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Empire
Empire
Goalhanger

How do empires rise? Why do they fall? And how have they shaped the world around us today? William Dalrymple and Anita Anand... more

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Episodes

191. Slave, Slaver, Abolitionist: Three Scots in Africa

The extraordinary lives of three Scotsmen - John Henderson, Richard Oswald, and David Livingstone - encapsulate the polarities of the... more

02 Oct 2024 · 45 minutes
190. Rags to Riches: The Scots in India

In the wake of Culloden, much of Scotland was on its knees. Crippled by defeat and the subsequent backlash of... more

30 Sep 2024 · 53 minutes
189. Culloden: Bonnie Prince Charlie’s Last Stand

Few battles in history have been remembered as powerfully, nor been as mythologised, as Culloden on the 16th of April... more

25 Sep 2024 · 1 hour, 2 minutes
188. Bonnie Prince Charlie: The Young Pretender

In 1688 the Stuart King James II was ousted from the throne by his daughter Mary and her husband William... more

23 Sep 2024 · 53 minutes
187. The Birth of Britain

With the accession of James I and VI in 1603, Scotland was assimilated into the composite monarchy of the United... more

18 Sep 2024 · 55 minutes
186. Scotland: A Nation in Crisis

When charting the rise of Scotland’s global influence, few events have been as tragically remarkable as the Darien Scheme of... more

16 Sep 2024 · 55 minutes
185. The God Kings of Angkor Wat

In the 9th century AD, two years after the Holy Roman Empire was established in Western Christendom, another world-shaking empire... more

11 Sep 2024 · 55 minutes
184. The Buddhist Merlin

While in the West the legends of King Arthur were being born, a Buddhist tantric magician of immense magical powers... more

09 Sep 2024 · 35 minutes
183. The Poet Kings: Taking Hinduism to Southeast Asia

India’s transformation of the ancient world is indisputable, and tangible evidence of this can be found in the magnificent Hindu... more

04 Sep 2024 · 50 minutes
182. The Lady Macbeth of China

Having garnered absolute power through bloody means, Empress Wu Zetian begins seeing apparitions, haunted by her violent schemes. With her... more

02 Sep 2024 · 53 minutes
181. The Dragon Empress: China’s Game of Thrones

The inculcation of Buddhism from India as the state religion in China was enabled by the violent rise of China’s... more

28 Aug 2024 · 36 minutes
180. Gold & God: Connecting India & Ancient Rome

It was actually India, not China, that was the greatest trading partner of the Roman Empire. During this era, it’s... more

26 Aug 2024 · 43 minutes
179. The Golden Road: Rise of the Indosphere

For a millennium and a half, India was a confident exporter of its diverse civilisation, creating around it a vast... more

21 Aug 2024 · 43 minutes
178. The Vietnam War: Nixon, Vietnamisation, and the Fall of Saigon

With Richard Nixon now in the White House and not wanting to have his presidency consumed by Vietnam like his... more

19 Aug 2024 · 57 minutes
177. The Vietnam War: Lyndon Johnson, Americanisation, and Operation Rolling Thunder

With the death of JFK, Lyndon B. Johnson took over the Presidency and immediately had to wrestle with America’s relationship... more

14 Aug 2024 · 58 minutes
176. The Vietnam War: The Rise of Ho Chi Minh

Vietnam, or Indochina as it was known, had been under French colonial rule since the nineteenth century. This was until... more

12 Aug 2024 · 1 hour, 4 minutes
175. The CIA vs Fidel Castro

Following the fall of Batista, the Cuban revolution took a more radical turn. Castro was not a communist to begin... more

07 Aug 2024 · 56 minutes
174. The Cuban Revolution

It’s 1959 and the swaggering Cuban revolutionary, Fidel Castro, has just overthrown the unpopular American backed dictator, Fulgencio Batista. Che... more

05 Aug 2024 · 58 minutes
173. The Korean War: Dividing the Peninsula

The Korean War was a brutal affair. It is estimated that 3,000,000 people were killed in the conflict that absolutely... more

31 Jul 2024 · 50 minutes
172. The Birth of North Korea

Whilst we know the Korean Peninsula is split into two quite separate countries, North Korea and South Korea, that has... more

29 Jul 2024 · 46 minutes
171. The Bengal Famine: Chaos in Calcutta

By 1943, the price of rice was beyond unaffordable for most in Bengal, and people were dying in the streets.... more

24 Jul 2024 · 43 minutes
170. The Bengal Famine: A Disaster on the Horizon

In 1942, in the midst of the Second World War, the British administration feared that Japanese forces would take India... more

