The slave ship that changed history
In 1781, more than 130 enslaved Africans were deliberately thrown from a ship called the Zorg into the Atlantic. The horrifying story of this slave ship – long mistakenly known as the Zong – was to ha...
22 Sep 47min
Have we overlooked England’s local histories?
What happens to English history when you view it through a local lens, rather than a national one? Did people even notice when the Romans left Britain? Was 1066 really that important outside of London...
21 Sep 40min
The making of the modern Middle East
The Middle East has, for decades, been riven by violent conflict. But what are the roots and ongoing causes of this violence? In this episode, Simon Sebag Montefiore discusses The Cauldron, his new bo...
20 Sep 46min
Joan of Arc: inspirational leader or flawed failure?
Joan of Arc's story is one of the most remarkable chapters in medieval history: that of a rebellious teenage peasant girl rising to become a military leader, before suffering an equally precipitous fa...
17 Sep 43min
The forgotten slave traders who shaped Britain
Who were the people who financed Britain’s transatlantic slave trade – and how did their money transform the nation? Elinor Evans speaks to historian William A Pettigrew, who has led a landmark projec...
15 Sep 36min
What is ‘Europe’, anyway?
What defines Europe – is it geography, politics, a shared culture, or perhaps a mix of all three? In this episode, historian Roderick Beaton tells Emily Briffett about the ways in which it has been de...
14 Sep 36min
Christianity, conflict and catastrophe: the life of CS Lewis
He's well-known for creating children's classic The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, but what else can history teach us about CS Lewis? Michael Ward explores the life of the author with Isabel King –...
13 Sep 40min
Was Napoleon III the world's first populist leader?
Napoleon III's family was, in the words of historian Edward Shawcross, “the most cutthroat mafioso soap opera in the world”. Exiled to Switzerland as a boy and disowned by his own father, he spent yea...
10 Sep 55min
