Empire: World History
Episodes
146. Queen Victoria: The Empire on Which the Sun Never Sets (Ep 3)
06 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Across 1851, over 6,000,000 people went to London to see the Great Exhibition. Designed to showcase the very best of what Britain and the empire could...
145. Victoria & Albert (Ep 2)
01 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
It is one of the great love affairs of history. Upon meeting again shortly after her 18th birthday, Victoria and Albert became smitten with each other...
144. The Making of Queen Victoria (Ep 1)
29 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Born on the 24th May 1819, Alexandrina Victoria was fifth in line to the throne at a time in which the monarchy’s popularity was declining. Yet, ove...
143. Isabella of Castile: The Spanish Inquisition, the Conquest of Granada, and Columbus
24 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
For centuries Spain had been an outlier in Europe due to its religious diversity; Christians, Jews, and Muslims all existed reasonably peacefully acro...
142. Isabella of Castile: Uniting Spain
22 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
To some she is Europe’s first great queen, to others she is one of history’s great villains, but there is no doubt that Isabella of Castile holds ...
141. Nur Jahan: The Most Powerful Mughal Woman
17 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
With Jahangir sliding into more of an opium and alcohol fuelled slumber with each passing day, Nur Jahan took the reins of the Mughal Empire. In this ...
140. Nur Jahan: The Light of the World
15 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Nur Jahan was born on a roadside as her well-to-do parents fled from Safavid Persia for the tolerant court of the Mughal emperor. Her first marriage w...
139. Mrs Genghis Khan
10 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Börte came from a powerful nomadic tribe and in many ways her marriage to Genghis Khan set him up to become the great conqueror we know. They married...
138. The Graceful Reed: Ruling the Islamic Empire
08 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Sold as a slave to the great Abbasid Caliph, al-Khayzuran quickly rose to the very top of the pyramid. Through marriage and motherhood, she became wif...
137. Empress Theodora: Making Heaven on Earth
03 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Empress Theodora is often unfairly remembered for the salacious stories that have been told about her when she was forced to work in a brothel. Sh...
136. Empress Theodora: From the Brothel to the Throne
01 Apr 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Placed by her mother into a brothel when she was just a child, Theodora was born into the most brutal of worlds. It was a Constantinople riven with di...
135. Helena: Queen of the World and Finder of the One True Cross
28 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Born in poverty at a time when the Roman Empire was in danger of cracking up and disintegrating, Helena was set for a life of obscurity as a stable ha...
134. Cleopatra: The Would-Be Empress of Rome
26 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
With Julius Caesar dead, Cleopatra turned to another of Rome’s dominant figures. She became entwined with Mark Antony, the ruler of the eastern half...
133. Cleopatra: Queen of the Nile
21 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Born in the romantic splendour of Ptolemaic Egypt, not far from the Library of Alexandria, Cleopatra was destined for greatness. She ascended to the t...
132. Journey to Nalanda and the Library of Jewels
19 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In late autumn, 629 AD, Xuanzang set out for the great university of Nalanda from Chang’an. Across the desert, over the Pamirs, and through multiple...
131. Buddhism Goes to China
14 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Buddhism reached China in the 1st century AD, yet it remained a minor, foreign religion for the next 100 years. It was not until the fall of the Han d...
130. India meets Rome: Making the Image of the Buddha
12 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In the 1st century AD, the nomadic Kushans settled in what is now Afghanistan and established settlements and trade. From here, they moved down over t...
129. Ashoka: The Great Buddhist Emperor of India
07 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Ruling in the 3rd century BC, Ashoka was one of India’s greatest ever rulers. Under his rule, the Mauryan Empire grew into the largest empire India ...
128. The Life of the Buddha
05 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
India was the forgotten heart of the ancient world. For a millennium and a half, from about 250 BC to 1200 AD, India was a confident exporter of its d...
127. Inventing Curry: The British Taste for India
29 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
From the beginning of the Raj, British tastes began to turn away from Indian cuisine towards a European palate. The colonial classes sneered at Indian...
126. Punch & Chilli: The East India Company at the Table
27 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
When the East India Company first arrived on the shores of India, the food they ate in their first factories was not so different from that of Britain...
125. The Origin of the Houthis
22 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Since November 2023, the Houthis have been attacking international shipping lanes in the Red Sea. They set off from the Yemeni coastline on speedboats...
124. Saddam Hussein vs The Ayatollah
20 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In September 1980, Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi forces invaded neighbouring Iran and so began the longest conventional war in modern history. After initia...
123. Hezbollah: The Party of God
15 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In June 1982, Israeli tanks rolled over the Lebanese border. Soon after, Iran sent 1,500 Revolutionary Guards into Lebanon to help fight them. Thereaf...
