With their father in very bad health and rumours of his death swirling around the empire, Shah Jahan’s four sons decide it is their time to take his place. Only one has been chosen by Shah Jahan… The accomplished oldest son Dara Shukoh. However the war of succession has begun, and it will be brutal and stained by betrayal.
The people of Delhi are terrified ... Show More
Nov 20
309. Tintin, Nazis, & Soviets
How did the young journalist with the quiff haircut and his companion Snowy The Dog feature in Nazi propaganda in the 1940s? What was the origin story of Hergé, the Belgian illustrator who created The Adventures of Tintin? How did an unlikely friendship transform Hergé’s life and ... Show More
45m 37s
Sep 6
The Mughal empire: everything you wanted to know
The Mughal empire was one of the most powerful and influential dynasties in South Asian history, blending together a mix of cultural traditions to create a legacy of dazzling architecture, innovative governance, and turbulent politics. Speaking to Emily Briffett, historian Nandin ... Show More
49m 50s
Feb 2025
537. Emperors of Rome: Claudius, Paranoia and Poison (Part 4)
Following the bloody assassination of the twenty-eight year old Emperor Caligula, Rome found herself without a leader. Who then should fill the enormous power vacuum left by the death of an emperor? Should Rome return to a Republic? Then, one overlooked candidate - a scion of the ... Show More
1h 6m
Sep 11
Fall of the Sumerians
Tristan Hughes continues our special series on Great Disasters, journeying back to ancient Mesopotamia with Dr Paul Collins to explore the fall of the Sumerians.4,000 years ago, the great cities of Sumer — Ur, Uruk, Lagash, Girsu — stood as glittering centres of power, crowned wi ... Show More
1h 1m
Aug 31
#304 - Qing 39: Twilight of the Dragon
As both the Qianlong Emperor's extensive reign and the Eighteenth Century itself comes to a close, the Qing Empire faces - in spite of its outward posturing of timeless grandeur and invulnerability - an ever more uncertain future. By this time his successor, the Jiaqing Emperor, ... Show More
41m 15s
Mar 2025
546. The French Revolution: The Monarchy Falls (Part 3)
“From this place and from this day forth commences a new era in the world’s history, and you can all say you were present at its birth!”
By September 1792, the Prussians, under the leadership of the formidable Duke of Brunswick, were closing in on revolutionary Paris. There, the ... Show More
1 h