“Christmas won’t be Christmas without any presents”. So begins ‘Little Women’ by Louisa May Alcott.

In this special seasonal film, History Hit explores the extraordinary literary heritage of Concord, Massachusetts - a town that nurtured so many great American writers and thinkers, particularly ...

This winter, Dr Eleanor Janega leads us into the darker corners of the medieval imagination - a world where the boundary between the living and the dead was dangerously thin.

Drawing on medieval chronicles, religious monuments, and Icelandic sagas, we learn why people believed the dead could ret...

The fourth film in our series exploring the remarkable collections of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford.

In this episode, Prof. Suzannah Lipscomb meets curator Matthew Winterbottom to explore the morbid side of life in Early Modern Europe... through Memento Mori.

This was a period awash with obje...

The story of ancient Italy is so much more than just Rome. Tristan Hughes visits the extraordinary site of Paestum in southern Italy, home to some of the greatest ancient Greek temples from anywhere in the world.

From majestic temples to pristine wall paintings more that 2,500 years old, he exp...

In 1895, the world's first celebrity trial challenged the creaking moral core of the British Empire. Dr Anthony Delaney traces the extraordinary trajectory of Oscar Wilde—from the toast of London’s West End, a shining star on both sides of the Atlantic, to the disgraced accused standing before th...

Join Dan Snow on a special expedition that goes far off the beaten track of history as we venture to Libya in North Africa to explore extraordinary Greek and Roman sites, centred around one of the greatest cities of the ancient world, Cyrene.

After years of civil war and instability, History Hit...

The fifth film in our series exploring the remarkable collections of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford.

Dan Snow joins Museum Director Xa Sturgis, to delve into the museum's Anglo-Saxon treasures, including the famed Alfred Jewel. Alongside other exquisite artefacts, such as a warrior's sword and v...

November 5th, 1605... beneath the shadowed vaults of the Houses of Parliament, a man waits with 36 barrels of gunpowder by his side, and a plan that could change the fate of a nation forever.

Then, in a moment, it's over... Guy Fawkes is caught and the plan thwarted. But what if he wasn't?

Led ...

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...

17th century Iceland was a remote place. But its isolation didn’t stop it getting caught in one of the most horrifying crazes of the time, the witch hunts. But in the breathtaking landscape of Iceland something was different. In Iceland 93% of witches killed were men. Dr Kate Lister is on a missi...

The Brontë family created some of the world's most passionate and enduring novels, yet their lives were shadowed by tragedy.

Dr Maddy Pelling and Dr Anthony Delaney challenge the romantic myths surrounding the family, tracing the harsh reality of their lives in 19th-century Haworth—a crowded Yor...

Follow Tristan Hughes as he is given exclusive access to the National Museum of Scotland for a look at one of Britain’s most spectacular archaeological discoveries: the Traprain Treasure, a dazzling collection of over 250 pieces of late Roman silver.

Guided by curator Dr Fraser Hunter, we learn ...

In the second part of his new series, conflict analyst Professor Michael Livingston is continuing his journey across the length and breadth of the United Kingdom on the trail of some of Britain’s best known rebels.

In this episode Michael is heading to Wales to discover the astonishing story of ...

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...

Join woodsman and survival expert Ray Mears as he embarks on a unique journey into the heart of English history to uncover the truth behind one of Britain’s most enduring legends: Robin Hood.

Blending his totally unique knowledge of wilderness skills with a passion for history, Ray explores the ...

Who was the real William Wallace? And what kind of rebel was he? Was he like Mel Gibson's 'Braveheart', or a more nuanced rebel, battling amidst the complex Anglo-Scottish power politics of over 700 years ago?

In this new series, conflict analyst Professor Michael Livingston travels the length a...

The third film in our series exploring the remarkable collections of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford.

In this episode, Prof. Suzannah Lipscomb investigates the shifting image of witches in the early modern imagination. In conversation with curator An Van Camp, we trace how witches were portrayed...

The second film in our series exploring the remarkable collections of the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. In this episode, Prof. Suzannah Lipscomb journeys into the world of Ancient Mesopotamian protectors. Guided by curator Dr Nancy Highcock, we uncover a fascinating array of objects, from fearsome ...

For centuries they were depicted as enemies and barbarians, only portrayed through the eyes of the Roman Empire. Now, through new archaeological discoveries and research, the story of the Picts is being rewritten.

Join Tristan Hughes as he travels across Scotland, meeting experts in stone-carvin...

200 years ago, the sound and pace of the world changed forever...On September 27th, 1825, the Locomotion Number One made its first journey on the Stockton and Darlington railway line, marking the birth of the modern railway.

Dan Snow climbs aboard a working replica, recreating that historic ori...

Join Tristan Hughes on an exploration into the Iron Age, as he uncovers one of the most extraordinary archaeological discoveries in British history.

With exclusive access to the Melsonby Hoard, quite possibly the largest Iron Age hoard ever found in Britain, Tristan explores a treasure trove of ...

The Tower of London is one of the world’s greatest medieval castles, famous for massive fortifications and bloody executions, but the Tower was also a luxurious medieval palace, reaching its full glory in the 13th century under two famous builder kings: Henry III and Edward I.

Its full name toda...

Dan Snow explores Kerak Castle, the massive 750 year-old fortress of the crusader era. Built as the eastern stronghold of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, this is the powerful reality of the “Kingdom of Heaven”, expanding the control of the Frankish crusader states across the River Jordan and even chal...