122. Iran & Saudi Arabia: The Rivalry that Split the Islamic World
13 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
1979 was the year that set the Islamic world on the path to today. In Iran, the revolution established the nation as a theocracy that sought to defend...
121. The Fall of the Shah of Shahs
08 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The Shah cracks down on dissent, to the point even his great ally Jimmy Carter begins to cool on the relationship. The economy continues to overheat a...
120. The Iranian Revolution: The Rise of Ayatollah Khomeini
06 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
With the Last Shah’s reforms - known as the White Revolution - starting to take effect, Iran looked to be in a healthy position. Economic growth is ...
119. The Last Shah
01 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Reza Pahlavi rules but he is still bedevilled by the interference of the great powers. Britain has its claws in deep with the Anglo-Iranian Oil Compan...
118. Iran's First Revolution
30 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Throughout the 19th century, Iran was a pawn of the great colonial powers. It failed to industrialise, its economy stagnated, and resentment at foreig...
117. Nader Shah: The Sword of Persia
25 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Nader Shah was not born to rule. He was poor, the son of a shepherd in a semi-nomadic tribe, and had no connection to the throne. But he was physicall...
116. Isfahan: The City of Dreams
23 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Isfahan, half of the world. It had been a city for years, but at the end of the 16th century Shah Abbas made it his capital and totally transformed it...
115. The Great Conversion: How Iran became Shia
18 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
How did the great divide within Islam, the split between Sunni and Shia, develop? We trace how the great 16th century confrontation between the Ottoma...
114. The Persian Renaissance
16 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
After conquering much of Eurasia, Timur showed no interest in building institutions and so after his death, like the Mongol Empire before it, the Timu...
113. Timur: Scourge of God
11 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Timur, known to many as Tamburlaine the Great from the iconic Marlowe play. Despite having a limp and struggling to get onto a horse, he erupted from ...
112. Ferdowsi: How One Poet Saved Persian Civilisation
09 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
After the Arab conquest, Persia was turned upside down. Patronage went to Islam as opposed to Zoroastrianism. The official language of state was now A...
111. Shackleton: The Hero of Antarctica
04 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
As the timber creaked under the pressure of the Antarctic ice, Shackleton knew his voyage aboard the Endurance was doomed. What the ice gets, the ice ...
110. Antarctica: The Continent that wouldn’t be Conquered
02 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Antarctica, the great land of ice. It was first spotted in the early years of the 19th century but it wasn't until 1895 that humans, in the form of a ...
109. The Endeavour: Into the Unknown
28 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
With Alexander Dalrymple sidelined, Captain James Cook and Joseph Banks are ready to set off on an expedition to track the Transit of Venus and see wh...
108. The Endeavour & the Great Southern Continent
26 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In the 1760’s a clever, young, ambitious Scotsman named Alexander Dalrymple began advocating a theory as to the existence of a great southern contin...
107. China's Greatest Admiral: The Story of Zheng He
19 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In the 15th century, Admiral Zheng He, on the orders of the Emperor of China, embarked upon a series of extraordinary voyages of exploration. These v...
106. The Rise of Islam
14 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
With the Sassanian Empire defeated and the Byzantine Empire exhausted, there is a power vacuum in the centre of the world. Both of these superpowers h...
105. The Last Great War of Antiquity
12 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Eurasia is divided into two great superpowers. Khusrow II rules the Sassanian Empire. Maurice, the last of the Justinian dynasty, rules their mighty r...
104. How Persian Religion Changed the World
07 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Three great religions have come out of Persia and all of them have influenced world history. First there was Zoroastrianism, the first monotheistic re...
103. Alexander the Great: Defeating Darius
05 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Darius has already been defeated by Alexander. His wife has been kidnapped and has now died in childbirth. The omens sent by the gods bode ill for him...
102. Alexander the Great: The Conquest of Persia
30 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Darius III rules Persia and he has already demonstrated his heroism and skill in battle. The Empire itself, despite having been through a period of co...
101. Salamis: Athens’ Revenge
28 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Leonidas and the 300 have been defeated at Thermopylae, leaving the way to Athens open. With the Persians advancing, many Athenians flee to the island...
100. Thermopylae: Xerxes, Leonidas, and the 300
23 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
August 480BC; the might of the Persian army, roughly 100,000 soldiers, face down a few thousand Greeks, led by Leonidas and his brave 300. In light of...
99. Marathon and the Rise of Greece
21 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ionia has revolted and so Darius turns his gaze away from India and towards Greece. He crushes the rebellion, quelling all resistance. He then looks t...
98. Darius the Great: Ruling from India to the Mediterranean
16 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The Persian Empire that Darius took control of was already mighty and powerful; his predecessor, Cambyses, had conquered Egypt, further expanding its ...
