Dan Snow's History Hit

With Putin's war in Ukraine raging on, the threat of a nuclear conflict feels as real as ever. But since the Iron Curtain fell, our understanding of what to do in the event of a nuclear strike has waned. In this episode, we look to the past to discover the extraordinary things that the British government have done to prepare the nation for nuclear war. What plans did they put in place, and would they have worked if the missiles had started flying? Dan is joined by Julie McDowall, an expert on the nuclear threat and author of Attack Warning Red! How Britain Prepared for Nuclear War, to shed some light on the unnerving history of nuclear preparation.Produced by James Hickmann and edited by Dougal Patmore.If you'd like to learn more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad-free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe to History Hit today!Download the History Hit app from the Google Play store.Download the History Hit app from the Apple Store. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more infor

Clear soup, Irish stew and steamed puddings - this was the war work of Georgina Landemare, the Churchills' longest-serving cook.Throughout the war years, Georgina served the Prime Minister, delegations of diplomats and the occasional royal, as well as the other staff of 10 Downing Street, Chequers and the War Rooms.Annie Gray is back with Kate today to introduce us to Georgina; why she went into the service industry, where she learnt to cook the French way, and how she managed to make the most of wartime rations (with a few top-ups here and there).*WARNING there are adult words and themes in this episode*Produced by Charlotte Long and Sophie Gee. Mixed by Stuart Beckwith.Betwixt the Sheets: The History of Sex, Scandal & Society. A podcast by History Hit.For more History Hit content, subscribe to our newsletters here.If you'd like to learn more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad-free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe to History Hit today!Download the History Hit app from the Go

A Stuart time capsule has emerged from beneath the sand after 320 years. In early December 1703, barometers across South-Eastern England plunged as a cyclone made landfall in Britain leaving a path of destruction in its wake. In London, the roof of Westminster Abbey was ripped off and hundreds of ships in the Thames smashed together and left in heaps. 2000 Chimney stacks were destroyed and Queen Anne cowered in the cellar of St James Palace.But the biggest damage was done to the Royal Navy; over 1000 seaman drowned and a fifth of its fleet was wrecked overnight. One of those ships the HMS Northumberland has recently begun to appear thanks to the shifting sediment of Goodwin Sands on the South-East coast. On the podcast to tell its story in the storm is archaeologist Dan Pascoe who is working with Historic England to dive on the wreck and learn what he can before it disappears once again forever.Produced by Mariana Des Forges and mixed by Dougal Patmore.If you'd like to learn more, we have hundreds of history

As two of humanity's great religions, Islam and Christianity have shaped much of the world's history. Empires across the globe have risen and fallen under their influence, and there have been many occasions for them to go head-to-head on the battlefield. So what have been some of the greatest military clashes between Islam and Christianity? Dan is joined by Sir Simon Mayall, a former Middle East Senior Adviser at the UK Ministry of Defence, to discuss three key clashes; the Siege of Jerusalem in 1099, the Fall of Constantinople in 1453, and the Great Siege of Malta in 1565.Produced by James Hickmann and edited by Dougal Patmore.If you'd like to learn more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad-free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe to History Hit today!Download the History Hit app from the Google Play store.Download the History Hit app from the Apple Store. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Looking back at the past few weeks, it seems like banks are collapsing left, right and centre; but what exactly does this mean for us? Are these inconsequential blips on the financial radar, or will they herald the beginning of a major banking crisis? On today's episode, Dan is joined by Charles Read, who teaches economics and history at the University of Cambridge, to walk us through why these collapses happen, whether they can be predicted, and what their repercussions are.Produced by James Hickmann and edited by Dougal Patmore.If you'd like to learn more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad-free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe to History Hit today!Download the History Hit app from the Google Play store.Download the History Hit app from the Apple Store. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

