HistoryExtra podcast

Jack Fairweather, author of the Costa Biography Award-winning book The Volunteer, tells the story of the Polish resistance leader Witold Pilecki who allowed himself to be arrested by the Nazis in order to gather intelligence from Auschwitz. Historyextra.com/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Historian Hannah Skoda tackles some common misconceptions about the middle ages, from irrational peasants and filthy towns, to powerless women and mindless violence. Historyextra.com/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As we approach the 75th anniversary of the end of the Holocaust, historical broadcaster Chris Bowlby explains how Germany has sought to come to terms with the legacy of Nazism. Historyextra.com/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Award-winning historian Serhii Plokhy talks to us about his new book Forgotten Bastards of the Eastern Front, which describes a little-known World War Two joint operation between the US and USSR. As Plokhy reveals, the military collaboration hinted at the Cold War tensions that were to come. Historyextra.com/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For our first episode of 2020, Professor David Reynolds explores how several centuries of British history have fed into the recent Brexit debate. He shows how empire, national identities and ideas of British decline have all shaped the present political situation. Click here for our website. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Does the Medieval era deserve its reputation for poor hygiene and bad odours? Dr Katherine Harvey examines the evidence and reveals some of the unusual techniques that people used to keep clean. Historyextra.com/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sam Willis and James Daybell offer a distinctive take on festive traditions, which takes in violent Christmas cards and obscene snowmen. Historyextra.com/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Test your history knowledge with our annual festive quiz, devised by QI writer Justin Pollard. Historyextra.com/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The writer and historian Charles Emmerson reflects on the crucial years 1917-24, which witnessed the conclusion of the First World War, the collapse of empires, and new ideologies and conflicts emerging across the globe. Historyextra.com/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Classicist and political journalist Asa Bennett discusses his new book Romanifesto, which explores the lessons that 21st-century politicians could learn from their Roman forebears. Historyextra.com/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sara Cockerill, author of a new biography of Eleanor of Aquitaine, explores the story of the remarkable medieval queen and challenge some common misconceptions about her life. She is joined in conversation by the popular historian Dan Jones. Historyextra.com/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Author and journalist Simon Parkin tells the incredible, but little-known, story of a real life game of battleships that transformed British fortunes in the battle of the Atlantic. Historyextra.com/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Broadcaster Kavita Puri, who presents the BBC Radio 4 series Three Pounds in My Pocket, discusses how Asian communities were adjusting to life in Britain during the volatile 1980s. Historyextra.com/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Lara Maiklem, author of the bestselling book Mudlarking, describes some of the fascinating historical objects she has discovered while scouring the banks of the Thames over the past 15 years. Historyextra.com/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The author and literary agent Andrew Lownie discusses his bestselling recent book The Mountbattens: Their Lives & Loves, which explores the colourful and controversial lives of Louis and Edwina Mountbatten. It’s a story that incorporates Indian independence, royal connections and scandalous love affairs. Historyextra.com/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Author and journalist Thomas Harding describes how a family of Jewish immigrants to Britain in the 19th century went on to create Lyons – one of the country’s best-known food and restaurant companies. Historyextra.com/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Historian and author Nicola Tallis discusses her new biography of Margaret Beaufort who played a key role in the Wars of the Roses and whose son, Henry VII, began the Tudor dynasty. Historyextra.com/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Professor Julia Lovell discusses her recent book Maoism: A Global History, which has just won the prestigious Cundill History Prize. In the conversation Julia explores the nature of Mao’s ideology and how it has shaped China and many other countries around the world. Historyextra.com/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jill Lepore, professor of history at Harvard, discusses her acclaimed recent book These Truths, which charts the highs and lows of American history since 1492 and considers how far the United States has lived up to its founding ideals. Historyextra.com/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Lauren Johnson discusses the history behind the new Netflix film The King, considering how closely it follows the real events of Henry V’s life and reign. Historyextra.com/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Roland Emmerich, director of the new blockbuster Midway film, tells us about the process of bringing a major World War Two battle to the big screen. Historyextra.com/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, author and editor Iain MacGregor revisits some of the most dramatic events associated with the history of the Cold War barrier, from its construction in 1961 to its modern afterlife. Historyextra.com/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As a major new exhibition of the pharaoh’s tomb arrives in London, we speak to curator Tarek El Awady about the remarkable artefacts buried with Egypt’s iconic boy king. Historyextra.com/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Professor Alexander Watson describes the dramatic battle for the fortress city of Przemysl, which pitted a multi-ethnic Habsburg force against the might of the Russian army in the early months of World War I. Historyextra.com/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The author and former Cabinet minister David Laws examines the life and dramatic death, in 1916, of Britain’s Secretary of State for War: Lord Kitchener. Historyextra.com/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Historian and author Dominic Sandbrook joins us to discuss his new book, Who Dares Wins, which explores the pivotal early years of Margaret Thatcher’s premiership in Britain: 1979-1982. Historyextra.com/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Historian and author Thomas Penn discusses the Wars of the Roses, the princes in the Tower and the start of the Tudor era as he reflects on the Yorkist dynasty and the reigns of Edward IV and Richard III. Historyextra.com/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In this special edition, produced by our friends from the Science Focus podcast, Dr Robert Elliott Smith examines the dark history of algorithms and considers how they affect all of our lives today. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Historian James Walvin describes how enslaved people fought for their freedom and ultimately helped to bring down the Atlantic slave empires. Historyextra.com/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Historian Peter Hennessy talks about his new book Winds of Change, which tells the story of Britain in the early 1960s and explores subjects such as the Cold War, decolonisation, the Profumo affair and the country’s failed attempt to join the EEC. Historyextra.com/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Author and historian Helen Fry talks about her new book, The Walls Have Ears, which describes an ingenious British intelligence operation to bug German prisoners during the Second World War. Historyextra.com/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

William Dalrymple explains how a single London corporation took over the Mughal empire and became a major imperial power. Historyextra.com/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ahead of a major new TV drama about the Russian empress, historian Janet Hartley explores Catherine’s life and considers whether there is any truth behind the scandals that continue to damage her reputation. Historyextra.com/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Orlando Figes describes the cultural transformations of 19th-century Europe through the lives of a remarkable menage a trois. Historyextra.com/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Author and journalist Henry Hemming discusses his new book, Our Man in New York, which describes the adventures of British spymaster William Stephenson who plotted to bring the United States into World War Two. Historyextra.com/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Daisy Dunn revisits the eruption of Mount Vesuvius and considers the history that was preserved at Pompeii and Herculaneum. Historyextra.com/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sir Max Hastings discusses his new book on the iconic World War Two raid, describing the ingenuity and courage of the operation, as well as the terrible cost. Historyextra.com/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Dan Jones about the lives of women in 16th-century France. Historyextra.com/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Historian and author Tom Holland discusses his new book Dominion, which explores the history of Christianity and argues that it has had a transformative and enduring impact on the western mindset. Historyextra.com/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Bestselling medieval historian Dan Jones discusses his new book Crusaders, which tells the stories of these religious conflicts through the people who were involved in them. He is joined in conversation by his fellow historian Helen Castor. Historyextra.com/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As we reach the 80th anniversary of the outbreak of World War Two, historian Roger Moorhouse tells the story of the 1939 battle for Poland that saw the country dismembered by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union. Historyextra.com/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Professor Brendan Simms talks to us about his new biography of Adolf Hitler, which argues that the Nazi dictator’s main preoccupation was rivalry with Britain and America, rather than the Soviet Union. Historyextra.com/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dr Emma Butcher and Dr Hannah Partis-Jennings explore the history of war trauma, discussing how it has affected soldiers and civilians in conflicts such as the Napoleonic Wars, the two world wars, and more recent campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan. Historyextra.com/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Historian Serhii Plokhy, author of an award-winning book on the 1986 Soviet nuclear disaster, explores the causes and consequences of the Chernobyl accident and offers his thoughts on the accuracy of the recent drama series. Historyextra.com/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As the fifth series of the BBC historical drama is about to air, we talk to historian Andrew Davies about the real Birmingham gangsters who inspired the programme, and discover how late-Victorian society contributed to a rise in gang violence. Historyextra.com/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Babita Sharma explores the history of the British corner shop, explaining how Asian immigrants transformed these local businesses. Historyextra.com/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ahead of the 200th anniversary of Peterloo, we speak to Robert Poole, author of a major new history of the massacre. He explores the history of 19th-century radicalism that fed into the Manchester demonstration and then reveals why a peaceful meeting ended in death and injury. Historyextra.com/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Archaeologist and writer Mike Pitts discusses some of the major archaeological finds that have shaped the way we understand the early history of the British Isles. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Former prime minister Gordon Brown discusses the American businessman Andrew Carnegie, who gave away most of his fortune at the turn of the 20th century. Historyextra.com/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Harry Potter explores the twists and turns in the history of the British penal system. Historyextra.com/podcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices