Searching for Stories
-
In Search of the Minoans
Rediscovered at the beginning of the 20th century through the work of British archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans, the Minoan Civilization, whose earliest beginnings were from c. 3500 BC on the island of Crete, became one of the most developed, complex urban civilizations in antiquity. Yet we still kn...
-
Beijing Central Axis: China's Medieval Wonder
The Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, Drum and Bell Towers - all of these architectural wonders stand on a line that runs like a spine through the centre of Beijing. It is known as the Beijing Central Axis, a World Heritage site containing a spectacular array of ancient buildings that together t...
-
Shackleton: The Story of Endurance, 3-Part Series
1 season
This 3-part documentary celebrates an explorer who failed in everything he set out to do, but whose toughness, courage and leadership made him a legend: Sir Ernest Shackleton.
-
The Auschwitz House
On the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz Dan Snow and History Hit were given unique access to the house formerly home to the commandant of the concentration camp, Rudolf Höss.
Barely touched since the end of the second world war (and recently featured in the Oscar winning film The...
-
Edward II: Worst King of England?
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...
-
Hunt for the U-576
A team of maritime archaeologists descends 700 feet off the coast of North Carolina in search of the U-576, a German submarine that went down in a historic 1942 battle, possibly trapping 45 Nazi sailors inside.
-
Ancient Ways: The Ridgeway
1 season
Every generation leaves a mark on Britain, but if you know where to look, you can still find the ancient tracks that our ancestors used to crisscross this land. In this two-part special, anthropologist and keen hiker Mary-Ann Ochota tracks the pathways of our ancestors from the Uffington White Ho...
-
The Search for a Fallen Airman: One Mother's Post WW1 Mission
Richard van Emden talks to Dan about his new book - Missing: the need for closure after the Great War. The backbone of the book is based on the best single story of World War One that he has found in 35 years of research. It is the story of one woman’s relentless search for her missing son’s body...
-
Gladiators: History's Greatest Fighters
Gladiators, from Spartacus to Ridley Scott’s Maximus Decimus Meridius, we’ve been fascinated by them for hundreds of years. Dan Snow is on the hunt to find out why we’re still so obsessed with the men who controlled the Roman arena from the ground up!
Dan joins experts in Italy and England to in...
-
The First Emperor of China
In March 1974, one of the most astonishing archaeological discoveries in history was made in the heart of China: the Terracotta Warriors. These incredible clay statues were built and buried over 2000 years ago - but who made them? And why?
Dan Snow comes face to face with the warriors and heads...
-
Magna Carta
1 season
Magna Carta - one of the most important documents from the medieval period. It’s still held up as a totem of democracy even in today’s turbulent world. But why did Magna Carta get written and sealed in the first place?
In the first of two episodes, Prof. Michael Livingston heads to France to exp...
-
Lost and Found: The Search for USS Lagarto
A fierce WWII battle at sea, unreported for more than 60 years is revealed at the bottom of the Gulf of Thailand in HD underwater video. There lay the US submarine Lagarto and the remains of her 86 crewmen, whose families share how their husbands’ and fathers' disappearance shaped their lives. Wr...
-
The Road to Magna Carta
Magna Carta - one of the most important documents from the medieval period. It’s still held up as a totem of democracy even in today’s turbulent world. But why did Magna Carta get written and sealed in the first place?
In the first of two very special episodes, Prof. Michael Livingston is headin...
-
The Trials of Joan of Arc
We all know the name, Joan of Arc. But who really was this celebrated voice of the people of France? For some she is a simple peasant girl - one of the people. For others, she is a champion of nation and church. For the English, she was simply the enemy.
Dr Eleanor Janega is on a mission to deci...
-
Britain's Historic Isles: The Isles of Scilly
1 season
Ancient islands, shipwrecks, blue seas... In Britain’s Historic Isles: The Isles of Scilly, Dan Snow joins professional yachtsman and adventurer Conrad Humphreys as they tour the beautiful, rugged Isles of Scilly, on the wave-lashed shores of the Atlantic Ocean.
-
Industrial Revolution: Canal Mania
Join Dan Snow on an adventure through beautiful scenery, industrial landscapes and epic engineering, to discover a story that shaped the modern world.
Dan travels by narrowboat across the canals of England and Wales to explore a transformation in transport and time. Over just a few decades, jour...
-
American Revolution: This is War! Bunker Hill and the Birth of the US Army
A History Hit special marking the 250th anniversary of the Siege of Boston (1775-1776), the first chapter in the eight year war for American Independence. It saw the war’s first pitched battle, Bunker Hill - a bloody day and a hollow British victory, won at great cost.
Dan Snow joins American e...
-
Stonehenge: The Discovery
Dan Snow pieces together the story of the magnificent Stone Age circle.
-
Dan Snow and the Lost City
Dan climbs mountains on the trail of the incredible lost city of the Inca - Machu Picchu.
-
The Dambusters Story: A Battle Against Time
1 season
Dan Snow relives the nail-biting countdown to the most daring of wartime bombing raids.
-
Captain Cook's Endeavour
Captain James Cook is one of the greatest maritime navigators in history. Born in 1728 to a Scottish father and English mother, Cook grew up in Yorkshire and soon developed a great fascination with the sea and exploration. In 1746 Cook joined the merchant shipping industry when he moved to the ne...