HistoryExtra podcast

Was the 1990s a golden age for British South Asians?

08 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Kavita Puri discusses the experiences of British South Asians during the 1990s and early 2000s. BBC journalist Kavita Puri discusses the new series of...

Editor’s pick: Ian Kershaw on postwar Europe

07 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode from our archive, Ian Kershaw offers his take on how the continent has developed since the Second World War In this archive episode fr...

Brexit’s long historical roots

06 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Robert Tombs discusses the historical background to Brexit, exploring Britain’s long and fluctuating relationship with Europe Professor Robert Tombs...

Editor’s pick: Lenin’s revolutionary train journey

05 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

In this archive episode, Catherine Merridale recounts how the future Soviet leader travelled to Petrograd in 1917 – a key moment in the Russian Revo...

The battle for Sicily, 1943

04 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

James Holland tells the story of the dramatic Allied assault on the island of Sicily in the Second World War Military historian James Holland tells th...

The Industrial Revolution: everything you wanted to know

03 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Emma Griffin tackles internet search queries and questions submitted by listeners about Britain’s Industrial Revolution Emma Griffin tackles interne...

German Jews in WW1

02 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Tim Grady gives a lecture exploring the varied experiences of German Jews in the First World War In a lecture he delivered at our 2019 History Weekend...

Bizarre books and macabre manuscripts

01 Jan 2021

Contributed by Lukas

Edward Brooke-Hitching discusses some of history’s strangest literary curiosities, from hoax manuscripts to tomes bound in human skin Edward Brooke-...

Bonnie Prince Charlie: hero or coward?

31 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Jacqueline Riding considers whether the Jacobite prince was a valiant freedom fighter, or a haughty coward Ever since he led a failed Jacobite rebelli...

Editor’s pick: covert Catholicism in Elizabethan England

30 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode from our archive, Jessie Childs tells the story of Tudor gentleman Thomas Tresham, whose faith set him at odds with the Virgin Queen I...

Thomas Becket: from murder to martyrdom

29 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Eight hundred and fifty years ago today, the archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Becket, was brutally murdered in his cathedral. Dr Emily Guerry explains...

Bridgerton: ripping up the rulebook on Regency romance

28 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Hannah Greig, historian and etiquette advisor to new Netflix show Bridgerton, joins us to talk about the historical detail that can be found in the dr...

The Wars of the Roses: everything you wanted to know about

27 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Lauren Johnson responds to listener questions about the Wars of the Roses, the 15th-century clashes for the English throne between the houses of Lanca...

Editor’s pick: the Windrush generation

24 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode from our archive, Colin Grant tells the stories of postwar immigrants who moved to Britain from the Caribbean In this archive episode,...

Our 2020 Christmas quiz

23 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Test your historical knowledge with our annual festive quiz, devised by QI writer Justin Pollard Join the HistoryExtra team for the return of our annu...

Editor’s pick: Ron Chernow on Alexander Hamilton

22 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In this episode from our archive, biographer Ron Chernow discusses the extraordinary life of the American Founding Father who inspired a hit musical I...

Christmas ghost stories

21 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Telling spooky tales at Christmastime is a very old tradition. Francis Young explains the origins of this custom and what it tells us Telling spooky t...

The history of Christmas: everything you wanted to know

20 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Did Cromwell ban mince pies? And why does Santa wear red? George Goodwin responds to listener questions and internet search queries on festive history...

A WW2 story of survival

19 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

The Cut Out Girl author Bart van Es gives a lecture on the Jewish children who survived the Holocaust by living in hiding in the Netherlands In a lec...

Editor’s pick: Were the suffragettes terrorists?

18 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In this archive episode, historian Fern Riddell discusses her biography of suffrage campaigner Kitty Marion, which explores some of the darker aspects...

Ten things to do with a medieval donkey

17 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Kathryn Smithies discusses the economic and cultural significance of donkeys in the Middle Ages    Kathryn Smithies, author of Introducing the Medi...

Hunting down the Portland Spy Ring

16 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Writer and espionage historian Trevor Barnes discusses his book Dead Doubles, which details the thrilling 1960s MI5 investigation into the infamous P...

The gay MPs who opposed appeasement

14 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

MP and author Chris Bryant discusses his new book The Glamour Boys, which tells the story of group of young, queer British MPs who were some of the f...

Magna Carta: everything you wanted to know

13 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Professor David Carpenter responds to listener questions on the great medieval charter and its 800-year-long legacy   Professor David Carpenter respo...