22 Jul 2024 · 44 minutes
169. Freedom Fighters Betrayed: Colonising the Philippines

By the end of the Spanish-US war, the Philippines was on the menu. Two battles played out simultaneously on the... more

17 Jul 2024 · 41 minutes
168. Teddy Roosevelt Takes on the Old World

In 1898, whilst his boss was on a break at the osteopath, Teddy Roosevelt basically started a war. A master... more

15 Jul 2024 · 50 minutes
167. Paradise Lost: The Taking of Hawaii

On 7th July 1898, President McKinley formally annexed Hawaii, making it a colonial territory of the USA. It was not... more

10 Jul 2024 · 47 minutes
166. How To Hide An Empire

Not everyone agrees that the USA should be classed as an empire. But in the late 1800s, after white settlers... more

08 Jul 2024 · 39 minutes
165. A Massacre at Dawn

Arizona Territory, April 30, 1871. The canyon known as Aravaipa lies still in the predawn darkness, the only sounds to... more

03 Jul 2024 · 51 minutes
164. How the West was Won: The Truth Behind the Westerns

A whole genre of movies is based on a relatively short period of nineteenth-century American history. But what is the... more

01 Jul 2024 · 49 minutes
163. The Tattooed Girl: From Mormon to Native American

In 1850, 13-year-old Olive Oatman and her family set off on the perilous journey by foot from Missouri to Arizona.... more

26 Jun 2024 · 42 minutes
162. The Oregon Trail & the Gold Rush

Fort Laramie was once a stockade where European fur traders and Native Americans lived together peacefully. But by the 1850s... more

24 Jun 2024 · 47 minutes
161. The Trail of Tears

Despite having fought alongside them, President Andrew Jackson hated Native Nations. In the early 1800s, he sought to deceive Cherokee... more

19 Jun 2024 · 40 minutes
160. Native Nations vs Thomas Jefferson

North America was never virgin territory. For thousands of years it has been home to established nations of Indigenous people... more

17 Jun 2024 · 46 minutes
159. The American Revolution: Building The New Rome (Ep 4)

The British have surrendered, they’ll be leaving soon. Now the Americans have a new and arguably harder task than before.... more

12 Jun 2024 · 38 minutes
158. The American Revolution: Life, Liberty & The Pursuit of Happiness (Ep 3)

The Declaration of Independence establishes the ideals on which this break away nation founds itself on. But it’s full of... more

10 Jun 2024 · 58 minutes
157. The American Revolution: The Shot Heard Around the World (Ep 2)

The infamous Boston Tea Party sees colonists dressed as Native Americans dump British tea in the surrounding waters. Calls of... more

05 Jun 2024 · 50 minutes
156. The American Revolution: No Taxation Without Representation (Ep 1)

From sugar to paper, a series of taxes in the 1760s spark outrage amongst American colonists that snowball into a... more

03 Jun 2024 · 47 minutes
155. The Founding Fathers: Benjamin Franklin (Ep 5)

We're all about the Benjamins. Franklin is unquestionably the most well-rounded of the Founding Fathers. Not only did he help... more

30 May 2024 · 39 minutes
154. The Founding Fathers: John Adams (Ep 4)

Often given less attention than the other Founding Fathers, John Adams is no less significant. Not only did he go... more

29 May 2024 · 31 minutes
153. The Founding Fathers: Alexander Hamilton (Ep 3)

How does a bastard, orphan, son of a whore and a Scotsman, dropped in the middle of a forgotten spot... more

28 May 2024 · 23 minutes
152. The Founding Fathers: Thomas Jefferson (Ep 2)

Thomas Jefferson is one of the most complex figures in the whole American Revolution. A child of the enlightenment, it... more

27 May 2024 · 40 minutes
151. The Founding Fathers: George Washington (Ep 1)

Everybody knows Washington as the strapping, powerful general and then president who helped to overthrow the British and forge America,... more

22 May 2024 · 57 minutes
150. Worlds Colliding: Seizing Settlers in New England

Deerfield, February 1704. The small, puritan town of roughly 300 inhabitants in western Massachusetts has been riven with tension ever... more

20 May 2024 · 39 minutes
149. Pocahontas: Kidnapped in Virginia

One of the most famous names in American history, Pocahontas had an extraordinary life. She was the daughter of Powhatan,... more

15 May 2024 · 48 minutes
148. America: The Empire of Liberty

The Empire that dare not speak its name. America was born through an explicit rejection of empire as it forced... more

