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 filmed podcast Dan asks Frank why and how Hitler was able to establish and sustain his rule within Germany.

On 26 July 1533, a rope was tightened around the neck of Inca Emperor Atahualpa in the central plaza in Cajamarca in what is now Peru. The general who ordered his execution, Pizarro, is said to have shed a tear as the life drained from the condemned's body. On paper, the man died a Catholic by th...

Last summer, we were lucky enough to interview Wing Commander Tom Neil, one of the last of 'the Few' who fought in the Battle of Britain. During the Battle he shot down at least 13 enemy aircraft; he saw over half his squadron shot down within 5 minutes; he is also credited with the longest fligh...

How far would you go to save your immortal soul?’

This is the question that plagued Tudor High Chancellor, Sir Thomas More. Lawyer, philosophiser, and advisor to Henry VIII, when the court turned on its head at the arrival of Anne Boleyn. Hounded by prolific characters like Thomas Cromwell, his ...

How did a young boy from Georgia become a merciless politician who shaped the Soviet Empire in his own brutal image? Historian and bestselling author, Simon Sebag Montifiore talks to Dan about the rise of Joseph Stalin, a man who caused the death and suffering of tens of millions under his regime...

You’re probably familiar with Rollo, a main character of the series Vikings. But did you know that he is based on a real-life Viking leader: Rollo?

After years of inquiry, based on a manuscript, you’ll discover, thanks to experts and re-enactments, the epic tale of this forgotten hero, ancestor ...

March 2022 marks the 500th anniversary since Anne Boleyn made her debut at the court of King Henry VIII.

Prof. Suzannah Lipscomb investigates the story of Anne’s remarkable upbringing in England, the Netherlands and France before she arrived at the heart of Tudor England. For all Anne Boleyn’s...

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...

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 ...

Dr Helen Carr explores the extraordinary and chaotic reign of Edward II, a king with a reputation as a disastrous ruler. But how much of that is true?

Edward's accession as king of England in 1307 led almost immediately to conflict as he favoured close friends, and maybe lovers, like Piers Gaves...

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...

Buffalo Bill was America’s first celebrity… and the most famous man in the world at the turn of the 20th century.

He was a former scout, soldier, Buffalo hunter…but what he’s most known for of course, is his showmanship. He vied with PT Barnum for the title of greatest showman on earth.

At the ...

Behind the famous novel by Alexandre Dumas about the adventures of a man betrayed, abandoned, and left for dead who resurrects to quench his thirst for vengeance, lies a true, dreadful story.

Turned in by his so-called friends, a man named Picaud is locked away for years in the Alps with a prie...

Eleanor of Aquitaine is at least as responsible for the vast empire of the Plantagenets as her more celebrated husband, Henry II. Sara Cockerill has written a wonderful biography of Eleanor, placing her back at the centre of English medieval history where she belongs. Sara and Dan discuss her lon...

In 1940 the Polish resistance decided it needed to send an agent to Auschwitz concentration camp. They were desperate to find out what was going on in a place that even by that stage of the war had an evil reputation. Historian Jack Fairweather tells the story of Witold Pilecki the Pole who volun...

Mary’s biography is enormously dramatic, packed with romance, betrayal, imprisonment and violence. Unsurprisingly, it has proved irresistible to film-makers, recreating a time when two queens vied for power - Mary in Scotland and Elizabeth I in England. Their relationship was blighted with mistr...