While rifling through a stall at a flea market in Leningrad- now St Petersburg- composer and music producer Stephen Coates came across something unusual. It looked like a vinyl record, but when he held it up to the light, he noticed he could see the pattern of human bones on it. It was a bootlegged record made from an old x-ray. He dubbed his find "Bone Music" and set out to find out more about this ghostly flexi-disc, and the many others he soon found like it.Known as "music on the ribs" in Russian due to the TB x-rays commonly used, these homemade vinyls were sold in back alleys and out of cars when music was ruthlessly controlled by the State in the Soviet Union. Not only was Western music- Rock'n'Roll, Jazz, Blues - banned but so were traditional Russian folk songs. Stephen travelled around Russia for years collecting Bone Music vinyl and interviewing the bootleggers and the buyers to find out just how dangerous and important it was to keep the music playing in the USSR.You can find out more about Stephen

On 6 September 1560, Amy Robsart Dudley died after falling down a staircase at Cumnor Place in Oxfordshire. But did she fall? Was she pushed? Or did she throw herself down the stairs? These questions exercised Tudor courtiers and foreign ambassadors at the time. The truth mattered because Amy was the wife of Queen Elizabeth I’s leading courtier and very close friend, Robert Dudley, and his wife’s death could clear the way for Elizabeth to marry Dudley. But in practice, the circumstances of Amy’s death precluded any possibility of a royal marriage. In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Dr. Joanne Paul - author of the acclaimed book The House of Dudley - to discuss what really happened - was it an accident, suicide or murder?This episode was edited and produced by Rob Weinberg.**WARNING: This episode contains descriptions of suicide**If you'd like to learn more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad-free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe

Can we trace the 'British sense of humour' back to the Georgian period? It was an age of royal madness, political intrigue, the birth of modern celebrity, the French revolution, American independence and the Napoleonic Wars so the satirists of Georgian Britain had plenty to work with. In the late 18th century, artists like Thomas Rowlandson, James Gillray and Isaac Cruikshank took on the establishment with cartoons, forever changing how we the public view those in power. History Hit presenter and TikTok star Alice Loxton (@history_alice) joins Dan as they look at the characters behind the 'Golden Age of Caricature' and what was going on that made these prints so popular with the masses.Alice's new book is called 'Uproar!'.Produced by James Hickmann and edited by Dougal Patmore.If you'd like to learn more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad-free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe to History Hit today!Download the History Hit app from the Google Play store.Download the History Hit app

This is everything you ever wanted to know about fascism. Are the British government's new proposals to stop refugee boats arriving fascistic? Were the 2021 insurrectionists at the Capitol building fascists? Is Muslim persecution in India today fascism in action? They're certainly attacks on democracy but can they accurately be described as fascism?Dan puts that question to a world-leading expert in today's episode, Roger Griffin, Emeritus Professor in Modern History at Oxford Brookes University. They get into the deep history of fascism's origins, and the true definitions of terms like 'authoritarian' and 'populism' and look to distinguish the difference between the technical meaning of fascism and the colloquial term we tend to invoke in daily conversation.Produced by James Hickmann and edited Dougal PatmoreIf you'd like to learn more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad-free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe to History Hit today!Download the History Hit app from the Google Play s

Glencoe in the Scottish highlands is a beautiful landscape with a dark past. While folks from all over the world travel to this beautiful valley to hike, in 1692 it was the site of a treacherous massacre that had repercussions for Scotland and England into the next century. Scottish government troops had been sent on orders from King William III of England, to make an example of the MacDonald clan who had missed the deadline to pledge their allegiance to him as the new monarch. Government soldiers were sent to the homes of the Macdonalds where they were billeted - given lodging and food by the locals. The Macdonalds shared their homes, food, stories and songs before the soldiers revealed their true purpose in Glencoe. 12 days after arriving, they received their true orders to annihilate the entire population of the glen. The clan chief Alexander, or McIan as he was also known, was killed along with more than 30 other men women and children. Others fled into the highlands, succumbing to exposure, but most esca

