1.1 Change and Calamity

The traditional story of the arrival of the Anglo Saxons is one of death and destruction, and the catastrophic and complete replacement of a British population by a new Germanic race within a generation. But there are other theories too - much more peaceful, much more gradual.<hr ... Show More

What kind of society had arrived in Roman Britain? How how did societies and communities form and become the kingdoms before the days of the Heptarchy?<hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferre ... Show More

It's difficult to know how much to believe of the stories relayed in the Anglo Saxon Chronicle about the formation of the early kingdoms - do they simply reflect the history they wished they'd had? Plus, was Arthur a legend or reality?<hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> ... Show More

Between 1199 and 1399, English politics was packed full of high drama, as the Plantagenet monarchs reacted - and adapted - to plague, warfare, uprisings and economic crises. But, according to medieval historians Caroline Burt and Richard Partington in their new book //Arise, Engl ... Show More

<p><em>This episode is part of a wider series on the 1798 Rebellion, but you can enjoy it as a stand-alone story.</em></p><br><p>When the American Revolution broke out in the 1770s, it sent shock waves across the Atlantic, transforming Irish politics and society. To explore this ... Show More

When we left off last time, we were talking about how we have a limited understanding of this area of history due to a combination of scarce resources and the victorians building a mythology of englishness. We also covered the early middle ages and the turn that was occurring in ... Show More

The Chagos Islands have dominated news headlines over the past few months, but the struggle of the Chagossian people to reclaim their island home has spanned decades. First colonised in 1513 by the Portuguese, the archipelago shifted from one imperial master to another over the c ... Show More

The Victorian era transformed Britain into the world’s foremost industrial and imperial power. The rise of factories saw the expansion of sprawling cities, inhabited by a working class trapped in grinding poverty. But while the ever-growing ranks of impoverished residents were do ... Show More

<p>Henry VIII was termed "by the Grace of God, King of England, France and Ireland.”&nbsp; Ireland was England’s oldest colony.&nbsp; But what bloody events and brutal actions led to the English conquest of Ireland?&nbsp; How did the relationship between the two countries change ... Show More

<p>In the early 5th century AD, after almost four centuries of iron-fisted Roman rule, the empire in Britain was beginning to fade. Franks, Saxons and Roman usurpers were running rampant. Britannia was on its last legs and in 410 AD, the Britons were told to ‘look to their own de ... Show More

In the latest episode of our monthly series charting the past behind the present, historians Rana Mitter and Hannah Skoda explore the ways the Second World War continues to shape the world of today. Plus the medieval manuscripts hitting the headlines, and an express history of ra ... Show More

In September 1666, the Great Fire of London destroyed more than 13,000 houses, 87 Parish churches as well as St Pauls Cathedral, and uprooted hundreds of thousands of Londoners. But how did the fire start and spread so rapidly? Why did King Charles II intervene and what took him ... Show More

Over the course of Queen Victoria’s reign, Britain transformed into the world's foremost industrial and imperial power. The Victorians built railways that spanned continents, invented life-changing technologies, and expanded a vast realm that stretched from the Caribbean to India ... Show More