Oct 21

406. Norman Conquest: The First Crusade (Part 6)

How did Normans from Western Europe reach as far as Antioch in what is now Turkey? What was their role in The First Crusade? Who was the Byzantine Alexios I Komnenos and how did he summon Normans to support his campaign? In the final episode of this series, Anita Anand and Willia ... Show More

47m 11s

Oct 18

405. Norman Conquest: Medieval Mafia Invade The East (Part 5)

They are best known for invading England in 1066, but the Normans conquered territories in the East too. Who was Robert The Weasel, and did he operate like a Mafia boss in the 11th century? How did the Normans thuggishly conquer Sicily and Southern Italy? How did the Normans infl ... Show More

46m 15s

Oct 14

404. Norman Conquest: Colonising Ireland (Part 4)

How did the Normans conquer the Celts on the fringes of their territory after 1066? What led to the events of the Norman Conquest of Ireland, which still affects the nation’s politics today? And how did the Norman invasion of Wales change the landscape through the building of new ... Show More

49m 3s

Aug 2025

595. The First World War: The Battle of the Frontiers (Part 2)

What was Britain's first military move following the outbreak of the First World War? Where did the French launch their initial attack on the Germans? Whose army was the biggest and best of all the participants in the war? And, what unfolded at the pivotal Battle of the Ardennes ... Show More

1 h

Sep 2025

599. The First World War: Downfall of the Habsburgs (Part 6)

After endeavouring to wreak their revenge on Serbia, what would be the greatest hammer blow to the Austro-Hungarian Empire during the First World War? With Leviv having fallen apocalyptically to the Russian hordes, what had gone so wrong? How might the war have been brought to an ... Show More

1h 1m

Oct 2022

247. Monty & Patton vs. the Nazis

Do commanders matter? Were the British generals effective or "foppish"? How did the Allies rebound from huge losses such as the Battle of Dunkirk to victories like Alamein and D-Day? Tom and Dominic are joined by Al Murray to discuss all this and more, following the release of Al ... Show More

57m 30s

Aug 2024

Peter Hart, "The Gallipoli Evacuation" (Living History, 2020)

One of the most well-told episodes of the First World War, the 1915 Gallipoli expedition, also has its own long-ignored aspects - specifically, the story of how the Allied force successfully evacuated in the middle of winter under the guns of the Turkish defenders. Our guest for ... Show More

1h 6m

Aug 2021

90. The Western Front

The slaughter and bloodshed on the Western Front in World War One helped shape the narrative of the 20th century. But was it a case of lions led by donkeys? Gary Sheffield, historian and author of Forgotten Victory: The First World War - Myths and Realities, joins Tom Holland and ... Show More

1h 2m

Dec 2020

9. Causes of the First World War

Whose fault was it? Does the question even make sense? Are wars always somebody's "fault"? Was it really the first global war? And should Britain have fought, or stayed out? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

46m 7s

Sep 2025

597. The First World War: The Massacre of the Innocents (Part 4)

What happened at the crucial, bloody, Battle of Ypres in October 1914? How did the battle come about? Why did the Germans and the British fight each other so brutally and for so long to take Ypres? What made the fighting so particularly violent? How were the British able to repel ... Show More

52m 59s

Feb 2025

Season 4, Episode 5: Eugene Rogan, The Arabs: A History

Send us Fan MailJoin Professor Jeffrey Sachs and historian Eugene Rogan, professor of Modern Middle Eastern History at Oxford, as they delve into the complex history of the Arab world, from the Ottoman conquest in 1516 to today’s geopolitical crises of the modern Middle East. Thr ... Show More

52m 39s

297. Gaza in WW1: A Rematch For Gallipol...