Who were the real Peaky Blinders? Did they really exist? Carl Chinn reveals the true story of the notorious gangs that roamed Birmingham's streets during the city's industrial heyday.

Sam Willis is a maritime historian, archaeologist, and broadcaster. He is the author of a number of books on maritime and naval history, including the latest book The Struggle for Sea Power: A Naval History of American Independence.

Professor Andrew Lambert has written a magisterial history of sea power states, and the tools and methods of control they used to exert influence. From the Athenians to the British, Lambert discusses the way that states became sea powers, as well as offering insights on whether sea powers can exi...

Henry Hemming is a historian and author of five works of non-fiction including In Search of the English Eccentric, Misadventure in the Middle East, shortlisted for the Dolman Travel Book Award, and Churchill’s Iceman, published in the US as The Ingenious Mr Pyke, which became a New York Times bes...

William Sitwell joined me on the pod to discuss the history of the restaurant. Tracing its earliest incarnations in the city of Pompeii, we discuss the events that shape the way we eat today.

Selma Van De Perre joined me on the pod to talk about her life as a Dutch Jewish Resistance fighter during the Second World War. She joined the resistance under the pseudonym Margareta van der Kuit, and she forged documents and delivered them throughout the entire country. She escaped the Nazis o...

Thomas Penn, author of the Winter King, has released a new comprehensive history of the Wars of the Roses, making the striking claim that we shouldn't view the Wars of the Roses as a conflict between two rival houses, but instead as a civil war inside the House of York. Producer: Peter Curry

The Achaemenid Empire, or better known as the First Persian Empire, was one of the largest empires in History - led by Cyrus the Great it covered 2.1 million square miles. But where did it come from? And what do we know about their society? It was in their DNA to travel and explore - so why did t...

Professor Frank McDonough has just written a monumental history of the Third Reich. He is a world leading expert on the domestic side of Hitler's Germany. In this podcast Dan asks Frank why and how Hitler was able to establish and sustain his rule within Germany.

Dan talks to Simon Elliott about Septimius Severus, the first Hammer of the Scots, about his Northern Campaigns, and the true story of this savage 3rd century invasion of Scotland.

William Dalrymple charts the rise of the East India Company, from the decline of the Mughals to alliance with powerful Indian bankers, as well as weighing in on some of the most important questions which have dogged the role of the British in India for generations. Producer: Peter Curry

According to John Evelyn, the great diarist, Charles II was ‘addicted to women’. Charles' court is infamous for tales of licentiousness and promiscuity, and I was thrilled to be joined by Linda Porter who introduced me to Charles' impressive list of mistresses. There was Frances Teresa Stuart, ‘t...

Did people have better sex under socialism? The answer is probably yes, and Dan talks to Kristen Ghodsee to find out why, also discussing why young people are having less sex and the Soviet approach to gender equality. Image credit: Adam Jones

I invited Kate Lister to join me after the enormous popularity of her last appearance on the pod. But this time we talked about how our sexual habits are both dulled and invigorated in unprecedented times - wars, plagues, pandemics. We discussed licentious widows who let loose during plagues, the...

10 years after the expulsion of the British, leading US figures including Washington, Hamilton and Jefferson came together to draw up plans for governing the world's newest country. But what should the role of a President be and how should American politics function? I was thrilled to be joined b...

Dan talks to giant of journalism, Sy Hersh, about the many things he's covered in his long career, from Vietnam to Iraq to Trump.

Dr Chris Laoutaris talked to Dan about Shakespeare and love at our History Hit Live event at the British academy. Their discussion doesn't just limit itself to love in the upstart crow's plays, but to his own personal affairs and sexual proclivities.

Emma Smith, Professor of Shakespeare Studies at Hertford College Oxford. Presented by Dan Snow.

Dan visits the site of The Theatre, the 16th-century playhouse where some of Shakespeare's works were first performed, to investigate the archaeology with Heather Knight, Senior Archaeologist from the Museum of London Archaeology.

Suzie Grogan talks about the 'hidden illness' of World War One, now better known as shellshock or PTSD. Dan chats with her about the initial reception to cases of shellshock and how diagnoses changed as we understood the problem better over time.

Henry Hemming talks to Dan about the life of William Stevenson, a British operative who worked hard to pressure Roosevelt into declaring war on Nazi Germany, and ensuring that American troops were directed against German forces in mainland Europe. The tactics adopted were akin to those used today...

Dan talks to Janet Booth, the grand-daughter of Harry Farr, who was shot for cowardice in October 1916. Image Credit: Oosoom (CC).

The mechanised warfare of the First World War brought unprecedented new levels of firepower and destruction to the battlefield and with it horrific new injuries. Advances in medicine also meant that soldiers were surviving injuries that previously would have been fatal. Many of these men were lef...

The 1960s were an exciting time. The pill was invented in 1961, and for women everywhere it meant a newfound set of sexual freedoms;no longer did sex have to remain within the confines of marriage. However, the 1960s have for too long been characterised wrongfully by a surface layer of glamour an...