Dan Snow's History Hit

The Real Thomas Cromwell

28 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

On this day in 1540, Thomas Cromwell was executed. On the same day Henry VIII married his fifth wife, Catherine Howard. To mark the anniversary we've ...

The Fight to Save Archaeology

27 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Archaeology is not just about digging, it’s about understanding the human experience of existence. In the space of a few weeks there have been ...

Pathfinders: Bomber Command's Elite

26 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The Pathfinders were ordinary men and women who transformed the efficiency of the Allies' air campaign over mainland Europe and helped deliver victory...

What is Going on With Democracy?

25 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Democracy is in crisis around the world. Dr Robert Saunders, from Queen Mary University of London, is back on the podcast to discuss why it is under t...

The Woman Who Flew Spitfires in WW2

24 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Mary Ellis was a pioneering and courageous aviator who flew hundreds of fighters and bombers to Britain’s frontline airfields. She was one of the fi...

The Olympic Games

23 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

From Ancient Greece to when it was reborn in 1896, the tournament has nearly 3,000 years of history. Sports historian, Professor Martin Polley from De...

Rival Queens: Elizabeth I and Catherine de' Medici

22 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The relationship between Elizabeth I and Catherine de' Medici - the two most powerful Queens of their time - is one of the most intriguing and captiva...

The Rise of Stalin

21 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

How did a young boy from Georgia become a merciless politician who shaped the Soviet Empire in his own brutal image? Historian and bestselling author,...

How Timekeeping Changed the World

20 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Accurate timekeeping is at the very root of all of the technological advances in the modern world, but how did it all begin? From Roman sundials to me...

Dancing Mania

19 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In the summer of 1518, one of the most bizarre afflictions in history struck the city of Strasburg; dancing mania. This epidemic of dancing spread, al...

Robin Hood

18 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Robin Hood is one of the most famous legends of British history, but did he exist and if so who was he? Gareth Morgan, Learning Development Officer at...

Saladin and the Crusades

17 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Saladin was one of the greatest Sultans of the middle ages, and the first sultan of Egypt and Syria. He famously defeated the Crusader army at the Bat...

Why the Statues Are Coming Down

16 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Recent years have seen a spate of statue removals from the toppling of Confederate statues in the United States, the tearing down of the Edward Colsto...

Mythbusting Medieval Buildings

15 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

From spiral stairs to tunnels leading to pubs and brothels, to witch markings; join us as we find out the truth about medieval buildings. Matt Lewis, ...

The Peasants' Revolt

14 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In 1381 England was rocked by one of the most widespread popular uprisings of the medieval period; the Peasants' Revolt. Beginning in Essex in respons...

World War Two Showdown in the Mediterranean

13 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

By the summer of 1942 Malta had been under siege by Axis forces for over a year and the situation on the island was bleak with food and fuel almost ex...

Captain Cook 250 Years On

12 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

250 years ago today Captain James arrived back from one of the most remarkable voyages of exploration in the history of the world. The expedition took...

The Irish War of Independence

11 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

11 July 1921 the truce that bought the Irish War of Independence came into effect. The negotiations that brought about the end of hostilities, between...

A History of Tennis

10 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In this archive episode, David Berry joined Dan on the pod to discuss the history of tennis. From the birth of modern tennis in Victorian Britain to t...

How Coffee and Tobacco Captivated Britain

09 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

When tobacco arrived in Britain in the 1560s, it was hailed as a "holy herb", a miracle cure to improve health and a catalyst for wit and creativity. ...

England and Italy. The History.

08 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The history of Italy and England stretches back thousands of years well before Italy and England even existed as nations. As the two will meet in the ...

The Japanese Americans Who Fought in WWII

07 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour in December 1941, Japanese Americans were put in a terrible position in the USA. Many tens of thousands of ...

Assyria and the Birth of Writing

06 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

It is often the case that it is assumed that it was in ancient Greece and the eastern Mediterranean that was host to the foundation of European politi...

Ethel Rosenberg: Super Spy or Innocent Victim?

05 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In June 1953 Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, an American married couple with two young sons, were executed having been found guilty of conspiracy to commi...

D. H. Lawrence and the Lady Chatterley Trial

04 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

D.H. Lawrence is best known for his work Lady Chatterley's Lover and the obscenity trial relating to the book's publication in the early 1960s. But La...

The Truth About King Arthur

03 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The legend of King Arthur has been reworked many times, but is there any historical truth behind the tales? Dr Miles Russell believes there is and in ...

