existential threat as Viking forces launched an assault on a scale never seen before. In this first episode of our fou...
4 Apr 38min
How to stay healthy in the Middle Ages
In reality, were medieval people dirty and covered in mud? What did they think were the healthiest things to eat? And how often did they think they should be having sex? Speaking to Charlotte Vosper, ...
2 Apr 36min
Europe's Muslim history
From the magnificence of the Alhambra to the forgotten resting places of the Prophet Muhammad’s own relatives, Islam has long been a part of Europe’s history. Danny Bird speaks to Tharik Hussain about...
31 Mar 41min
