20th Century

20th Century

Defined by a rise of nationalism, two world wars, clashing super powers, nuclear weapons and space exploration, the 20th Century is certainly not void of fascinating history. Enjoy our enormous library of documentaries on key events such as D-Day or the sinkng of the Titanic, interviews with leading experts such as Tom Holland, David Cannadine and fascinating podcasts on the history of warfare.

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20th Century
  • A Strange Bit of History

    We were delighted to have comedy royalty on the podcast. Omid Djalili talked to me about one of his earliest stage creations, first performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 1993. Over the next four years it was performed 109 times in 10 different countries. The backdrop of this epic storytel...

  • A History of Unbelief

    Religious belief looks more precarious in the modern world than ever before. But is that the truth? Dan Snow explores the role of unbelievers throughout history, to discover if we're uniquely unbelieving now, or whether there have always been those who wouldn't believe. This project was made poss...

  • 🎧 1918: The Decisive Year

    Richard Van Emden catches up with Dan Snow to talk about the commemoration of the final year of World War One.

  • 🎧 1956: The World in Revolt with Simon Hall

    Simon Hall is Professor of Modern History and Head of School of History at Leeds University, His new book is titled 1956: The World in Revolt.

  • 🎧 Goose Green: A Veteran Remembers

    John Geddes joined the Parachute Regiment as a teenager in the late 1970s. Within a couple of years he was plunged into the Falklands War and the bloodiest battle the British Army had fought since the Korean War. In this podcast John talks to Dan about his experience in the army, his memories of ...

  • Parliament's Greatest Speeches

    The Palace of Westminster is one of the world's most famous buildings: 'the mother of parliaments'. Since the days of Simon de Montfort parliaments having been meeting at this location in the heart of London. Though plagued by controversy and destruction over its long history the site's significa...

  • A History of the Oceans

    We are a land animal. But millions of us have taken to the sea to live, fight, travel, eat, escape and seek fame and fortune. I am obsessed with the sea. On how humans have built ever more efficient and capable ships to exploit its riches and opportunities. This is an conversation I’ve been longi...

  • The Uniform of the British Army

    The British Army is one of the world’s most experienced fighting forces. From Blenheim to Waterloo, from Balaclava to the Somme, it has played its part in the history’s most bloody conflicts. But as these troops executed Herculean tasks in the worlds harshest terrains, what were they wearing? How...

  • 🎧 28 Years on Death Row with Anthony Ray Hinton

    Anthony Ray Hinton is an Alabama was held on death row after being convicted of the murders of two restaurant managers, John Davidson and Thomas Wayne Vasona, in Birmingham, Alabama on February 25 and July 2, 1985. He was released in 2015 after winning a new trial.

  • Sex in Pandemics

    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...

  • Coronavirus: Lessons From History

    In the past few months more than a billion people have faced restrictions unlike any seen before. Shops are closed; the death toll is rising; people across the globe have been forced to rise to an extraordinary challenge. But it is important to remember that humans have experienced pandemics befo...

  • History and The Environment

    Andrew Simms is an author, analyst and co-director of the New Weather Institute. He comes on the show to explain how history is full of examples where humans have proven their capacity to make radical transformation. He explains why we must be capable of similarly-extraordinary things today to co...

  • Hidden in the Trees: Cardiff's Forgotten Landmark

    For nearly a thousand years, something high in the forest has been watching over the Welsh capital. A community pulled together in the Sixties, giving St. Mary's church in Caerau a short new life.

  • Broadway Tower: A Folly of Delight and Daring

    High on the peak of the Cotswolds stands one of the most remarkable buildings in Britain. Built as a folly in the final days of the 18th century, Broadway Tower sprung up during the height of the French Revolutionary Wars under the distracted watch of the architect James Wyatt. In the following y...

  • 🎧 A Lab of Their Own: Women Scientists in World War One with Patricia Fara

    Dan is joined by Patricia Fara, a historian of science at the University of Cambridge, to talk about the women who worked as scientific researchers during the First World World War.

  • Uncharted Heights: Leaving the Planet with Dallas Campbell

    Dallas Campbell talks to Dan about the secret history of the Space Race, reveals the truth about the moon landings and examines mankind's insatiable, eternal drive to reach new worlds.

  • The Peaky Blinders: A History

    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.

  • 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.

  • 🎧 A People's History of Tennis

    David Berry joined me on the pod to discuss a people’s history of tennis. From the birth of modern tennis in Victorian Britain to the present day, we talked about struggles around sexuality, gender, race and class that have transformed the nature of tennis and sport itself.

  • The History of Westminster Abbey

    Sir David Cannadine shows Dan around the iconic Westminster Abbey, in the heart of London. With an unrivalled arrange of monuments - ranging from grand royal tombs to the grave of The Unknown Warrior - and spectacular architecture spanning nearly 1,000 years, join the two historians as they explo...

  • 🎧 A President Incapacitated: Woodrow Wilson's Stroke

    101 years ago this week, President Woodrow Wilson suffered a serious stroke which left him prone to "disorders of emotion, impaired impulse control, and defective judgment." As President Trump confronts his own health crisis, I talked to John Milton Cooper, Jr., Professor Emeritus at the Universi...

  • The Crown: History vs Myth

    The Crown has been a highly successful series, watched with intense interest across the globe. The settings and costumes are of high quality, the acting is superb, and it all looks convincing. However writer and broadcaster Hugo Vickers has several historical reservations. He comes on the show to...

  • Sam Mendes on 1917

    1917 is a new film directed by Golden Globe winning film maker Sir Sam Mendes. Set in early 1917, at the height of the First World War on the Western Front, Mendes uses the backdrop of the German retreat to the Hindenburg Line as the stage for telling a story inspired by the memories of Alfred Me...

  • Pandemics: Science and History

    I was thrilled to be joined by the legendary Peter Frankopan, Professor of Global History at Oxford University and bestselling author of 'The Silk Roads: A New History of the World'. In this podcast we discussed the current crisis in a wider historical context, and Peter gave some fascinating ins...