The Battle of the Somme

02 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

105 years ago the battle of the Somme raged on into its second day. 60,000 British casualties we recorded on its first day and by its close in Novembe...

100 years of the Chinese Communist Party

01 Jul 2021

Contributed by Lukas

100 years ago the Chinese Communist Party was founded and across the span of that century has become one of the most powerful organisations on the pla...

Marginalised in the Middle Ages with Eleanor Janega

29 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Much of Medieval history focuses on the kings, queens, bishops, and the nobility of the period, but what do we know about those people on the margins ...

Sarajevo 1914: Assassination of the Archduke

28 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Europe in 1914 was a tinderbox of imperial tensions and the spark that would light the conflagration would be the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferd...

Berlin and the Dawn of the Cold War

27 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In the aftermath of World War II, amongst the shattered ruins of Berlin a new conflict was born, the Cold War. With the common purpose of defeating Na...

From Airman to Attorney General: RAF Navigator Johnny Smythe

26 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Beginning with his birth in 1915 in Sierra Leone, the life of John Henry Smythe OBE MBE is almost unbelievable. From becoming a navigator in the RAF d...

Hunting the Viking Great Heathen Army

25 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In 865 AD Britain was invaded by the Great Heathen Army an alliance of Scandanavian warriors determined to conquer the kingdoms of East Anglia, Northu...

History of Freemasonry

24 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

John Dickie joins Dan from the History Hit Archive to discuss the international story of an organisation that now has 6 million members across the glo...

The World According to Obama Official Ben Rhodes

23 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Ben Rhodes has served at the very pinnacle of politics in his role as deputy national security adviser in Barack Obama's Whitehouse and seen what it t...

Operation Barbarossa

22 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

On 22 June 1941 Hitler unleashed Operation Barbarossa the biggest military operation in human history. More than 3 million men of the Axis poured into...

Tragedy at the Scottish Crannog Centre

21 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

From the Neolithic period to the early 18th century Crannogs were a feature of Scottish, Welsh and Irish lakes and estuaries enabling a unique way of ...

Black American Struggle: Riot or Revolution?

20 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The 1960s and early 1970s saw civil unrest and violence in the United States on a scale not seen since the civil war between black residents and the p...

Mary, Queen of Scots

19 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Mary, Queen of Scots, returned to the news headlines when the rosary she carried to her execution in 1587, was recently stolen from Arundel Castle. It...

Voices of Waterloo

18 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

206 years ago today, 60,000 men were slaughtered in the Battle of Waterloo. Napoleon Bonaparte's French army was finally defeated by an almighty coali...

Churchill's Daughters: The Privilege and the Pain

17 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Winston Churchill's daughters Diana, Sarah, Marigold and Mary are often overshadowed by their father's extraordinary fame but they also lived fascinat...

The Curious History of Postcards

16 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

For many people sending a postcard is an enjoyable part of any seaside trip but rather than just being a novelty they were once a vital form of commun...

Everything You Need to Know about the Anglo-Saxons

15 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The Anglo-Saxon period is vital for the formation of England and the UK as we know it but is a difficult era to fully understand. The departure of the...

The Heiress, the Kidnap, and the Making of London

14 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

After the Great Plague of 1665 and the Great Fire of London in 1666 London was on its knees with its population decimated and the heart of the city bu...

Gordon Brown on How To Save the World

13 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Gordon Brown stood at the pinnacle of UK politics for 13 years first as Chancellor of the Exchequer and the as Prime Minister but it is as a private c...

The Euros

12 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

England holds the slightly unwanted title for the most appearances in the Euros without ever reaching a final, so why the excitement when it comes bac...

Alexander the Great’s Corpse and the Greatest Heist in History

11 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Alexander the Great is one of the most famous generals and empire builders in history, but the story of his death is almost as remarkable as his life....

The Mary Rose and Her Ethnically Diverse Crew

10 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The Mary Rose, a Tudor warship in Henry VIII's navy, sank in the Solent on 19 July 1545 with the loss of most of her 415 strong crew. Recent developme...

The Crusades with Dan Jones

09 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The two Dans are back. And this time, they're talking all things crusades. In this rerun episode, Dan Jones provides his namesake host with a thrillin...

Stalin's War

08 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The Second World War is often depicted as a straight battle between good and evil but it was perhaps less straightforward than that. Whilst the Nazi r...

