History Hit Podcasts

Dresden. 75 years on.

75 years ago this week Dresden, in Saxony, known as the ‘jewel box’ because of its stunning architecture was obliterated by British and...

The British Republic

Paul Lay, editor of History Today, has written a great book about the rise and fall of Oliver Cromwell's Protectorate (1653–1659), England's sole...

Flu pandemics. Then and Now.

'We are very very vulnerable' says the brilliant science author and journalist Laura Spinney.

Her fantastic book 'Pale Rider: The Spanish...

Confronting a Nazi past

Derek Niemman and Noemie Lopian work together. Two people from very different backgrounds, they tour the world telling people about their family...

Night of the Bayonets

75 years ago this spring a fascinating but forgotten battle was fought in the dying days of the Second World War. A group of Georgians rose up...

Max Eisen: Surviving Auschwitz

Max Eisen was only 15 when he and his family were taken from their Hungarian home to the infamous Auschwitz Concentration Camp during the Second...

UnRoman Britain

How far did Roman culture and politics penetrate into Britain during the Roman occupation of Britannia?

Miles Russell, archaeologist and...

The Anglo-Zulu War

Saul David - historian, broadcaster and author of several critically-acclaimed works of fiction and non-fiction - comes on the show to discuss the...

Hunting the Bismarck

In May 1941, the Royal Navy pursued Nazi Germany's largest battleship, the Bismarck, in the greatest chase story in the history of naval warfare....

The Man Who Volunteered for Auschwitz

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...

'Seducing and Killing Nazis'

During the Second World War the Netherlands fell to advancing German forces in just a few hours. The Dutch found themselves under Nazi occupation....

How History Inspires Environmental Activism

The world faces a unique environmental challenge. The scale of response to this looming catastrophe can be overwhelming. But economist and activist...

The Commando Raid that Changed the Course of WW2

In October 1942 the British launched a small raid on the Channel Island of Sark. A cast of characters who gave their colleague Ian Fleming ideas for...

Sam Mendes on 1917

In this podcast Dan talks to Golden Globe winning film maker Sam Mendes about his new World War One film 1917.

Based in part on an account...

The Persian War

In the 5th century BC the world's first super power, the Persian Empire, went to war against a ragtag collection of cities and statelets on its...

Interwar Germany’s Secret Ally: The USSR

After the First World War the German Army was in crisis. Limited in the size and its equipment by the Versailles Treaty which ended the war, it...

Ink: A History of Tattooing

Matt Lodder is the world's leading expert on the history of tattoos. He has found evidence of people using ink or charcoal on their bodies stretching...

Geordies: A History

'Northumbrian patriot' Dan Jackson, who has just written a book on the history of Northeast England and its people, comes on the podcast to talk...

The Crusaders' Last Battle for the Holy Land

Roger Crowley is the author of the new book, Accursed Tower: The Crusaders' Last Battle for the Holy Land.

The city of Acre, powerfully...