Food from the past and the history of illegitimacy
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 ...
12 Mar 201557min
Shakespeare and war in the Middle East
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 year...
5 Mar 20151h 7min
The life of Keynes and a trip to Ancient Greece
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, classic...
26 Feb 201559min
The Peasants’ Revolt
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 challenge...
19 Feb 201542min
Amazing inventions and London after dark
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 Londone...
12 Feb 201557min
Life in the workhouse and British biographies
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 Canna...
5 Feb 201547min
Elizabeth I and an unlikely suffragette
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 Dulee...
29 Jan 201559min
Debating British monarchy
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 ...
22 Jan 20151h 19min