The History of Head Transplants

07 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The superpower rivalry of the Cold War had many different fronts, space, the rice paddy fields of south-east Asia and even the operating theatre. The ...

New D-Day Shipwrecks Discovered

06 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

D-Day on 6 June 1944 saw the largest amphibious landing in history take place as more than 150,000 allied troops stormed five assault beaches in Norma...

The Profumo Affair

05 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

It was the scandal that shook the British political world to its core leading to ministerial resignations and helping to bring down a prime minister a...

The Beauty and Violence of the Renaissance

04 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The Renaissance was a time of radical change in Europe with an explosion in the production of art, new methods of waging war, Europeans discovering th...

Disaster Before D-Day: Exercise Tiger

03 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The D-Day landings of June 6 1944 were the largest amphibious landing in the history of warfare, and are famed as a major turning point towards Allied...

The Bank That Sacked Its Customers

02 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

When we think of investment banking we think of high-risk trades, profit at any cost and big bonuses but there is an institution that sees it differen...

Democracy

01 Jun 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode taken from our back catalogue Professor Paul Cartledge the concept which is the foundation stone of our political culture: democracy. ...

Tulsa Race Massacre

31 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

On May 31 1921 Tulsa, Oklahoma, was torn apart by one of the worst instances of racialised violence in American history. In a period of great racial t...

Joan of Arc

30 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

On May 30, 1431, Joan of Arc was burned at the stake at the age of 19. It is safe to say that few teenagers have had as big an impact on Anglo-French ...

Israel and Palestine: An Israeli Perspective with Benny Morris

29 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The conflict between Israeli's and Palestinians is one that inflames strong emotions and opinions on all sides, but can a solution be found or is it a...

The Mystery of the Ninth Legion

28 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The legions of Rome were the nucleus of Rome’s military might for centuries. From campaigning in northern Scotland to the Persian Gulf, these devast...

Sinking the Bismarck

27 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In May 1941 Nazi Germany's most powerful warship and pride of the Kriegsmarine the Bismarck slipped out of harbour and made its way to hunt Allied mer...

Mary Anning: Palaeontology's Forgotten Pioneer

26 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Born in Lyme Regis in 1799, Mary Anning was a pioneering palaeontologist and fossil collector whose story continues to inspire so many scientists to t...

Hunting the Bismarck

25 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In May 1941, the Royal Navy pursued Nazi Germany's largest battleship, the Bismarck, in the greatest chase story in the history of naval warfare. Bism...

The UK’s Top Diplomat on the State of the World

24 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Sir Jeremy Greenstock served as a diplomat from the 1960s to the well into the 21st century and is someone who has been in the room when some of the m...

Martin Luther: Scourge of the Papacy

23 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Martin Luther is one of the most extraordinary and consequential men of the last 500 years but was also a man keenly aware of his image and went to co...

Eurovision

22 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Eurovision is an annual extravaganza of European music and culture but what is its history and what role does it play? To help explore this subject Da...

Israel and Palestine: A Jewish Perspective with Daniel Finkelstein

21 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

As part of our season of programmes looking at the Arab-Israeli conflict Lord Daniel Finklestein joins the podcast to discuss his perspective as a mem...

The Amelia Earhart Mystery with Amelia Rose Earhart

20 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

On the morning of May 20, 1932, 34-year-old Earhart set off from Newfoundland, Canada in her bid to become the first woman to fly solo across the...

Anne Boleyn Special Part 1: Life and Afterlives

19 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In the first of two special podcasts, from our sibling podcast Not Just the Tudors, to mark the 485th anniversary of Anne Boleyn's death, Suzannah Lip...

Gone Medieval

18 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Dan is joined by the wonderful Cat Jarman who, along with Matt Lewis, will be presenting History Hit's brand new podcast Gone Medieval. They discuss t...

The Western Front

17 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The Western Front in the First World War is a story of aristocratic generals sending ordinary men over the top to their deaths in futile frontal attac...

Israel and Palestine: A Palestinian View with Yara Hawari

16 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

History is essential to understanding the world around us and this couldn't be more true than in the case of the Israel-Palestine conflict. The recent...

Malcolm Gladwell

15 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Malcolm Gladwell has sold millions of books and more recently become a podcasting titan and he joins Dan to talk about his most recent project The Bom...

War Crimes and Innocence in Iraq

14 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Following the toppling of Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003 British troops in Basra were confronted with a chaotic situation as looting and rioting took...