13 May 2024 · 44 minutes
147. Queen Victoria: Empress of India (Ep 4)

In 1877 Queen Victoria took on the title Empress of India, a nation which she undoubtedly had close to her... more

08 May 2024 · 48 minutes
146. Queen Victoria: The Empire on Which the Sun Never Sets (Ep 3)

Across 1851, over 6,000,000 people went to London to see the Great Exhibition. Designed to showcase the very best of... more

06 May 2024 · 48 minutes
145. Victoria & Albert (Ep 2)

It is one of the great love affairs of history. Upon meeting again shortly after her 18th birthday, Victoria and... more

01 May 2024 · 58 minutes
144. The Making of Queen Victoria (Ep 1)

Born on the 24th May 1819, Alexandrina Victoria was fifth in line to the throne at a time in which... more

29 Apr 2024 · 53 minutes
143. Isabella of Castile: The Spanish Inquisition, the Conquest of Granada, and Columbus

For centuries Spain had been an outlier in Europe due to its religious diversity; Christians, Jews, and Muslims all existed... more

24 Apr 2024 · 54 minutes
142. Isabella of Castile: Uniting Spain

To some she is Europe’s first great queen, to others she is one of history’s great villains, but there is... more

22 Apr 2024 · 46 minutes
141. Nur Jahan: The Most Powerful Mughal Woman

With Jahangir sliding into more of an opium and alcohol fuelled slumber with each passing day, Nur Jahan took the... more

17 Apr 2024 · 38 minutes
140. Nur Jahan: The Light of the World

Nur Jahan was born on a roadside as her well-to-do parents fled from Safavid Persia for the tolerant court of... more

15 Apr 2024 · 43 minutes
139. Mrs Genghis Khan

Börte came from a powerful nomadic tribe and in many ways her marriage to Genghis Khan set him up to... more

10 Apr 2024 · 47 minutes
138. The Graceful Reed: Ruling the Islamic Empire

Sold as a slave to the great Abbasid Caliph, al-Khayzuran quickly rose to the very top of the pyramid. Through... more

08 Apr 2024 · 43 minutes
137. Empress Theodora: Making Heaven on Earth

The Empress Theodora is often unfairly remembered for the salacious stories that have been told about her when she was... more

03 Apr 2024 · 55 minutes
136. Empress Theodora: From the Brothel to the Throne

Placed by her mother into a brothel when she was just a child, Theodora was born into the most brutal... more

01 Apr 2024 · 41 minutes
135. Helena: Queen of the World and Finder of the One True Cross

Born in poverty at a time when the Roman Empire was in danger of cracking up and disintegrating, Helena was... more

28 Mar 2024 · 56 minutes
134. Cleopatra: The Would-Be Empress of Rome

With Julius Caesar dead, Cleopatra turned to another of Rome’s dominant figures. She became entwined with Mark Antony, the ruler... more

26 Mar 2024 · 41 minutes
133. Cleopatra: Queen of the Nile

Born in the romantic splendour of Ptolemaic Egypt, not far from the Library of Alexandria, Cleopatra was destined for greatness.... more

21 Mar 2024 · 47 minutes
132. Journey to Nalanda and the Library of Jewels

In late autumn, 629 AD, Xuanzang set out for the great university of Nalanda from Chang’an. Across the desert, over... more

19 Mar 2024 · 46 minutes
131. Buddhism Goes to China

Buddhism reached China in the 1st century AD, yet it remained a minor, foreign religion for the next 100 years.... more

14 Mar 2024 · 36 minutes
130. India meets Rome: Making the Image of the Buddha

In the 1st century AD, the nomadic Kushans settled in what is now Afghanistan and established settlements and trade. From... more

12 Mar 2024 · 46 minutes
129. Ashoka: The Great Buddhist Emperor of India

Ruling in the 3rd century BC, Ashoka was one of India’s greatest ever rulers. Under his rule, the Mauryan Empire... more

07 Mar 2024 · 50 minutes
128. The Life of the Buddha

India was the forgotten heart of the ancient world. For a millennium and a half, from about 250 BC to... more

05 Mar 2024 · 55 minutes
127. Inventing Curry: The British Taste for India

From the beginning of the Raj, British tastes began to turn away from Indian cuisine towards a European palate. The... more

29 Feb 2024 · 42 minutes
126. Punch & Chilli: The East India Company at the Table

When the East India Company first arrived on the shores of India, the food they ate in their first factories... more

27 Feb 2024 · 51 minutes
125. The Origin of the Houthis

Since November 2023, the Houthis have been attacking international shipping lanes in the Red Sea. They set off from the... more

