Revolutions

Revolutions

From the expeditions of Captain Cook to the famous battles of the Napoleonic Wars, enjoy our large range of documentaries, interviews with historians such as David Olusoga and podcasts on this fascinating period in history. The period between the 18th and mid-19th Century saw a complete transformation of Western Culture. The Age of Revolution saw long-established monarchies, religious institutions, social systems and hierarchies challenged from below and a philosophical search for human improvement. Ideas of equality, liberty and religious tolerance traversed Europe, creating social upheaval, revolution and change. It was also a period of intense domestic and global conflict. Born out of increased globalisation was a brutal, transatlantic slave trade and the rise of imperialism.

Share
Revolutions
  • Quicksilver: The Magnificent Mail Coach

    Mike Loades climbs aboard a high-speed transport revolution. 250 years ago the Mail Coach was a sensation, the fastest vehicle on the road - carrying with it the promise of news from afar.

    It was the symbol of a modern, more connected world - at the vanguard of a social revolution.

    For the fi...

  • Powerhouse: Industrial Revolution in the North

    1 season

  • Waterloo Uncovered: The Bones of the Battlefield

    A major breaking story filmed by History Hit.

    Incredibly rare bones of men and horses have been discovered in July 2022 at the Waterloo Battlefield - and History Hit has been there to record the excavations as they unfold.

    The veterans support charity 'Waterloo Uncovered' returned to the Water...

  • Ham House: Women of the Civil War

    Our Great British Houses series continues with another gem of The National Trust’s collection. About 10 miles from the centre of London is one of the most magnificent houses of Stuart England, Ham House. This lavish mansion is a treasure trove of 17th century art and architecture, a dazzling red-...

  • Waterloo's Warriors

    1 season

    The army that defeated Napoleon at Waterloo is often remembered as an iconic English redcoat force. A little known fact is that most of the men under the Duke of Wellington's command weren't English at all. Using unpublished accounts, the story of the battle is told from the perspective of those ...

  • Stourhead: The Grand Tour

    Kicking off our new series, Great British Houses, we join Alice Loxton and Dan Snow on a journey through one of the gems of the National Trust’s collection, the magnificent Stourhead.

    In this documentary Alice and Dan set off on a whirlwind tour of the social and cultural movements which influen...

  • Edinburgh New Town: From Squalor to Splendour

    Alice Loxton uncovers the thrilling transformation of Edinburgh, a city which was once the most overcrowded, dangerous and pungent cities in the whole of Europe, where tottering medieval tenement blocks were surrounded by a bubbling cesspit of raw sewage. With the city bursting at its seams - and...

  • 🎧 A Story of Slavery and Restitution

    I was delighted to be joined by Caleb McDaniel, History professor and author of the Pulitzer prizewinning book, “Sweet Taste of Liberty: A True Story of Slavery and Restitution in America”. He told me the remarkable story of Henrietta Wood. Born into slavery in Kentucky, she was freed as an adult...

  • 1833: The Year Britain Abolished Slavery

    1 season

    On 28 August 1833, the Slavery Abolition Act was given royal assent in Britain. This legislation terminated an institution that, for generations, had been the source of an incredibly lucrative trade and commerce.

    It was not only planters who benefitted from the significant West Indian branch of ...

  • Saint Helena

    They needed a prison for the most dangerous man in the World. Napoleon had seized supreme power in France. He’d marched his armies from Portugal to Moscow. But now he was a prisoner. His captors needed a prison from which escape was unthinkable. Their answer lay in the South Atlantic. A scrap of ...

  • Life and Death in Nelson's Navy

    200 years ago, Britain's Royal Navy was the most technologically advanced and supremely efficient force in the history of naval warfare.

    But what was it like to live and work on board these ships? What did the men eat? How did the ships sail? What were the weapons they used?

    In this documentar...

  • 🎧 When the Brits Burnt the Capitol

    In 1814 a British expeditionary force landed in Maryland, marched on Washington, brushed aside an American army and stormed into the US capital. The British looted and burnt the Capitol, then moved on to the White House, ate President Madison's dinner and then torched the White House. Even member...

  • 🎧 Akala on Imperialism

    Rapper and intellectual Akala talks to Dan about the way historical narratives are created, maintained and then broken down. He discusses slavery and abolitionism, the need for Britain to do more to acknowledge its imperial history, and how his own experiences growing up were shaped by these narr...

  • 🎧 America's Contested Election

    Gary Gerstle joined me on the podcast to discuss two hundred years of U.S. history. He argues that the roots of the current crisis lie in two contrasting theories of power that the Framers inscribed in the Constitution.

  • Rise Of Napoleon

    He was the man who would define the start of the 19th century. He has more documented victories than any other battlefield commanders in history. From a relatively humble background, he rose to become master of Europe. This is the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte. Featuring historians Dr Michael Rowe, ...

  • Sir Joseph Banks: Pioneer of British Botany

    ‘Dictator of British Botany’. ‘Autocrat of the Philosophers’. Sir Joseph Banks has been called many things over the past few centuries. A towering figure in the development of British botany and British natural history during the 18th century, he voyaged across the World with famous navigators su...

  • An Indigenous History of Australia

    To date, there are over 500 different aboriginal 'nations' in Australia, all with distinctive cultures, beliefs, languages and unique histories. Since the arrival of Captain James Cook and the subsequent colonisation of the continent, many of these indigenous populations were, and continue to be ...

  • 1807: The Year Britain Abolished its Slave Trade

    1 season

    Documentary, using the academic expertise of Professor Christer Petley at the University of Southampton, exploring the rise of the Abolition movement in Britain in the late 18th century and its ultimate success in passing a bill (1807 Abolition Act) that outlawed the trade in Africans across the ...

  • Hogarth: Into the Streets of Georgian London

    Born in London at the turn of the 18th Century, William Hogarth became one of the most iconic English painters, printmakers, pictorial satirists, social critics, and editorial cartoonists of his generation.

    Often dubbed the mirror of 18th Century London, Hogarth's most notable works include, A ...

  • Reassessing King George III: With Andrew Roberts

    Was King George really mad? Could the American Revolution have been avoided? Does the play Hamilton get George III right? To find out Dan Snow spoke to historian Andrew Roberts, biographer of Churchill, Napoleon and now George III.

    George III ruled through an extraordinary period of revolutiona...

  • The Transatlantic Slave Trade

    Olivette Otele, Professor of History and Vice-President of the Royal Historical Society, answers key questions about the slave trade. From its origins to its abolishment.

  • 🎧 Asylum on Saint Helena

    Annina Van Neel showed me around Saint Helena, a small scrap of land in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. This island is the most significant physical trace of the Transatlantic slave trade middle passage.

  • The East India Company

    Mark Williams, senior lecturer in Early Modern history at Cardiff University, tackles the big questions about the East India Company.

  • 🎧 Australia, Anzac and History

    I was thrilled to have Mat McLachlan on the pod, one of Australia's foremost history presenters and writers. Using his encyclopaedic knowledge of Australian battlefields, Mat and I chatted about Australia's complex relationship with its past, and how this history is perceived and commemorated today.