People Who Made History
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Russia: The Fall of the Romanovs and the Rise of the Communists
1 season
For three hundred years Russia was ruled by one family - the Romanovs.
But in just six short years, from 1916 to 1922 that all came crashing down as the country was transformed by a small band of dedicated Revolutionaries - The Communists - in a series of events that would shock and appall the ...
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The Lady with the Lamp: The Florence Nightingale Museum
Alice Loxton pays a visit to The Florence Nightingale Museum to unveil the true story of the Lady with the Lamp. Joined by David Green and Amber Lickerish, she learns how Nightingale broke through the restrictions of Victorian convention, laid the foundations for modern nursing, and tirelessly ca...
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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...
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Britain's Wild West: Discovering Hay Castle
The peaceful South Wales town of Hay-on-Wye offers few clues today of its brutal past on a violent frontier. A monument to this history can be found in Hay Castle. Once right on the border between England and Wales, it sits in a region densely packed with castles that saw border skirmishes and bi...
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Henry VIII: Statesman or Tyrant?
On Midsummer's Day in 1509 a 17 year old was crowned king of England. He would go on to transform his realm over almost four decades on the throne. He would revolutionise its religion, reforge its politics and its relations with neighbouring countries, and establish a royal navy. But, by the time...
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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.
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A Georgian Trailblazer! The Amazing Life of Charles Ignatius Sancho
Join Paterson Joseph, actor (‘Boat Story’, ‘Wonka’) and author (‘The Secret Diaries of Charles Ignatius Sancho’), in this special History Hit film as he takes us on a fascinating journey through 18th century London, discovering the life, loves and losses of a truly remarkable man.
Georgian Londo...
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A Nation Soars: Commemorating Canada's Great War Flyers
1 season
This three-part series narrated by Dan Aykroyd explores how aviation changed the course of the First World War, including its vital part in Canada's nation-defining victory at Vimy Ridge. A Nation Soars offers a fascinating and refreshing look at Canada's part in the Great War.
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Tutankhamun: Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh
Tutankhamun, 'The Boy King' of Ancient Egypt, is one of history's most famous names. Though his short reign proved fairly-insignificant, his legacy lives on thanks to Howard Carter's discovery of his magnificent tomb in 1922. Now, as the centenary of Carter's discovery creeps ever nearer, many of...
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Hogarth: Into the Streets of Georgian London
Born in London at the turn of the 18th Century, William Hogarth became one of the most iconic English painters, printmakers, pictorial satirists, social critics, and editorial cartoonists of his generation.
Often dubbed the mirror of 18th Century London, Hogarth's most notable works include, A ...
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The Life and Times of Avi Shlaim
Avi Shlaim is Emeritus Professor of International Relations at St Antony's College, Oxford. Here he discusses his life - from his birth in Baghdad, to studying in Britain and his ongoing historical research.
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Heroes of the Somme
Heroes of the Somme uses original archive from the Western Front to uncover the stories of seven of the men whose remarkable bravery in 1916 won them the Victoria Cross, Britain’s most prized military medal. Interviews with modern day family members reveal the personal stories of each character, ...
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Queen Victoria and Her Nine Children
1 season
This is the story of Queen Victoria - a widow in mourning who had to raise her nine children on a very public stage.
Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were an unusually devoted couple with strong ideas about the role of the Royal Family. But when Albert died, Queen Victoria was left a single (car...
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Mary Ellis: Touching the Sky
During the years of World War Two, a short lived, but remarkable, organisation existed. The Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) was a civilian service that was tasked with the delivery of aircraft from factories to the squadrons of the RAF and Royal Navy, and the delivery of supplies. Featuring pilots ...
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The Making of Wellington: The Battle of Vimeiro
On 21st of August 1808, the 39-year-old Sir Arthur Wellesley (later to become the Duke of Wellington) stood at the head of an Anglo-Portuguese army numbering approximately 14,000.
His army was positioned on the blind side of a slope, awaiting the advance of a French Army under General Jean-Ando...
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Alexander the Great in Egypt
History Hit's Tristan Hughes travels to Egypt to explore its extraordinary links to one of the most famous names from antiquity, Alexander the Great. Of all the lands in the Eastern Mediterranean, it is Egypt that has the most fascinating - and enduring - connection to this ancient conqueror.
I...
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Rise Of Napoleon
He was the man who would define the start of the 19th century. He has more documented victories than any other battlefield commanders in history. From a relatively humble background, he rose to become master of Europe. This is the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte. Featuring historians Dr Michael Rowe, ...
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Tutankhamun: Life Not Death
Renowned Egyptologist Prof. Joann Fletcher explores the most famous pharaoh of them all - Tutankhamun. Jo has curated a very special exhibition in her hometown, Barnsley, not only to celebrate the world of Tutankhamun, but also the people from northern England who played an important role in his...
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Henry VIII on Film - Not Just the Tudors... Lates
Few British monarchs loom as large in the public imagination as King Henry VIII. Straddling the line between man and myth, he is best known for his infamous six marriages and his penchant for beheadings. But where does fiction meet fact? In cinema and on television, he has been portrayed by a hos...
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Russia: The Rise of Stalin
He dominated the 20th century like no other, his shadow still hanging over the continent 70 years after his death.
But how did a choir boy from provincial Georgia rise to become the most powerful man in Russia? And what was his role in shaping the revolution that swept aside the Romanov's and b...
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Max Eisen: Surviving Auschwitz
Max Eisen was only 15 when he and his family were taken from their Hungarian home to the infamous Auschwitz Concentration Camp during the Second World War. All of his relatives were killed; only Max survived to see VE Day and eventual liberation. 74 years on from being liberated, he talks about t...
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Ghosts of the Romanovs
At about 1am on 17 July 1918, in a fortified mansion in Ekaterinburg in the Ural Mountains, the Romanovs – ex-tsar Nicholas II, ex-tsarina Alexandra, their 5 children, and their 4 remaining servants – were awoken by Bolshevik captors and told they must dress and gather their belongings for a swif...