A two part podcast on Japan's Christian century. Jonathan Clements wrote a brilliant book called Christ's Samurai about the Shimabara... more

Hampton Sides loves to tell stories of people fighting against impossible odds.The story of the Jeannette's voyage is right in... more

Spring Heeled Jack was an uncatchable villain from Victorian times. His speciality was attacking young women, raking their faces and... more

The 'spice wars' between the Dutch and the English in the 1600's were quite something. Giles Milton told the story... more

We are back with Jonathan Clements for part 2 of our podcast on the history of Japan. In this episode... more

Jonathan Clements has written a number of histories of East Asia. His latest, Rebel Island, is a history of Taiwan... more

Delighted to have Professor Ed Watts back on the show. This time he is talking about the 4th Crusade which... more

Professor Ed Watts is a reliably brilliant guest on the show. In this episode he looks at Sulla's career and... more

I can't remember enjoying a story more than Peter Marshall's Mother Leakey and the Bishop. The way Peter tells the... more

We cover the miserable tale of the 4th crusade, the Latin Empire and Anthony gives advice on how to write... more

If you have any interest at all in Byzantium or in the Roman Empire generally I think you should really... more

Hampton has been on the podcast before and if you haven't yet found his books of narrative history I urge... more

I am a huge fan of Mike Dash's books. We have talked about Batavia's Graveyard and Tulipomania in past episodes.... more

Most people know Ed West for his journalism and in particular for his substack The Wrong Side of History. If... more

I am a huge fan of John McWhorter and have come to have great respect for Scott Sumner's knowledge and... more

Frank Dikötter returns to the show to talk about dictators and in particular how they use the cult of personality... more

If, like me, your idea of East Germany is dominated by spy movies and and you think that perhaps it... more

Giles Milton is one of my favourite authors producing narrative history today. The stories he tells are just jaw dropping.... more

David Parnell and I wrap up the story of Belisarius and Antonina. We are now on to the liberation of... more

David Parnell has a wonderful new book out called Belisarius and Antonina. This is the story of a real husband... more

Frank Dikötter is the author of a series of brilliant and harrowing books about communist China. He is not only... more

This is the story of Anson's voyage around the world in the 1740's. In particular it is about the ship... more

Jasper Sharp is probably the UK's leading expert on Japanese film and he joined me on the show today with... more

John McWhorter and Tom Holland are a perfect pairing. They are absolutely delightful company both with a dry sense of... more

Roger Crowley is one on the best (if not the best) narrative historians of the Middle Ages. Here is on... more

Stacy Schiff is one of America's most acclaimed historians and biographers. Her book The Witches is a detailed, almost forensic,... more

Christopher de Bellaigue's book The Lion House is a brilliant history of the first part of Suleiman the Magnificent's reign.... more

Professor David Abulafia's wonderful book The Great Sea covers so many topics. Today we talked about slavery. Until recently I... more

Scott Sumner is an economist with a well known and much quoted blog. But it is the bit of the... more

I have always found the war Octavian fought against Antony and Cleopatra hard to understand. How did Antony find himself... more

Anna Keay's book The Restless Republic is just brilliant. It covers the period following the execution of Charles I when... more

Following on from last week in this episode things reach boiling point. Marriage alliances are discarded, invasions undertaken D day... more

Tristan Hughes has writen a brilliant book about the years immediately following the Death of Alexander the Great. As Tristan... more

Really thrilled to have Bret Devereaux and Ed Watts on the podcast together. We looked at Gladiator as a film... more

I chatted to Battleship Bean and John Schilling about nuclear war. We discussed the wonderful Dr Strangleove and tried to... more

In part 1 of the story Napoleon III persuaded Maximilian and Carlotta to accept the Mexican crown and become emperor... more

Karl Marx called it 'one of the most monstrous enterprises in the annals of international history'. This seems unfair to... more

In the Dutch Republic of the 1630's trading in tulips went mad with bulbs and even parts of a bulb... more

James Howard - Johnston returns to talk about the astonishing upending of the world order that happened just a few... more

Paul Lockhart is brilliant on the history of guns (and firepower more widely). He is interested not just in the... more

Ed Watts is one of the most engaging writers and speakers on Roman history I have talked to. In this... more

In October 1950 the Americans are racing to the Yalu river, trying to bring the war in Korea to a... more

Everyone has heard of the Silk Road but this is The Silver Way. It is the story of the Manilla... more

The story of the siege of Constantinople in 1453 is a rich one. Roger Crowley tells the story absolutely brilliantly... more

In the year 617 the Roman Empire stands on the brink of extinction. In the West the empire is long... more

Stephen Greenblatt wrote a fascinating book The Swerve about the rediscovery in 1417 of a work of philosophy from antiquity.... more

In 1889 a woman calling herself Pearl Hart holds up a stagecoach in Arizona. In this episode John Boessenecker talks... more

Edward Watts startled me with his claim that the Western Roman Empire didn't fall in AD 476. And he has... more

Zareer is a a renowned historian and broadcaster. Clive of India is out of fashion these days but Zareer remains... more

Laurence Bergreen threads the needle for me. He tells Magellan's story in a way that is exciting and moves with... more

It is hard to describe Peter Henderson's adventures without lapsing into cliche. Hair raising, eye popping and so on. A... more

Thony Christie has a blog called the Renaissance Mathematicus. It covers the history of science and is one of the... more

David Rooney is the author of About Time: A History of Civilisation in Twelve Clocks. He talks about clocks (in... more

Freddie, Abe and I talk about movies. Three blokes talking about feminism in movies. Well of course. But much more... more

Julian Sancton is a wonderful guide to the Belgian expedition to Antartica in 1898. The crew of the Belgica... more

Kenji Tierney is a wonderfully engaging speaker. Starting with memories of being introduced by his grandmother to sumo by way... more

Robin Gaster's book Behemoth, Amazon Rising: Power and Seduction in the Age of Amazon is available to buy on, naturally,... more

Emiko Ohnuki-Tierney is a professor of anthropology at the University of Wisconsin. Here she recalls her life as a young... more

Roger Crowley tells the story of how Portugal built its empire in the Indian ocean from 1498. The Portuguese were... more

Mike Dash wrote the definitive book about the Batavia and its wreck near the coast of Australia in 1629. We... more