History Extra podcast
Kanaal Besonderhede
History Extra podcast
The History Extra podcast brings you gripping stories from the past and fascinating historical conversations with the world's leading historical experts. History Extra is a free history podcast, with episodes released six times a week. Subscribe now for the real stories behind your favourite film...
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2496 episodes
How tanks redefined warfare
From the mud-churned battlefields of the First World War to the high-stakes clashes of the Cold War, the tank has shaped the course of conflict like n...
Robert McNamara: life of the week
Robert McNamara is best remembered as a key architect of the Vietnam War, a man who pushed for military escalation as thousands died on all sides of t...
The road to the Holocaust
In his latest book, The Hitler Years: Holocaust 1933–1945, Frank McDonough offers a heart-rending year-by-year narrative of the Nazis' escalating pers...
The final days of Pompeii
The Roman towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum were wiped off the map within 24 hours of Vesuvius erupting, buried under volcanic debris that would entomb...
Life in the Luftwaffe during the Battle of Britain
In the eyes of a German fighter pilot in the skies over English Channel in 1940, the Battle of Britain was as much a struggle of human endurance as it...
The hidden history of US immigration detention
The roots of immigration detention in the US stretch back over a century. Speaking to Elinor Evans, historian Brianna Nofil explores how the US built...
Emperor Hirohito: life of the week
While most of the other surviving Axis leaders were put on trial following the end of the Second World War, Japan's Emperor Hirohito never faced justi...
Secrets of the Romans' spectacular success
How did a muddy settlement on the banks of the river Tiber grow into the greatest empire the world had ever seen? Who was the more diabolical: Caligul...
Before the volcano: life in ancient Pompeii
In AD 79, Pompeii and Herculaneum were subsumed by the eruption of Vesuvius, buried and preserved under metres of volcanic ash. Today, they are among...
How do you solve a problem like Napoleon?
In the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars, it fell to Britain to maintain the balance of power in continental Europe – but how could a small island mana...
What does history teach us about protest?
The past 12 months have seen protests around the world make headlines and dominate social media feeds. But how have such popular demonstrations change...
Hatshepsut: life of the week
Hatshepsut is one of ancient Egypt’s most extraordinary figures: a pharaoh who deftly asserted her right to the throne, reigned over an era of prosper...
Tragedy and triumph: a 500-year history of Mexico
The chaos of the Spanish conquest, the humiliation of military defeat to the United States, the disruption of the revolution… Mexican history is often...
Jane Austen’s final chapter – and lasting legacy
What does Austen’s later writing tell us about her changing ideas? And what factors contributed to her death? In this fourth and final episode of our...
Prophetesses & she-preachers of the 17th century
A prophetess who warned Oliver Cromwell against killing the king. A Yorkshire maidservant who gained an audience with the Ottoman Sultan. The religiou...
New Year's Eve, newts and Nessie: a history of British folklore
Why should you be careful about who's first through your door on New Year's Day? What led people to believe that newts and earwigs were responsible fo...
Augustus: life of the week
‘Evil genius’ is a phrase that could have been invented to describe Augustus, the first emperor of Rome. Augustus butchered his way to power in the ch...
Inside the Viking battle of the genders
What do we know for certain about Old Norse ideas about masculinity and femininity, and can Viking Age mythology provide any answers? In conversation...
A house of one’s own: Jane Austen’s ‘golden years’
It was at Chawton House, a cottage in rural Hampshire, that Jane Austen experienced one of the most fruitful episodes of her writing career. In this t...
Æthelstan: the king who made England
Æthelstan was crowned in Kingston upon Thames 1100 years ago, in AD 925. He went on to extend his authority far beyond his initial powerbase of Wessex...
Did the WW1 Christmas truce really happen?
It’s one of the most romantic images of the First World War: British and German soldiers meeting in No Man’s Land on Christmas Day, 1914, for a sponta...
Father Christmas: life of the week
Father Christmas – or Santa Claus – is one of western culture’s most recognisable figures. But from his mysterious origins to quite how he ended up as...
When was the best time in English history to be alive?
Did you know that Elizabethan Londoners were good kissers? That medieval drinkers used beer to fight off the flames of a raging inferno? And that Jane...
“I am to flirt my last”: Jane Austen’s twenties
We might assume that Jane Austen led a quiet existence, writing dramatic plots instead of experiencing them herself – but that presumption is far from...
The secret propaganda war against the Nazis
In September 1939, an unlikely assortment of journalists, politicians, novelists and spies assembled in a Bedfordshire village and set about waging a...
The many faces of James VI & I
Historian Clare Jackson delves into the life and reputation of James VI & I – a king who, says Jackson, has a legacy that has been much refracted and...
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: life of the week
Mozart is celebrated for his musical genius – but how did he rise to such enduring fame? What inspired him, and who was the man beyond the concert hal...
A short history of ghost hunting
A spooky story during the Christmas season has become traditional – and the modern ghost story was invented by the Victorians, who embraced the supern...
Becoming Jane Austen
What inspired the daughter of a rural reverend to write about eligible bachelors and drunken misadventure? In this first episode of our four-part seri...
Ghosts, gods & sea monsters: a supernatural history of the Atlantic
For centuries, sailors crossing the Atlantic believed they were not alone – haunted by ghost ships, watched by mermaids, and stalked by sea monsters....
The summer that changed everything for the Kennedys
Historian Leigh Straw describes one pivotal summer in the life of the Kennedy family. With most of the family in their Cape Cod summer home, the summe...
Margaret Beaufort: life of the week
Born in the tumultuous 15th century, Margaret Beaufort – mother of Henry VII – endured personal tragedy, dynastic danger, and the ever-shifting fortun...
Idi Amin's willing helpers
Idi Amin is 20th-century Africa’s most notorious ruler – a cartoonish tyrant who has been bracketed with the likes of Hitler and Stalin. And it’s true...
“You can’t kill and maim with impunity”: the powerful legacy of Nuremberg
In the 80 years since Nazi leaders stood in the dock, how has the international community sought to deal with war criminals around the globe? For this...
Assassins vs Templars
The Assassins and the Knights Templar are two of history’s most intriguing, enigmatic and legendary groups. While they may seem vastly different on th...
WW2's Tunisian campaign: the Stalingrad of Africa
For the Allies it was an enormous triumph and for Nazi Germany it was another Stalingrad. But 80 years on, the battle for Tunisia is barely mentioned...
Empress Matilda: life of the week
In the tumultuous aftermath of Henry I’s death, England was thrown into one of the most chaotic civil wars in its history – the Anarchy. At the heart...
How warhorses transformed medieval England
William the Conqueror used them to devastating effect in 1066. Robert the Bruce worked out how to neutralise them. And when Richard III was knocked fr...
Did the Nazis get a fair trial?
In October 1946, after a trial lasting almost a year, the Nazi leaders on the dock in Nuremberg received their verdicts. But what did the judges decid...
Forgotten female secret agents of WW2
From sabotage operations to devastating betrayals, stories of the women of Special Operations Executive are some of the most incredible stories of the...