22 Feb 2024 · 56 minutes
124. Saddam Hussein vs The Ayatollah

In September 1980, Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi forces invaded neighbouring Iran and so began the longest conventional war in modern history.... more

20 Feb 2024 · 51 minutes
123. Hezbollah: The Party of God

In June 1982, Israeli tanks rolled over the Lebanese border. Soon after, Iran sent 1,500 Revolutionary Guards into Lebanon to... more

15 Feb 2024 · 47 minutes
122. Iran & Saudi Arabia: The Rivalry that Split the Islamic World

1979 was the year that set the Islamic world on the path to today. In Iran, the revolution established the... more

13 Feb 2024 · 50 minutes
121. The Fall of the Shah of Shahs

The Shah cracks down on dissent, to the point even his great ally Jimmy Carter begins to cool on the... more

08 Feb 2024 · 51 minutes
120. The Iranian Revolution: The Rise of Ayatollah Khomeini

With the Last Shah’s reforms - known as the White Revolution - starting to take effect, Iran looked to be... more

06 Feb 2024 · 41 minutes
119. The Last Shah

Reza Pahlavi rules but he is still bedevilled by the interference of the great powers. Britain has its claws in... more

01 Feb 2024 · 51 minutes
118. Iran's First Revolution

Throughout the 19th century, Iran was a pawn of the great colonial powers. It failed to industrialise, its economy stagnated,... more

30 Jan 2024 · 56 minutes
117. Nader Shah: The Sword of Persia

Nader Shah was not born to rule. He was poor, the son of a shepherd in a semi-nomadic tribe, and... more

25 Jan 2024 · 55 minutes
116. Isfahan: The City of Dreams

Isfahan, half of the world. It had been a city for years, but at the end of the 16th century... more

23 Jan 2024 · 52 minutes
115. The Great Conversion: How Iran became Shia

How did the great divide within Islam, the split between Sunni and Shia, develop? We trace how the great 16th... more

18 Jan 2024 · 53 minutes
114. The Persian Renaissance

After conquering much of Eurasia, Timur showed no interest in building institutions and so after his death, like the Mongol... more

16 Jan 2024 · 44 minutes
113. Timur: Scourge of God

Timur, known to many as Tamburlaine the Great from the iconic Marlowe play. Despite having a limp and struggling to... more

11 Jan 2024 · 42 minutes
112. Ferdowsi: How One Poet Saved Persian Civilisation

After the Arab conquest, Persia was turned upside down. Patronage went to Islam as opposed to Zoroastrianism. The official language... more

09 Jan 2024 · 56 minutes
111. Shackleton: The Hero of Antarctica

As the timber creaked under the pressure of the Antarctic ice, Shackleton knew his voyage aboard the Endurance was doomed.... more

04 Jan 2024 · 38 minutes
110. Antarctica: The Continent that wouldn’t be Conquered

Antarctica, the great land of ice. It was first spotted in the early years of the 19th century but it... more

02 Jan 2024 · 43 minutes
109. The Endeavour: Into the Unknown

With Alexander Dalrymple sidelined, Captain James Cook and Joseph Banks are ready to set off on an expedition to track... more

28 Dec 2023 · 44 minutes
108. The Endeavour & the Great Southern Continent

In the 1760’s a clever, young, ambitious Scotsman named Alexander Dalrymple began advocating a theory as to the existence of... more

26 Dec 2023 · 52 minutes
107. China's Greatest Admiral: The Story of Zheng He

In the 15th century, Admiral Zheng He, on the orders of the Emperor of China, embarked upon a series of extraordinary... more

19 Dec 2023 · 42 minutes
106. The Rise of Islam

With the Sassanian Empire defeated and the Byzantine Empire exhausted, there is a power vacuum in the centre of the... more

14 Dec 2023 · 44 minutes
105. The Last Great War of Antiquity

Eurasia is divided into two great superpowers. Khusrow II rules the Sassanian Empire. Maurice, the last of the Justinian dynasty,... more

12 Dec 2023 · 47 minutes
104. How Persian Religion Changed the World

Three great religions have come out of Persia and all of them have influenced world history. First there was Zoroastrianism,... more

07 Dec 2023 · 52 minutes
103. Alexander the Great: Defeating Darius

Darius has already been defeated by Alexander. His wife has been kidnapped and has now died in childbirth. The omens... more

05 Dec 2023 · 41 minutes
102. Alexander the Great: The Conquest of Persia

Darius III rules Persia and he has already demonstrated his heroism and skill in battle. The Empire itself, despite having... more

