Of all the clubs in the world, perhaps the most extraordinary is the Guinea Pig Club, a group of Second World War veterans that suffered terrible injuries and were then treated by pioneering surgeon Archibald McIndoe. Today there are only a handful left. Dan visits Jan Stangreciuk, one of the few...

On this day thirty years ago a ceasefire was declared bringing ground operations in the first Gulf War to an end. An overwhelmingly powerful coalition force had stormed across the desert driving Saddam Hussein's forces out of Kuwait and concluding the ground campaign after only 100 hours of fight...

It was an honour to be joined by Martyn Rady to discuss one of history's most thrilling families, the Habsburgs. Ruling for almost a millennium, their imperial vision was perhaps best realised in Emperor Frederick III's AEIOU motto: Austriae est imperare orbi universe, "Austria is destined to rul...

Ben Gummer @ben4ipswich was Member of Parliament for Ipswich, Minister for the Cabinet Office and Paymaster General. The Cabinet of the United Kingdom is the collective decision-making body of Her Majesty's Government of the United Kingdom, composed of the Prime Minister and some 21 cabinet minis...

Pete Brown used to advertise lager for a living, until he realized that writing books about beer was even more fun, and entailed drinking even more beer. He appears regularly on television as a beer expert, writes on beer for a variety of publications and is the author of Man Walks into a Pub and...

The use of unmanned aircraft stretches all the way back to the First World War. Dan talks to James Rogers about this fascinating, unknown history.

Dan talks to Simon Jenkins about his new book, A Short History of Europe, and about Britain's in-out relationship with the continent of Europe as a whole.

Dan picks up from where he and Professor Ali Ansari left off as they discuss the history of Iran in the 20th century. Ali Ansari breaks down the White Revolution, the Islamic Revolution and why western negotiators have struggled to agree terms about Iran's nuclear program in recent years. Produce...

Dan talks to Ali Ansari about the history of Iran, and discovers just how much of it there is.

Dan talks to Ali Ansari about the history of Iran, and discovers just how much of it there is. In this episode he focuses on Iran in the eighteenth century and its interaction with European powers.

David Shariatmadari dives into the words we say. How did language come about, how and why do we use it?

Facebook was founded on the 4th of February 2004 and began as a tool to stay in touch with friends and family, but has ended up being a place where you can plan insurrectionist movements and anti-vax rallies. Today I am joined by American tech journalist Kara Swisher to talk about Facebook, socia...

Dan talks to Christopher Andrew about the history of intelligence from Moses to the present day.

Nicholas Crane is a geographer, explorer, writer and broadcaster. He has written and presented four notable television series for BBC Two: Coast, Great British Journeys, Map Man and Town. The Making Of The British Landscape: From the Ice Age to the Present is out now.

Greg Jenner, the history brains behind Horrible Histories, joins Dan on the podcast to talk about 'You're Dead to Me', his new podcast, and his new book, about the history of celebrity.

Dan talks to Matthew Carr about the history of the Pyrenees, a mountainous frontier that has seen conflict and co-operation from Roman times until the present day.

Laurence Rees has spent twenty-five years meeting survivors and perpetrators of the Holocaust. In his new book, 'The Holocaust: A New History', he combines eyewitness testimony, a large amount of which has never been published before, with the latest academic research, to create the first accessi...

Emily Brand has written a brilliant book about the Byrons. Not just the great romantic, poet and adventurer, George Gordon Byron, but his parents and grandparents who are equally as deserving of our attention. I loved this opportunity to delve into 18th Century British life. There are admirals, v...

Victor Hugo was exiled to Guernsey by the regime of Napoleon III, and so wrote many of his most famous works on the island, like “Les Miserables”, in the only house he ever owned. Dan gets a tour of Hauteville House, where he wrote from Cédric Bail the assistant curator of the museum. You can fin...

I was thrilled to chat to Paul Morland, a historian who uses population to explain almost all the major global shifts and events of the last two centuries. Using the power of sheer numbers, Paul has the answer to all the big questions - why China is going to get old long before it gets rich, why ...

Lord Jonathan Sumption is coming to the end of his magisterial multi-volume history of the Hundred Year's War. He believes it was essentially a French civil war into which the English and other external powers jumped into. In this podcast Jonathan talks Dan through the entire conflict, its causes...

Peter Stothard joined me on the podcast to discuss the assassination of Julius Caesar. Many men killed Julius Caesar. Only one man was determined to kill the killers. From the spring of 44 BC through one of the most dramatic and influential periods in history, Caesar's adopted son, Octavian, the ...

Dan chatted to George Morton-Jack and Dr Priya Atwal about the neglected role of the Indian Army during World War One, and how they are working to shed new light on the vital role that these servicemen played.

Jessica Dalton joined me on the podcast to talk about the history of the Inquisition. We discussed the Roman Inquisition, the Spanish Inquisition, and how religion and politics have clashed and intertwined in Europe since the fifteenth century.