Gladiator tales
How did gladiators supercharge the rise of Julius Caesar? What can we learn about arena fighters from the petrified remains at Pompeii? And why did gladiatorial bouts get banned there for a whole deca...
11 Nov 202437min
The Brontës: everything you wanted to know
From their remote Yorkshire parsonage, sisters Emily, Charlotte and Anne Brontë penned stories that would capture the imaginations of generations of readers. But how popular were books such as Jane Ey...
10 Nov 202448min
Lord Lucan: the vanishing earl
On 7 November, 1974, nanny Sandra Rivett was found murdered in the affluent London neighbourhood of Belgravia. The prime suspect? The father of her young charges, Lord Lucan. But before the aristocrat...
8 Nov 202434min
The Tyrant, the usurper and the hero | Henry V: hero
Henry V only had a short reign, but his legacy looms large over the medieval landscape. Remembered as a heroic warrior king, who bested the French at Harfleur then marched his forces to victory at Agi...
7 Nov 202448min
How Stalin won WW2
In June 1944 Allied armies landed in force in northern France, and the liberation of western Europe began. But, the battle that really sealed Hitler's fate was taking place in the east, as the Red Arm...
6 Nov 202438min
The Venerable Bede: life of the week
The Venerable Bede was a monk who lived in Northumbria 1300 years ago, but his influence reached far beyond the confines of his monastic home. In fact, he is remembered today as the 'Father of English...
5 Nov 202436min
Decoding Mary, Queen of Scots
How might cryptic messages written from within a political prison bring us closer to understanding a captive queen? Historian Jade Scott has studied the letters Mary, Queen of Scots wrote in captivity...
4 Nov 202436min
The Blitz: everything you wanted to know
How did British civilians respond when they found themselves under aerial bombardment during the Second World War? Was normal life put on hold during air raids? And was 'Blitz Spirit' a real thing? Sp...
3 Nov 202445min