Ian Fleming & The Birth of Bond

13 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

A suave secret agent and fictional character turned household name and multi-billion dollar franchise: we all know James Bond. But what about the man ...

Motherhood, Working and Pandemics

12 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Being a working mother is now an entirely normal part of life but this was certainly not always the case and was often seen as a social ill in the pas...

Ken Burns and Lynn Novick on Hemmingway

11 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Ken Burns and Lynn Novick are two of the most talented and inspiring history filmmakers on earth. Their works include the seminal The Civil War, Baseb...

Napoleon Bonaparte: Rise to Power

10 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In this archive episode, Dan talks to Adam Zamoyski, a historian who has written a biography of Napoleon, about the early life and rise to power of on...

Greatest Heist in History: The Crown Jewels and Thomas Blood

09 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

On the 9 May 1671, Thomas Blood led his co-conspirators in a daring bid to steal the Crown Jewels from the Tower of London. Through a combination of t...

Life at Bletchley Park with Betty Webb

08 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Betty Webb was heavily involved with the work going on at Bletchley Park. While she was not part of the code-breaking team, her work was invaluable to...

The Sinking of the Lusitania

07 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

On 7 May 1915, the ocean liner RMS Lusitania was sunk by a German U-boat off the coast of Ireland with more than half the passengers and crew being ki...

Roman Prisoners of War

06 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

We know all about the battles of the Roman Empire: the opposing sides, their weapons and incentives. But if history is written by the winners, what ha...

A Scandalous Duchess

05 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Elizabeth Chudleigh, Duchess of Kingston was a duchess who attracted scandal, a duchess who divided opinion, a duchess who refused to give up agency o...

Pre-historic Britain in Seven Burials with Alice Roberts

04 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

How much can a burial really tell us about our ancient past? Professor Alice Roberts is today's guest and, as her new book Ancestors demonstrates, old...

The Apollo Program with Kevin Fong

03 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Getting to the moon was no easy feat, no matter how confident Kennedy may have sounded in his famous 1961 speech. NASA built a team from the ground up...

Amend: The Fight for America

02 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Take a deep dive into the remaking of the American Constitution and the 14th amendment created in the wake of the American Civil War. The 14th amendme...

The Death of Hitler

01 May 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Did Hitler shoot himself in the Führerbunker, or did he slip past the Soviets and escape to South America? There have been innumerable documentaries,...

Captain Cook: The Aboriginal Perspective

30 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Captain Cook has been celebrated, wrongly, as the first European to discover Australia but many now believe it is time to reappraise his legacy partic...

Not Just the Tudors

29 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

When thinking about the 16th century the Tudor dynasty often comes to the fore, but the was so much more to this extraordinary period to be explored. ...

The Battle of Okinawa

28 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The last major confrontation of the Second World War and the largest amphibious assault of the Pacific theatre, the Battle of Okinawa ended in Allied ...

Blood and Iron: The German Empire

27 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

German unification in 1871 immediately altered the balance of power in Europe and across the world, but what did its existence and expansion in the 19...

Chernobyl: Memories of a Survivor

26 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

On April 26th 1986 reactor No. 4 at the Chernobyl nuclear plant exploded sending a vast plume of radioactive material into the atmosphere, but what wa...

The Last Nuremberg Prosecutor

25 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Ben Ferencz at 102 years old is the last surviving prosecutor from the Nuremberg trials and a direct witness to the horrors of the Nazi death camps. B...

Cellini: Bad Boy of the Renaissance

24 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Benvenuto Cellini was the bad boy of the Renaissance! His life was a story of murders, violence, war, the sack of cities, sodomy, imprisonment, religi...

Football, Money and the European Super League

23 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

The attempt to create a new European Super League might have been short-lived with the attempt to form a breakaway competition collapsing in the face ...

Shakespeare's Shoreditch Theatre with Heather Knight

22 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In this archive episode, Dan visits the site of The Theatre, the 16th-century playhouse where some of Shakespeare's works were first performed, to inv...

Lessons from the Antonine Plague

21 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

A plague which affects people from across society, the mass exodus from city centres and numerous opinions on how best to stay well ... all familiar t...

Lady Mary and the First Inoculation

20 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In the 18th century, Lady Mary Wortley Montagu was an aristocrat, courtier, brilliant beauty, intellectual, wife to the ambassador to the Ottoman Empi...

Prisoners of Geography

19 Apr 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Five years ago Tim Marshall wrote the international best selling book Prisoners of Geography which examined how our politics, demographics, our econom...