Politics of the Potato
Rebecca Earle joined me on the pod to talk about spuds. She took me through the story of this starchy tuber's dramatic career, which has been at the heart of the development of the world we live in to...
24 Jun 202022min
How and Why History: Operation Barbarossa
In June 1941, Hitler launched Operation Barbarossa, opening up the Eastern Front in World War II – a campaign to which more forces were committed than in any other theatre of war in history. But why d...
23 Jun 202027min
Family History
Simon Pearce, a genealogist from Ancestry.com, joined me on the podcast to reveal the secrets of uncovering family history. Delving into the records of my own grandfather, Simon explained the methods,...
22 Jun 202021min
A New History of the Aztecs
In November 1519, Hernando Cortés approached the capital of the Aztec kingdom and came face to face with its ruler, Moctezuma. The story which follows has been told countless times following a Spanish...
21 Jun 202023min
The Lancaster Bomber
I was thrilled to be joined again by one of our most popular guests, John Nichol. John shot to international prominence when he served in the first Gulf War. When his Tornado was shot down in 1991 he ...
20 Jun 202025min
Why is Jerusalem so Important?
Simon Sebag Montefiore joined me on the pod to discuss one of the most important cities in history. For the last 3000 years, its been hitting the headlines, and this pod was recorded just after Donald...
19 Jun 202043min
Voices of Waterloo
205 years ago today, 60,000 men were slaughtered in the Battle of Waterloo. Napoleon Bonaparte's French army was finally defeated by an almighty coalition of troops from the United Kingdom, the Nether...
18 Jun 202042min
How and Why History: The Battle of Waterloo
The Battle of Waterloo brought a generation of terrible warfare to a close, decisively ending the career of Napoleon Bonaparte. How did the Duke of Wellington defeat Napoleon? Why did Napoleon make a ...
18 Jun 202019min