97. Cyrus the Great: Building the First Superpower
14 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Born the son of a khan, a tribal chieftain, Cyrus would go on to be a titanic figure of world history. He took Persia from being a minor regional powe...
96. Empires of Iran
09 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Persia was the first great superpower. The empire built by Cyrus, Darius, Xerxes and the rest of the Achaemenids stretched from India in the east to t...
95. The History of Putin's War
07 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine on 24th February 2022, but how did we get to this point? After the brutality of the Second World War, Ukraine was compl...
Welcome to the Empire Club
06 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Ladies and gentlemen, we give you the Empire Club. Do you want bonus episodes? Do you want discounts on the books mentioned in the weeks podcast? Do y...
94. The Bloody History of Russia & Ukraine
02 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The history of Russia and Ukraine has been irrevocably entwined for centuries. When the Bolsheviks took over and Civil War erupted across the Russian ...
93. Murdering the Romanovs: The End of a Dynasty
31 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Dawn breaks on 16th July 1918. For Nicholas, Alexandra, and the rest of the Romanov family this is just another day in exile. They sit down for breakf...
92. Killing Rasputin
26 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Born in Siberia to a peasant family, Rasputin was an incredibly charismatic, physically striking, and politically savvy figure. He was a holy man, a m...
91. Lenin and The Rise of the Bolsheviks
24 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The Tsar has abdicated and the provisional government rules Russia, but Petrograd is overflowing with revolutionaries who want more radical change. Le...
90. The Russian Revolution: Overthrowing the Tsar
19 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Russian politics is fast destabilising. Strikes, assassinations, and famines have made Russia increasingly turbulent at the turn of the century. Revol...
89. The Final Act of the Great Game
17 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Fearing Russian designs on the region, the eyes of the British turn towards Tibet. Francis Younghusband, the Victorian adventurer and elite player of ...
88. The Russo-Japanese War: Asia Strikes Back
12 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
1905 was one of the most pivotal moments in history. Japan, the supposedly weaker Asian power, overwhelmingly defeated the mighty Russian Empire. The ...
87. Tolstoy: War and the Russian Empire
10 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Tolstoy was one of the greatest writers of all time. His books have constructed how we think about Russian imperial history. But he was not just an ob...
86. Crushing the Khans: Russia Seizes the Centre of the World
05 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
As the other European empires were consolidating their holdings in Asia, Russia took 1.5million square miles of territory. Moving south from the Orenb...
85. The Russian Conquest of America
03 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In the 18th century Vitus Bering went from Russia's east coast and landed in America. Over the next 150 years, Russia colonised more and more land, fi...
84. A Tale of Two Nurses: Seacole & Nightingale
28 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The Lady with the Lamp, the great nurse who forever changed public health for the better: Florence Nightingale lives large in the national consciousne...
83. The Charge of the Light Brigade
26 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The Crimean War continues to drag on. The allies' siege of Sevastopol is grinding to a stalemate. The Russians seek to counterattack to tip the balanc...
82. Crimea: The War on Repeat
21 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
A slow grind of sieges and massacres. Long distance bombardments and gruelling inch-by-inch trench warfare. Battles for Sevastopol, Odessa, and contro...
81. The Graveyard of Empires
19 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
After the calamitous retreat from Kabul left thousands of British dead, the East India Company wants revenge. They will call upon the Army of Retribut...
80. 1842: The Retreat from Kabul
14 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
As the British occupation of Kabul collapses, the troops flee. What follows is one of the darkest events in British imperial history. A treacherous jo...
79. Invading Afghanistan: The Return of a King
12 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It is 1839 and Britain has declared its intention: to invade Afghanistan and return Shah Shuja to the throne. Despite its vast size, the British invas...
78. The Battle of the Spies
07 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The rivalry between Russia and Britain continues to grow as both of their attentions begin to centre more and more on Afghanistan. In a bid to gain in...
77. The Great Game Begins
05 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It will all begin on the banks of the River Niemen. Tsar Alexander forms a pact with Napoleon; the Russian Empire, along with the French, will try to ...
76. The Empress & The General
31 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
With her reign in peril in three separate arenas, Catherine begins to turn her attention to a young soldier, Grigory Potemkin. What follows is one of ...
75. Catherine the Great: The Golden Age
29 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Not a drop of Russian blood. A woman in a world ruled by men. A loveless marriage to a man who lacked even a shred of empathy. The odds were always st...
74. Peter the Great: The First Emperor
24 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
A giant of Russian history, and a giant of a man. Peter the Great, standing at 6'8, established Russia as the world power that it is today and is famo...
