RADICALISM, MADNESS AND LAUGHING GAS

Author and cultural historian Mike Jay takes us back to 1799 – a year of anxiety, action and excitement on the cusp of a new century.

THOMAS CROMWELL AND ANNE BOLEYN

Recorded live at the Buxton International Festival, we revisit the high-wire act of Henry VIII’s court with Professor Diarmaid MacCulloch of the University of Oxford

WOLFSON HISTORY PRIZE SPECIAL

Few books have laid the crimes and consequences of the Holocaust as bare as Professor Mary Fulbrook’s Reckonings: legacies of Nazi persecutions and the quest for justice (2018)

COMMODORE PERRY’S EXPEDITION TO JAPAN

How Commodore Matthew Perry’s expedition to Japan in 1853 changed the course of the nation’s history

D-DAY

It began on 6 June 1944 when the Allied forces landed around 150,000 troops on the beaches of Normandy in France.

IN THE SHADOW OF VESUVIUS

One of the most shocking and spectacular events to ever take place in the ancient world: the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.

THE LOST LIFE AND SCANDALOUS DEATH OF “LEL”

Although Letitia Landon’s name is scarcely known outside specialist circles today, in the 1820s she was one of the brightest stars of the London literary scene.

SULTAN SALADIN AND JERUSALEM

In 1187, a counter-crusade led by the Sultan Saladin is poised to wrest Jerusalem back from its Christian rulers

APOLLO 11 AND THE SPACE SUITS

Fifty years ago humankind stepped on the moon for the first time. This is the story of the space suit that allowed them to do it.

WALKING WITH DESTINY

Historian and biographer Andrew Roberts takes us back to those tense and dramatic days, 8-10 May 1940.

REMNANTS OF PARTITION

An unholy rush: the cavalier, chaotic and catastrophic sequence of events surrounding Indian Independence in the summer of 1947

SOCRATES AND ASPASIA

The philosopher who changed the way we think about the world and the woman who changed him

A BOTANICAL ODYSSEY

Experience the (mis)adventures of the plant hunter George Forrest and his ill-omened expedition into the mountains of Yunnan

THE WARRIOR, THE VOYAGER AND THE ARTIST

In this episode of Travels Through Time the Australian historian Dr Kate Fullagar travels back to 10 December 1776.

RADICAL RESISTANCE: THE RISE OF THE SUFFRAGETTES

In this episode historian and author, Diane Atkinson, takes us onto the streets and into the homes of Britain’s most militant suffragettes.

POLE TO POLE: HMS EREBUS 1841-1848

In the first episode of our new podcast, Travels Through Time, Michael Palin takes us aboard HMS Erebus.