On 18th April, 1947, British forces set off the largest non-nuclear explosion in history. The target was a small island in the North Sea, thirty miles off the German coast, which for generations had stood as a symbol of Anglo-German conflict - Heligoland. Jan Rueger is Professor of History as Birkbeck, University of London. His latest book 'Heligoland: Britain, Germany, and the Struggle for the North Sea' is a microhistory of the Anglo-German relationship as it unfolded from the Napoleonic Wars to the Cold War. It takes the North Sea island of Heligoland as a prism through which to view rivalry, conflict and, eventually, reconciliation between the two nations.
David Carpenter joined me on the podcast to examine one of England's most remarkable monarchs. Just nine years old when he came to the throne in 1216, David explains how Henry was pacific, conciliatory, and deeply religious. His rule was constrained by limits set by the Magna Carta and the emerge...
When the First World War broke out, the suffragettes suspended their campaigning and joined the war effort. Flora Murray and Louisa Garrett Anderson headed out to France, setting up two small military hospitals - whilst battling fierce opposition on account of being women. But Flora and Louisa pr...
Joanna McCunn joined me on the podcast to discuss the history of some of Britain's oldest and strangest laws. From shooting Welshmen with longbows, to Oliver Cromwell banning mince pies, we also discussed 19th century policing and vagrancy acts.
