George. Where did it all go wrong? George Washington could have had a comfortable career as a loyal member of HIs Majesty's Virginia militia and colonial grandee. But no, he had to go and roll the dice. I am thrilled in this episode to be talking to historian Alexis Coe about her new biography of Washington. She has a fresh take on the first President, but no less scholarly for that. Young George Washington was raised by a struggling single mother, demanded military promotions, caused an international incident, and never backed down - even when his dysentery got so bad he had to ride with a cushion on his saddle. But after he married Martha, everything changed. Washington became the kind of man who named his dog Sweetlips and hated to leave home. He took up arms against the British only when there was no other way, though he lost more battles than he won.
Was The Great Escape as great as its name suggests? Guy Walters thinks otherwise, and argues that the mass breakout from Stalag Luft III actually helped the German war effort. Dan chats to him to find out more.
Greg Jenner is the historical consultant to Horrible Histories and is the author of 'A Million Years in a Day: A Curious History of Everyday Life'.
Dan talks to Cat Jarman, a scientist who has worked to establish whether the bones in the charnel house at Repton are those of Ivar the Boneless' Great Heathen Army.