73. Ivan the Terrible and the Founding of Russia
22 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Subjected, downtrodden, brutalised. The principality of Muscovy had long suffered at the hands of the Mongols. But as their overlords weaken, their ru...
72. The Russian Empire and the Great Game
15 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The story of the Russian Empire spans centuries and continents. It is one of tsars and revolutionaries. Sex and power. Invasions and conquests. In the...
71. Nazis, reparations, and laws 'just for the English to see'
10 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Did the Nazis use slave labour? Should Britain pay reparations? What is the origin of the Portuguese phrase 'just for the English to see'? What was th...
70. The Haitian Revolution, Dutch royals, and what happened to the Caribs?
08 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
What happened to the Caribs, the indigenous people of the Caribbean? Why did indentured labour become so prominent? What is the current Dutch monarchy...
69. A Reckoning with Slavery
01 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Slavery may have been abolished in 1838, but its legacy lives on in Britain today. A lot of the nation benefited financially from the trade, none more...
68. The Long Death of Slavery
25 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Emancipations are never clean, they don't happen overnight. Instead, they are long, drawn-out, messy processes that leave many still oppressed. Listen...
67. Slavery's Demise
20 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The slave trade has been abolished, but the number of slaves within the British Empire remains colossal. Thomas Fowell Buxton, the Elephant, has taken...
66. Wilberforce and the Fight for Freedom
18 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The abolition movement is growing in Britain, at its helm are two men. William Wilberforce leads the campaign in parliament and Thomas Clarkson powers...
65. When the Enslaved Took on Napoleon
13 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Napoleon is emperor of France. Having consolidated his rule at home, he starts to look abroad and to the re-institution of slavery. His eyes set upon ...
64. The Black Spartacus
11 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
'A courageous chief only is wanted. Where is he, that great man whom nature owes to her vexed, oppressed and tormented children? Where is he? He will ...
63. Creating Sierra Leone: The Land of the Free
06 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
These former slaves have fought valiantly for the British and have been promised a new life. With things not working out in North America, eyes turn t...
62. When Slaves Fought for the British Empire
04 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The Boston Tea Party has occurred. War has broken out on the American continent. The British need to bolster their forces to keep hold of the 13 colon...
61. The Black Abolitionist
29 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Olaudah Equiano: slave, free man, captive, abolitionist, public figure, entrepreneur, successful author, family man. His life is one of the most extra...
60. Britain's Most Famous Slave
27 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Olaudah Equiano is Britain's most famous slave. In many ways he lived the life which many slaves did, but in others he was totally unique. A brilliant...
59. Francis Barber: Abolition, the Navy, and the Enlightenment
21 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Francis Barber is established in Dr Johnson's household. He is his servant, but he is more than that. Their relationship is more akin to father-son, t...
58. Dr Johnson's Black Heir
20 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Dr Johnson is one of the most famous Brits to ever exist. A raucous, genius of a giant, he is remembered for writing the dictionary. Much less is know...
57. Tacky's Revolt: An Atlantic Slave War
15 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The stage is set. It's 1760 and the enslaved people of Jamaica are ready to rise up. It will begin with Tacky. William and Anita are again joined by V...
56. Tacky's Revolt: Causes of the Rebellion
13 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
What was life like for enslaved people on the plantations? How did white people treat their slaves? What economic model did plantation owners operate ...
55. The Fall of the Royal African Company
08 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The Royal African Company has a monopoly on the trading of slaves, given directly by the Stuarts. But the Glorious Revolution sweeps in and they are d...
54. Royal African Company: Slavery Inc
06 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The Royal African Company was at the heart of England's involvement in the transatlantic slave trade. From its inception to the abolition of the trade...
53. Barbary Corsairs: Raiding the British isles
30 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Slave raids on the south coast of Britain. Islamic executioners from Exeter. North African pirates in the Mediterranean. The Barbary slave trade is qu...
52. The Slave who Ruled
23 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Born in Ethiopia, 1548, Malik Ambar was taken from his people at the age of 12 and sold into slavery. First he was sold to an owner in Baghdad, where ...
51. Vikings: Slavs to Slaves
16 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Indian beads found on a Viking in Britain, how did this come to be? The story includes the origin of the word slave, a surprising trade, and a horrifi...
50. Rome: A Slave Society
09 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Was Rome a slave society? Did Caesar really take a million Gauls captive? And what is the real story of Spartacus? Listen as William and Anita are joi...
49. The Dawn of Everything
04 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Is slavery hardwired into society? Is hierarchy inevitable? Who built the pyramids? Listen as William and Anita are joined by David Wengrow to discuss...
48. The History of Slavery
02 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
One series ends, another dawns. With the Ottomans now behind us, we move on to the history of slavery. Listen as William and Anita discuss what will b...