Japan and the west

12 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Chris Harding gives a lecture on Japan’s attempts to carve out a place for itself in a world dominated by western power and culture In a lecture he ...

Cundill Prize-winner Camilla Townsend on global history

11 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Historian Camilla Townsend recently won the Cundill History Prize for Fifth Sun: A New History of the Aztecs. Here, she talks about the book’s succ...

Castro and the trip that shaped the 1960s

10 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In September 1960, Fidel Castro visited New York City to give the opening address at the United Nations General Assembly. Historian Simon Hall, author...

Imperialism on the oceans

09 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Professor Sujit Sivasundaram discusses his book Waves across the South: A New History Revolution and Empire, which rewrites the story of the British ...

The International Brigades: fighting fascism in Spain

07 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Giles Tremlett discusses how more than 35,000 volunteers from across the globe fought against fascism in the Spanish Civil War Historian, author and j...

The Glorious Revolution: everything you wanted to know

06 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

How did James II’s replacement by William of Orange as king of England, Scotland and Ireland change the course of British history? Ted Vallance resp...

The orphan hero who fought at Trafalgar

05 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Helen Berry gives a lecture on the extraordinary story of an 18th-century foundling, George King In a lecture she delivered at our 2019 Chester Histo...

England’s sporting obsession

04 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Robert Colls, author of This Sporting Life: Sport and Liberty in England, 1760-1960, discusses the critical role that our love of sport has played in...

How did the Reformation impact Jews?

03 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Kenneth Austin explores what impact the Reformation had on Europe’s Jewish communities. Historian Kenneth Austin explores what impact the Reformatio...

Ethiopia 1935: The real history behind The Shadow King

02 Dec 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Author Maaza Mengiste discusses her Booker prize-nominated historical novel The Shadow King, set during the Italian invasion of Ethiopia in 1935. She...

The ‘lost’ city of Atlantis

30 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Edith Hall explores Plato’s legend of Atlantis and considers why the tale continues to endure 2,500 years on  Classicist Edith Hall, an expert on a...

Ancient Babylon: everything you wanted to know

29 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Professor Zainab Bahrani tackles popular internet search queries, and questions submitted by listeners, about the Mesopotamian city, which was one of ...

Looking for Egypt’s lost tombs

28 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Are there any treasures left to be excavated in Egypt? Chris Naunton gives a lecture on some of the most fascinating ancient figures whose tombs are y...

Robert Harris on V2, historical fiction and WW2

27 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Robert Harris discusses V2, his new Second World War thriller inspired by the German missile campaign in 1944 Best-selling historical novelist Robert...

2020: The historians’ verdict

26 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

From debates about colonialism to lessons from previous pandemics, a panel of historians discuss how the past has shaped 2020 – and how the events o...

Women in Greek myths

25 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Natalie Haynes discusses the varied portrayals of women in Greek mythology, uncovering the multi-layered figures who emerge from different retellings ...

Germans who resisted the Nazis

23 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Author and filmmaker Catrine Clay discusses her new book, The Good Germans, which explores German opposition to Nazism through the lives of six peopl...

Shakespeare: everything you wanted to know

22 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Paul Edmondson, head of research and knowledge at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, responds to listener questions and popular search queries on the l...

A secret WW2 wargame

21 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In a lecture he delivered at BBC History Magazine’s 2019 Winchester History Weekend, Simon Parkin discusses the extraordinary story that inspired hi...

Bernard Cornwell on The Last Kingdom’s finale and the next Sharpe

20 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Bestselling historical novelist Bernard Cornwell discusses his new book War Lord, the final instalment in The Last Kingdom series. He speaks about ...

Oswald, the many-headed medieval saint

19 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Dr Johanna Dale explores how the seventh-century Northumbrian king Oswald become an important and popular saint across medieval Europe, and explains w...

Has the EU been a success?

18 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Kiran Klaus Patel, author of Project Europe: A History, tracks the development of the EU over the postwar decades, considering whether it really did...

An extraordinary Everest adventure

16 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In the 1930s, eccentric aviator Maurice Wilson hatched a wild plan to fly from England to Everest in a Gypsy Moth plane, and then climb to the top of ...

The Wild West: everything you wanted to know

15 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Historian and author Karen Jones responds to listener questions and popular search queries about the mass movement of settlers into the American west,...

Viking warrior women & the ethics of excavating the dead

14 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In a lecture he delivered at BBC History Magazine’s 2019 Chester History Weekend, archaeologist Howard Williams discusses some of the most intriguin...

War and society: a tangled relationship

13 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Professor Margaret Macmillan discusses her new book War: How Conflict Shaped Us, which explores conflict’s changing yet intrinsic role in human his...

