Saul David - historian, broadcaster and author of several critically-acclaimed works of fiction and non-fiction - comes on the show to discuss the most brutal and controversial British imperial conflict of the 19th century: the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879.

Most history is hierarchical: it’s about popes, presidents and prime ministers. A very small section of society has wielded very great power. But what if that’s simply because they are responsible for creating the historical archives? What if we are missing out on understanding equally powerful b...

Today, the East End of London is a thriving centre of commerce. In the 19th century however, it was a maze of dark alleys, gas lit courts and foggy wharfs. It was a particularly dangerous place for women, a number of whom were murdered at the hands of Jack the Ripper. Dr Julia Laite takes Dan Sno...

The Clifton Suspension Bridge isn't just one of the most beautiful bridges in the country - it's also one of the most innovative. It was designed by the legendary engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel, though he didn't live to see it completed. One of the many astonishing things about the bridge is th...

A council estate in Wales keeps a secret of a man who gave so much. Chris Lloyd finds out why.

In this fascinating interview, Midge Gillies, author of acclaimed The Barbed-Wire University, discusses the role of the army wife over the centuries, and remarks on the extraordinary women who were pillars of support and strength in times of great hardship.

Dan talks to the Head of Heritage for HS2, Helen Wass, as well as Mike Henderson, about the bodies discovered along the route of this infrastructure project, and what they can tell us about the past.

British military historian Mark Simner tackles the Opium Wars, rarely taught in English schools, but taught ubiquitously across China. He explains the provenance of both conflicts, and explores some of the reasons why resentment still lingers to this day. The Opium Wars are a critical part of Chi...

Katie Hickman takes us on a tour of British India before 1900, looking at women and the lives they led. Highlights include a discussion of whether the arrival of women in India prompted a change in racial attitudes, and the arrival of a courtesan on Indian soil. Producer: Peter Curry

In this special podcast, Dan talks to Alex Bescoby, a filmmaker and historian of Burma, about his documentary following Burma’s lost royal family - We Were Kings. Alex is currently crowdfunding his latest documentary about veterans from Burma who fought for Britain in the Second World War - Forgo...

Duncan Clarke joined me on the pod to discuss Cecil Rhodes and the historiography of Zambesia from the San forward to the establishment of the Rhodesian state.

Greg Jenner has given my children so many hours of happiness as the historical brains behind the Horrible History tv shows and movie, not to mention the Homeschool History podcast that it would have been grotesquely unfair not to have him on the show and talk about his new book on the history of ...

In early 1900, Rudyard Kipling, Mary Kingsley and Arthur Conan Doyle crossed paths in South Africa during the Anglo-Boer War. Motivated in various ways by notions of duty, service, patriotism and jingoism, they were each shaped by the theatre of war. Sarah LeFanu joined me on the podcast to explo...

Orlando Figes talks to Dan about social and technological developments and their relationship to cultural changes in the 19th century.

Dr Emma Liggins is an expert on Victorian Gothic literature. She joined me on the pod to examine how great female writers of the 19th century - such as Elizabeth Gaskell and the Brontes - responded to the impact of fatal diseases on their home lives. How did their literary perspective influence t...

In this special, sponsored episode, Dan talks to Dr Rachel Barrie, the first female Master Blender, about whisky, taxes, and the Glendronach distillery. Thumbnail image credit: Akela NDE (CC).

Lawrence James is an English historian and writer. He has written several works of popular history about the British Empire. Lawrence's latest book is entitled Empires in the Sun: The Struggle for the Mastery of Africa.

Antony Robbins, Communications director Museum of London.

HMS Warrior was a 40-gun steam-powered armoured frigate built for the Royal Navy in 1859–61. She was the name ship of the Warrior-class ironclads. Warrior and her sister ship HMS Black Prince were the first armour-plated, iron-hulled warships, and were built in response to France's launching in 1...

Christine Kinealy joined me on this podcast to discuss the British government’s adverse policies during the Great Famine, and the effects these had on the Irish people.

Why is the impression we have of Jack the Ripper's victims misleading? Hallie Rubenhold explains to Dan that the common conception of his victims as young sex-workers is mostly wrong, and discusses the actual sources we have about the lives of his victims. Discover more history interviews and doc...

Dr John Roobol discusses the fate of John Franklin and his crew, from how they suffered in the bitter conditions, to the crew members who resorted to cannibalism. John's work also looks into the Inuits, and how their testimony was largely ignored, as the Victorians were desperate to insist that n...

This Friday sees the 200th anniversary of Queen Victoria's birth. BAFTA winning historian and Joint Chief Curator of Historic Royal Palaces Lucy Worsley takes Dan on a tour of Kensington Palace, one of the principle royal residences since 1689, and the childhood home of Queen Victoria. The rooms ...