1.8- Checkmate

<p>As the New Model Army debated the merits of constitutional democracy, King Charles was scheming to put himself back on the throne. </p> <p> </p> 

<p><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14px;">After Pride's Purge, Charles I was executed by the Rump Parliament on January 30, 1649. Then Cromwell invaded Ireland. </span></p> 

<p style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 14px;">Charles II raised an army of Scots to help him claim the throne, but they were defeated by Oliver Cromwell at Dunbar and Worcester.</p> <div> </div> 

When we last left off we were talking about what a big deal King Egbert of Wessex was. And for good reason. In 829, King Egbert of Wessex held virtually all of the south and even demanded the submission of Northumbria after a battle at the River Dore, an event that earned King Eg ... Show More

<p>February 24, 1739. The Persian leader Nader Shah wins a decisive victory in India at the Battle of Karnal. The fallout from the battle shatters the Mughal Empire, leaving the sub-continent vulnerable to later domination by colonial powers.</p><p><br></p><ul><li><strong>Support ... Show More

During World War Two, the Battle of Stalingrad was one of the most brutal engagements of the entire conflict, and would go on to be one of the bloodiest battles in the history of warfare. Over a course of six months, Soviet forces fought to defend their city against the German Ar ... Show More

The Battle of Waterloo brought a generation of terrible warfare to a close, decisively ending the career of Napoleon Bonaparte. How did the Duke of Wellington defeat Napoleon? Why did Napoleon make a fatal blunder? And how did Waterloo shape convictions about Britain’s future rol ... Show More

<p>1241 - Simply speaking, this battle is a part of the story of when the Mongols tried to conquer Europe. Hear how the tactical expertise of the Mongols measured up to a European army.</p> 

Most Americans do not appreciate the extent to which victory in the American Revolution was due to the leadership of a French aristocrat. As Nathaniel Philbrick demonstrates in his new book In the Hurricane’s Eye: The Genius of George Washington and the Victory at Yorktown (Vikin ... Show More

1176 - 1204 We take a look at the aftermath of the battle of Legnano which saw the forces of the Lombard League victorious against Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa. Then we take a quick look at the third and fourth Crusades. 

Following King Harold Godwinson’s climactic victory at the Battle of Stanford Bridge, and the death of Harald Hardrada, what did he do when news reached him that William of Normandy’s army had landed further south? How did the two armies finally come together for one of the most ... Show More

Having discussed the disorder in the caliphate’s civil bureaucracy we’ll turn our attention to the state of its military. The sharp contrast between the state of the two is in large part thanks to the figure of Mu’nis, the general who led Abbasid armies to one victory after anoth ... Show More