Ingenious medieval science

12 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Historian Seb Falk discusses his new book, The Light Ages, which highlights the surprising sophistication of scientific research in the Middle Ages –...

Women in black: the surprising history of widows

11 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Historian Maggie Andrews discusses her new book co-written with Janis Lomas, which looks at the complex and fascinating history of widows. Often hist...

Personal stories of the Second World War

09 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Victoria Panton Bacon shares remarkable first-hand testimonies from veterans of the Second World War Victoria Panton Bacon, author of the new book Re...

The Russian revolution: everything you wanted to know

08 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Robert Service responds to listener questions and popular search enquiries about the Russian revolutions of 1917, which saw the beginnings of the Comm...

The story of the Dambusters

07 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In a lecture from our 2019 History Weekend in Winchester, Max Hastings tells the dramatic story of the 1943 Dambusters raid.   In a lecture he delive...

Inside the Viking mind

06 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Neil Price takes us inside the Viking mind to explain how the Norse raiders viewed the world and what drove them to expand across the seas Professor N...

Escaping Nazi-occupied Europe

05 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Helen Fry discusses the top-secret work of MI9, which helped Allied prisoners of war escape during WW2 Historian Helen Fry discusses her new book MI9...

The White Ship: a medieval royal tragedy

04 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Charles Spencer speaks to Dan Jones about the White Ship disaster, which plunged the English monarchy into chaos 900 years ago Bestselling author Char...

An ‘ordinary’ Nazi

02 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Daniel Lee discusses the life of an ‘ordinary’ member of the SS Historian Daniel Lee describes how the chance discovery of a cache of documents wi...

Medical history: everything you wanted to know

01 Nov 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Professor Mary Fissell responds to listener questions and popular search enquiries about the history of medicine, from pandemics of the past to grisl...

Poland 1939: The invasion that sparked WW2

31 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Roger Moorhouse delivers a lecture on the German invasion of Poland in 1939   In a lecture he delivered at BBC History Magazine’s 2019 Winchester ...

The Falklands War in the air

30 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Aviation historian Rowland White explores the events of the 1982 Falklands War through the story of Britain’s Sea Harrier jump jet. Hosted on Acast....

Unexpected Irish tales

29 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Author Turtle Bunbury shares stories from his book Ireland’s Forgotten Past – a collection of overlooked and ‘disremembered’ moments in the ...

Black Britons in WW2

28 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Stephen Bourne discusses the experiences of Britain’s black community during the Second World War Historian Stephen Bourne, author of Under Fire: B...

At sea with the Vikings

27 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Jan Bill gives us the lowdown on Viking ships, and offers updates on the Gjellestad Ship excavation, currently underway in Norway Jan Bill gives us th...

Adventure & opportunity: female transatlantic travellers

26 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Historian Siân Evans explores the lives and voyages of women in the golden age of transatlantic travel, which saw some enjoying luxurious journeys ab...

The Regency era: everything you wanted to know

25 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Emily Brand responds to listener queries and popular search enquiries about the Regency era Historian and author Emily Brand responds to listener quer...

Tudor queens on screen

24 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Elena Woodacre delivers a lecture on the portrayal of historical queens in cinema and television, from Mary Queen of Scots to The Spanish Princess ...

Moving, medieval-style

23 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Jim Leary explains how people in prehistory and the Middle Ages moved around the world  Can we follow in the footsteps of our prehistoric and medieva...

Enslaved women & resistance

21 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Stella Dadzie uncovers the experiences and resistance activities of enslaved women in the West Indies   Historian and activist Stella Dadzie talks ab...

Aztecs in their own words

20 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Professor Camilla Townsend discusses her new book Fifth Sun: A New History of Aztecs, which overturns existing narratives about the ancient civilisat...

A new take on India’s history

19 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Professor Richard M Eaton discusses his book, India in the Persianate Age, 1000–1765, which explores the nation’s rich history across eight centu...

The French Revolution: Everything you need to know

18 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In the latest of our series tackling the big questions on major historical topics, historian Marisa Linton responds to listener queries and popular ...

A Triple Bond Broken: The Destruction of the House of York

17 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In a lecture he delivered at our 2019 BBC History Magazine History Weekend in Winchester, historian and author Thomas Penn explores the turbulent rela...

An Atlantic slave war

16 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Historian Vincent Brown discusses his recent book, Tacky’s Revolt, which describes an uprising in Jamaica that was the largest slave revolt in the ...

