
Vikings and Franks
The Vikings famously raided Britain and Ireland, but they also turned their attentions to Francia and Europe’s western seaboard. Christian Cooijmans explains what we know about interactions between th...
23 Aug 202153min

The forgotten matriarch of the Wars of the Roses
Cecily Neville, mother of Richard III, is typically glossed over in the story of the Wars of Roses. But behind the scenes, she fought her own war, using intrigue, manipulation and the power of words t...
23 Aug 202142min

British police history: everything you wanted to know
When did the first professional police force come into being? Why do the British police largely not carry guns? And what was the point of police boxes? In our latest ‘Everything you wanted to know’ ep...
22 Aug 202145min

The Windsors in exile
Andrew Lownie discusses his new book Traitor King, which delves into the lives of Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson after the abdication crisis of 1936. The discussion ranges from their sympathies for th...
21 Aug 202144min

Working-class girlhood in 1930s Bolton
Hester Barron and Claire Langhamer discuss their new book, Class of ’37, which looks at what we can learn from essays written in 1937 by 12- and 13-year-old girls from Bolton. (Ad) Hester Barron and...
20 Aug 202137min

Censorship: waging war on free speech
Eric Berkowitz describes the lengths to which rulers – from the first Chinese emperor to Henry VIII – have gone to suppress freedom of speech Humans have been attempting to stamp out free speech for...
18 Aug 202141min

The history hidden in British heritage sites
Fatima Manji talks about her new book Hidden Heritage: Rediscovering Britain’s Lost Love of the Orient, which explores the objects and landmarks that are often obscured by the traditional stories told...
17 Aug 202125min

Monarchs, fascists & communists: Romania’s modern history
Paul Kenyon discusses his book Children of the Night, which charts the story of modern Romania, and its colourful, chaotic and often corrupt leaders – from unstable playboy King Carol II, to communist...
16 Aug 202142min



