One of the Founding Fathers of the United States, Samuel Adams was a political force of nature. Stacy Schiff tells Don how Adams, fuelled by discontent under British rule, instilled a revolutionary spirit in his peers. The result was the Declaration of Independence - and the fight to earn it.Produced by Benjie Guy. Mixed by Joseph Knight. Senior Producer: Charlotte Long.If you'd like to learn more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad-free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe to History Hit today!Download the History Hit app from the Google Play store.Download the History Hit app from the Apple Store. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There are descriptions of suffering early in this episode that some listeners may find distressing. As hospitals and institutions across the European frontline were taken over to serve the war effort in the 1940s, what happened to psychiatric hospitals, housing some of the continent's most vulnerable in often prison-like conditions? Well, approximately 45,000 psychiatric patients died of starvation and disease in France alone. One psychiatrist described the scenes he witnessed during that time as being as bad as the concentration camps. But there was one hospital that, not only defied this fate but thrived during the war. Saint-Alban-sur-Limagnole, in Southern France, had a death rate of less than 10 per cent – and no deaths from malnutrition. Not only did staff and patients stay alive through pooling skills to create food, foraging in the local area and keeping livestock, it actually became a hub of the French Resistance - storing ammunition, and acting as a safe house for Jewish refugees and freedom fighter

In a suburb of North-West London, among housing estates and residential streets lies a secret bunker, you may never have heard of it but it's one of the most important World War Two sites in Britain. Here, deep underground, the RAF built its Uxbridge headquarters where it commanded the defence of the country in the Battle of Britain. The pilots who fought in the skies are rightly hailed as heroes and affectionately known as 'the few', but they wouldn't have been able to do what they did without the many women behind them and under the ground gathering intelligence and commands, distributing them at lightening speed under the intense pressure of active battle.Dan goes down into the earth with Dr Sarah-Louise Miller, who brings their stories to life in the room where the Battle of Britain was organised, overlooking the very maps that show what happened there during that decisive summer of 1940. Dr Sarah-Louise's new book 'The Women Behind the Few' puts the Women's Auxiliary Air Force back at the heart of Britai

Count Coudenhove-Kalergi was one of the most influential 20th Century European thinkers that you've never heard of. He was a pioneer of European integration, advocating for the free movement of people across European borders, a common currency and a single passport. Unsurprisingly, his ideas attracted the ire of right-wing thinkers across the continent; Hitler angrily denounced him in Mein Kampf, and even today he is the subject of a right-wing antisemitic conspiracy theory called 'The Kalergi Plan'. But how influential was his vision for Europe? In what ways did he help to shape the modern European Union? Dan is joined by the journalist Martyn Bond, author of Hitler's Cosmopolitan Bastard, to discuss his life and legacy.Produced by James Hickmann and edited by Dougal Patmore.If you'd like to learn more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad-free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe to History Hit today!Download the History Hit app from the Google Play store.Download the History Hit app

All Quiet on the Western Front is the 2022 film adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque's famous anti-war novel. Told from the German perspective, it presents a gruelling depiction of life and death in the First World War, emphasising the despair and disillusionment of the soldiers who fought in it. The film has enjoyed great success, having already won seven BAFTA Awards and been nominated in nine categories at the upcoming 95th Academy Awards. But what does it take to transform a film like this from a passion project into a blockbuster hit? And how should filmmakers handle stories rooted in conflict? On today's episode, we are joined by Lesley Paterson, the film's executive producer and co-writer, and a world champion triathlete. She tells us about the trials and tribulations she faced to bring the project to fruition, and how history influenced her writing to bring the story to life.Produced by James Hickmann and edited by Dougal Patmore.If you'd like to learn more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad

