Interviews

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  • Tom Holland on the Birth of Islam

    Historian Tom Holland shares his fascination at how the events of ancient history can resonate in the modern world. The author of Islam: The Untold Story talks to Dan Snow about the birth of this rich and sophisticated civilisation, tracing its history through the centuries, and its interaction a...

  • Quickfire Questions with Author Bernard Cornwell

    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...

  • Hitler: The Rise to Power

    In the 1930s Germany, one of the World's richest, most technologically-developed and culturally-sophisticated countries, was transformed into an extreme authoritarian state under its dictator Adolf Hitler. His unbridled ambition would plunge the World into a war bloodier and more destructive than...

  • Strategic Bombing in World War Two with Victoria Taylor

    Aviation historian Victoria Taylor answers key questions about the air war of World War Two: from the significance of the Dambusters raid to how we should remember "Bomber" Harris.

  • Shakespeare

    Emma Smith, Professor of Shakespeare Studies at the University of Oxford and the author of 'This is Shakespeare', tackles the big questions about William Shakespeare.

  • D-Day Veteran Interviews

    1 season

    A collection of interviews with D-Day Veterans

  • Dresden: The Fire and the Darkness

    75 years ago this week Dresden, in Saxony, known as the ‘jewel box’ because of its stunning architecture was obliterated by British and American bombers. The flames reached almost a mile high. Around 25,000 people were thought to have been killed. The novelist Kurt Vonnegut was there. It was he w...

  • The Silk Roads with Peter Frankopan

    In the East Meets West season, this is the starting point. Frankopan's rightly lauded book has done what it said on the cover: created a new history of the world. For way too long we Westerners have been espying history through the lens of our own success. But truth is, Britain only had its momen...

  • History Hit Live - Dunkirk

    This week marks 80 years since the miracle at Dunkirk, in which a quarter of a million allied troops were evacuated from German-held France. Historian Josh Levine, historical advisor to Christopher Nolan's 'Dunkirk', joins Dan Snow to talk about that fateful moment in WWII.

  • Ernest Shackleton: With Ranulph Fiennes

    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.

  • Debunking The Myths Of Tutankhamun

    Who was Tutankhamun? How did he die? Was Tutankhamun's tomb cursed? In this video we attempt to answer all these questions and more with Prof Joyce Tyldesley from the University of Manchester.

    Tutankhamun, 'The Boy King' of Ancient Egypt, is one of history's most famous names. Though his short r...

  • HMS Terror and Erebus: With Sir Michael Palin

    In 1845, a British voyage of Arctic exploration led by Captain Sir John Franklin departed England aboard two ships, HMS Erebus and HMS Terror. The expedition was assigned to traverse the last unnavigated sections of the Northwest Passage in the Canadian Arctic and to record magnetic data to help ...

  • Google Questions - Ancient Egypt

    Egyptologist Answers Google’s Most Popular Questions About Ancient Egypt

  • Unpacking the Myths of King Arthur with Eleanor Janega

    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...

  • Sex Lives of the Ancient Romans

    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 ...

  • Ottoman Empire with Kate Fleet

    The region stretching from eastern Europe and sweeping right across into Arabia and the north coast of Africa, was home to one of the most extraordinary empires in history: the Ottoman Empire. Along its routes flowed ideas, goods, disease and death. In existence for 600 years, it also saw the swe...

  • How The Battle of Britain Was Won

    It’s 1940. And the world’s first real air battle is being fought in the skies of the UK. This is the Battle of Britain, in which the Royal Air Force would triumphantly fight off the threat of the German Luftwaffe. Behind the brave pilots and pioneering technology lies an often-forgotten secret we...

  • Fighting Proud: A Gay History of the World Wars

    At the end of World War Two the British public wanted to get back to ‘normal’. The gay men who had served their King and country found themselves subjected to a vigorous enforcement of the draconian law that would put them into prison if they were found guilty of indecency. But servicemen living ...

  • The Fall of the Berlin Wall with Rory Maclean

    9 November 1989 was one of the most significant dates in 20th century history. The Berlin Wall fell, changing the entire geopolitical situation and marking the start of the decline of Russia's world standing. Author Rory MacLean was present when the Wall fell, and he talks about the jubilation of...

  • The Room Where It Happened

    1 season

    In this series, Dan Snow chairs an expert panel as they weigh in on turning points in history.

  • 7 Wonders of the Ancient World

    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...

  • Sam Mendes on 1917

    1917 is a new film directed by Golden Globe winning film maker Sir Sam Mendes. Set in early 1917, at the height of the First World War on the Western Front, Mendes uses the backdrop of the German retreat to the Hindenburg Line as the stage for telling a story inspired by the memories of Alfred Me...

  • History Hit Live - The History of The Space Race

    On the 51st anniversary of the Moon Landing, join Dan Snow and historian & author Tom Ellis as we take a look at the USA and USSR's race to the stars, and how the major victories and defeats of their representative space programs would define the political discourse of their nation.

  • Debunking the Myths of Ancient Sparta

    "Did 300 Spartans Really Fight at the Battle of Thermopylae?"

    Ancient historian Professor Michael Scott sits down with History Hit's Tristan Hughes to dispel some of the myths we continue to believe about Ancient Sparta.