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