An Anglo-Saxon warlord

15 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Archaeologist Gabor Thomas, who directed the excavation, discusses the discovery of the ‘Marlow Warlord’ – a 6th-century burial near the Thames....

Ancient wisdom with Neil Oliver

14 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Archaeologist and broadcaster Neil Oliver discusses some of the most striking finds in the history of archaeology and talks about his new book Wisdom...

Black radical: William Monroe Trotter

13 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Historian Kerri K Greenidge discusses her book Black Radical, which explores the life and career of the pioneering black newspaperman William Monroe...

The dispossession of Native Americans

12 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Historian Claudio Saunt discusses his recent book Unworthy Republic, which tells the story of the forced expulsion of tens of thousands of Native Am...

Everything you ever wanted to know about medieval daily life, but were afraid to ask

11 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

 In the latest of our series tackling the big questions on major historical topics, historian Chris Dyer responds to listener queries and popular s...

Should I stay or I should go? The problem with historical monuments in 2020

10 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In a BBC History Magazine virtual lecture, Keith Lowe discusses why statues relating to empire and the Second World War have become contested ground...

Sparta

09 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Ancient historian Andrew Bayliss discusses the Greek city-state of Sparta. The conversation ranges from the Spartans’ military prowess and the legen...

Medieval turning points

07 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

What are the key turning points in the history of early medieval Europe? Historian Dr Charles West offers his thoughts on some important moments. Hist...

The rise and fall of the Sikh empire

05 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Historian Priya Atwal, whose written a new history of the Sikh empire that flourished in the early 19th century, discusses how It rose to prominence ...

Everything you ever wanted to know about the history of Japan, but were afraid to ask

04 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In the latest of our series tackling the big questions on major historical topics, historian Christopher Harding responds to listener queries and pop...

Arnhem: The Battle for the Bridges, 1944

03 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In a talk that he delivered at our 2019 BBC History Magazine History Weekend in Winchester, bestselling military historian Antony Beevor tells the sto...

A 1930s ghost hunt

02 Oct 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Kate Summerscale, bestselling author of The Suspicions of Mr Whicher, discusses her new book, The Haunting of Alma Fielding, which delves into a tal...

Medieval eels and Englishness

30 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Eels were a mainstay of the economy in the Middle Ages, and also a part of the developing English identity. Dr John Wyatt Greenlee explains why the fi...

Ken Follett’s Anglo-Saxon adventure

28 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Bestselling historical novelist Ken Follett chats about how he recreated late Anglo-Saxon England for his new book, The Evening and the Morning, whic...

Everything you ever wanted to know about the Neanderthals, but were afraid to ask

27 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In an episode produced in collaboration with our colleagues at BBC Science Focus Magazine, archaeologist Rebecca Wragg Sykes tackles some of the big q...

Simon de Montfort and England’s First Revolution

26 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In a talk that she delivered at our 2019 BBC History Magazine History Weekend in Winchester, historian Sophie Ambler tells the story of Simon de Montf...

Toussaint Louverture’s revolutionary life

25 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Historian Sudhir Hazareesingh talks to us about Black Spartacus, his acclaimed new biography of the Haitian revolutionary Toussaint Louverture who ba...

The Mayflower

24 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

On the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower’s momentous voyage to North America, historian and author James Evans reflects on the Pilgrim Fathers an...

JFK: the path to power

23 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Historian Fredrik Logevall discusses the first volume of his major new biography of John F Kennedy, exploring the US president’s upbringing and rise...

Viking genes unravelled

22 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

A new study of Viking DNA provides many new insights about the lives of Vikings. Dr Cat Jarman explains what it tells us, and what questions remain un...

Hitler’s vengeance

21 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Author Catherine Bailey discusses her recent book Fey’s War, which tells the story of a family caught up in the aftermath of the failed plot to kil...

Everything you ever wanted to know about the East India Company, but were afraid to ask

20 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

In the latest of our series tackling the big questions on major historical topics, historian Jon Wilson responds to listener queries and popular sear...

Ghosts of Viking London

19 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

 In a talk he delivered at our 2019 BBC History Magazine History Weekend in Winchester, historian, archaeologist and author Thomas Williams discusses...

Ben Macintyre on Agent Sonya – the greatest female spy in history

18 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Journalist and bestselling author Ben Macintyre talks to us about his latest book, Agent Sonya: Lover, Mother, Soldier, Spy, which tells the incredib...

Prisoners of the Japanese

16 Sep 2020

Contributed by Lukas

Historian Sarah Kovner talks to us about her new book, Prisoners of the Empire, which challenges longstanding beliefs about why Allied prisoners were...