Characterised as super soldiers, formidable fighters who would rather perish than surrender - their reputation truly did proceed them.

But how accurate is this image - and does it correlate with what the ancient sources actually tell us?

In this filmed episode of The Ancients podcast Sparta mi...

When people think of Medieval diseases, hysterical dancing is not usually what first comes to mind. Yet in 14th and 15th century Germany, dozens of ordinary people claimed to be infected by the ‘dancing plague’. What was this mysterious phenomenon? What caused it? And was it even a real disease?
...

Imagine coming face to face with the extraordinary people who filled the court of King Henry VIII.

Well we can! Thanks to the extraordinary work of the artist hans Holbein the Younger.

Professor Suzannah Lipscomb goes to Buckingham Palace to enter the gallery of the Royal Collection where a bri...

The Roman Empire remains one of the most enduring and prolific civilisations of written history. Yet it, like all great civilisations, would eventually come to an end. Join Dan Snow as he speaks to historian Tom Holland about the many contributing factors that would bring this seismic and seeming...

In this fascinating interview, Dan Snow chats to the world's greatest living explorer Ranulph Fiennes about Ernest Shackleton and his heroic expeditions in the Golden Age of Antarctic Exploration.

The Ancients host Tristan Hughes sits down with Professor John Mcnabb at the University of Southampton to discuss the extinct species of archaic human, Homo Erectus (aka the 'Upright Man') that existed about 2 million years ago.

Were these ancient ancestors the first to make stone tools? Were th...

The two Dans are back. And this time, they're talking all things crusades. Dan Jones provides his namesake host a thrilling background to the series of holy wars that have come to define Medieval Europe.

If you love Dan Jones, then join him at our book club. He is the History Hit Book Club's aut...

English author Bernard Cornwell, best known for his novels about Napoleonic Wars rifleman Richard Sharpe, sits down with Dan Snow to answer some quickfire questions for the fans. Ever wondered if an early 19th Century infantryman could really fire three rounds a minute? Or whether Bernard plans o...

Human evolution can’t help but fascinate us - the story of where we came from. Today we, Homo sapiens, are the only human species left. But that wasn’t always the case….

For millions of years, there thrived a great range of early human species. From small-brained island dwellers in Indonesia to ...

Get ready for carriages pulled by headless horses, spooky palaces, a weird floating cylinder thing...and a single moment in history that has haunted England, and now Britain's, imagination for hundreds of years.

In this episode of After Dark, Anthony and Maddy talk the ghost of Anne Boleyn, Quee...

Joined by historian Honor Cargill-Martin, Tristan Hughes explores the real sex lives of ancient Rome.

From popular series to kinky paintings, there is a recurring image today of Romans as sex-mad degenerates. And although there are sex stories in the dozens from the Roman period, when it comes ...

Dr Lindsey Fitzharris joins Dan Snow to teach us all about the gory past of Surgery in the Victorian times, and how lucky we are to have the medical facilities we have today!

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...

Dan is joined by fellow history presenter Dan Jones to talk about the Knights Templar and the crusades.

If you love Dan Jones, then join him at our book club. He is the History Hit Book Club's author for October/November 2022. The book club is a community of people who are passionate about histo...

In today's episode Dan Snow is joined by historian and leading expert on the Third Reich, Frank McDonough. Frank is here to discuss Adolf Hitler, his health and his dependence on various medications.

People have always looked to the wonders of the ancient world for awe and inspiration. In the Ancient era, people embarked on dangerous pilgrimages to visit storied sites like the Pyramids of Giza, or the Statue of Zeus at Olympia. While only one of them remains, they still excite us thousands of...

King Arthur. Merlin. The Knights of the Round Table and the Sword in the Stone. We think we know these stories but they've changed a lot since they were first told...

In this episode of History Hit's After Dark podcast, Maddy and Anthony are joined by Dr. Eleanor Janega, host of the Gone Mediev...

People seem forever reimagining the seafaring Vikings from northern Europe, but 'the Viking Age' is one of the most confusing periods in European history. When did it really start and why? What does 'Viking' really mean? What kind of helmets did they actually wear?

One of the best ways to delve ...

The German invasion of Poland in September 1939 is often seen as a contest between the might of Hitler's war machine and an antiquated Polish military. But this perception of a modern, German force sweeping aside a fragile, backward enemy is far from the truth. Dan sat down with Roger Moorhouse t...

Roger Crowley is the author of the new book, Accursed Tower: The Crusaders' Last Battle for the Holy Land. The city of Acre, powerfully fortified and richly provisioned, was the last crusader stronghold. When it fell in 1291, two hundred years of Christian crusading in the Holy Land came to a blo...

The Peterloo Massacre was a critical moment in the reform movement at the start of the 19th century. Thousands of people gathered at St Peter's Fields near Manchester to protest for an expansion of the franchise. The local magistrates summoned yeomanry to dispel what they saw as a riot, but as th...