102 year old Ben Ferencz is the last surviving prosecutor from the Nuremberg trials and a direct witness to the horrors of the Nazi death camps. Born in Transylvania he emigrated to the United States with his family as a child to escape antisemitic persecution. He trained at Harvard Law School, graduated in 1943 and served in the US army in the campaign to liberate western Europe. In 1945 at the end of the war, he was assigned to a team charged with collecting evidence of war crimes during which he visited the death camps and saw first-hand the appalling conditions there. He then became a prosecutor during the Nuremberg war crimes trials where his work focussed on the prosecution of the Einsatzgruppen death squads. His experiences during the war have led him to be a passionate, lifelong campaigner advocating for the international rule of law and he helped found the international criminal courts in The Hague. In this episode, he shares his life experiences and how we all need to find ways to resolve our differ

The Kim Kardashian of Georgian England; she was a young housemaid who became one of the most famous socialites in the Western world and stole the heart Lord Nelson. Emma Hamilton, born Amy Lyon, grew up in abject poverty and at 13 travelled to London from Wales, where became a service maid. She was enthralled by the beauty and glamour of the actresses in Covent Garden and would miss work to go see them, eventually getting herself fired. She ended up destitute on the street until self proclaimed doctor and showman James Graham put her on the stage at his Temple of Good Health. Although still a teenager, men would come to oggle her beauty. Eventually she found work as a prostitute and became a mistress for the upper echelons of British society. She was effectively bought by Sir Henry Featherstonehaugh and while with him, learnt social graces, how to read, write and ride. Portraits were painted of her, she operated as a diplomat during the French revolution and became a socialite about Europe.It was her relation

Matt Lewis continues his Mystery Month on Gone Medieval with another tantalising enigma of the Middle Ages - possibly the most mysterious manuscript that exists anywhere in the world. Carbon-dated to the early 15th century, the Voynich manuscript is hand-written in an unknown script, embellished with illustrations and diagrams, showing people, fantastical plants and astrological symbols.Yet the origins, authorship, and purpose of the manuscript continue to baffle experts, which have even included British codebreakers from both World War I and World War II. Matt finds out more from Raymond Clemens, Curator of Early Books and Manuscripts at Yale University.This episode was edited and produced by Rob Weinberg.If you’re enjoying this podcast and are looking for more fascinating Medieval content then subscribe to our Medieval Monday newsletter here >If you'd like to learn even more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad free podcasts and audiobooks

In late February 1943, Norwegian commandos were given the details of their mission, Operation Gunnerside. Their job would be to sabotage the Vemork heavy water facility in Norway, hindering German industry and their development of the atomic bomb. Before they left, Norwegian Royal Army Colonel and pioneering chemist, Leif Tronstad, told his soldiers, “I cannot tell you why this mission is so important, but if you succeed, it will live in Norway’s memory for a hundred years.” Fully aware of the danger they faced, the men were handed suicide pills in case of capture. On the 80th anniversary of this daring raid, Dan is joined by the survival expert and TV presenter Ray Mears to discuss the challenges they faced, and the consequences of their mission.Produced by James Hickmann and edited by Dougal Patmore.If you'd like to learn more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad-free podcasts and audiobooks at History Hit - subscribe to History Hit today!Download the History Hit app from the Google Play store.Dow

It's hard to imagine a time when we didn't write things down- on stone, papyrus or parchment. Who was the first to actually put 'pen to paper' and write. Well, her name was Enheduanna. She was an Akkadian poet, writer and high priestess, remembered as the first named author in recorded history. She lived in the 3rd millennium BCE in the city-state of Ur, and was a figure of immense significance in the Mesopotamian world. As high priestess of the moon god Nanna, she would help to cement ties between the newly merged Sumerian and Akkadian civilisations. She would also pen the first authored literary works, and her poems on womanhood and faith hold great meaning through to this day. Dan speaks to Sidney Babcock, the Jeannette and Jonathan Rosen Curator at the Morgan Library and Museum, to find out how we know so much about her, and what her significance is today.Produced by James Hickmann and edited by Dougal Patmore.If you'd like to learn more, we have hundreds of history documentaries, ad-free podcasts and aud