30 Nov 2023 · 49 minutes
101. Salamis: Athens’ Revenge

Leonidas and the 300 have been defeated at Thermopylae, leaving the way to Athens open. With the Persians advancing, many... more

28 Nov 2023 · 48 minutes
100. Thermopylae: Xerxes, Leonidas, and the 300

August 480BC; the might of the Persian army, roughly 100,000 soldiers, face down a few thousand Greeks, led by Leonidas... more

23 Nov 2023 · 54 minutes
99. Marathon and the Rise of Greece

Ionia has revolted and so Darius turns his gaze away from India and towards Greece. He crushes the rebellion, quelling... more

21 Nov 2023 · 44 minutes
98. Darius the Great: Ruling from India to the Mediterranean

The Persian Empire that Darius took control of was already mighty and powerful; his predecessor, Cambyses, had conquered Egypt, further... more

16 Nov 2023 · 51 minutes
97. Cyrus the Great: Building the First Superpower

Born the son of a khan, a tribal chieftain, Cyrus would go on to be a titanic figure of world... more

14 Nov 2023 · 54 minutes
96. Empires of Iran

Persia was the first great superpower. The empire built by Cyrus, Darius, Xerxes and the rest of the Achaemenids stretched... more

09 Nov 2023 · 7 minutes
95. The History of Putin's War

Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine on 24th February 2022, but how did we get to this point? After the brutality of... more

07 Nov 2023 · 53 minutes
Welcome to the Empire Club

Ladies and gentlemen, we give you the Empire Club. Do you want bonus episodes? Do you want discounts on the... more

06 Nov 2023 · 11 minutes
94. The Bloody History of Russia & Ukraine

The history of Russia and Ukraine has been irrevocably entwined for centuries. When the Bolsheviks took over and Civil War... more

02 Nov 2023 · 51 minutes
93. Murdering the Romanovs: The End of a Dynasty

Dawn breaks on 16th July 1918. For Nicholas, Alexandra, and the rest of the Romanov family this is just another... more

31 Oct 2023 · 46 minutes
92. Killing Rasputin

Born in Siberia to a peasant family, Rasputin was an incredibly charismatic, physically striking, and politically savvy figure. He was... more

26 Oct 2023 · 47 minutes
91. Lenin and The Rise of the Bolsheviks

The Tsar has abdicated and the provisional government rules Russia, but Petrograd is overflowing with revolutionaries who want more radical... more

24 Oct 2023 · 1 hour,
90. The Russian Revolution: Overthrowing the Tsar

Russian politics is fast destabilising. Strikes, assassinations, and famines have made Russia increasingly turbulent at the turn of the century.... more

19 Oct 2023 · 56 minutes
89. The Final Act of the Great Game

Fearing Russian designs on the region, the eyes of the British turn towards Tibet. Francis Younghusband, the Victorian adventurer and... more

17 Oct 2023 · 57 minutes
88. The Russo-Japanese War: Asia Strikes Back

1905 was one of the most pivotal moments in history. Japan, the supposedly weaker Asian power, overwhelmingly defeated the mighty... more

12 Oct 2023 · 49 minutes
87. Tolstoy: War and the Russian Empire

Tolstoy was one of the greatest writers of all time. His books have constructed how we think about Russian imperial... more

10 Oct 2023 · 54 minutes
86. Crushing the Khans: Russia Seizes the Centre of the World

As the other European empires were consolidating their holdings in Asia, Russia took 1.5million square miles of territory. Moving south... more

05 Oct 2023 · 46 minutes
85. The Russian Conquest of America

In the 18th century Vitus Bering went from Russia's east coast and landed in America. Over the next 150 years,... more

03 Oct 2023 · 53 minutes
84. A Tale of Two Nurses: Seacole & Nightingale

The Lady with the Lamp, the great nurse who forever changed public health for the better: Florence Nightingale lives large... more

28 Sep 2023 · 54 minutes
83. The Charge of the Light Brigade

The Crimean War continues to drag on. The allies' siege of Sevastopol is grinding to a stalemate. The Russians seek... more

26 Sep 2023 · 49 minutes
82. Crimea: The War on Repeat

A slow grind of sieges and massacres. Long distance bombardments and gruelling inch-by-inch trench warfare. Battles for Sevastopol, Odessa, and... more

21 Sep 2023 · 58 minutes
81. The Graveyard of Empires

After the calamitous retreat from Kabul left thousands of British dead, the East India Company wants revenge. They will call... more

19 Sep 2023 · 53 minutes
80. 1842: The Retreat from Kabul

As the British occupation of Kabul collapses, the troops flee. What follows is one of the darkest events in British... more

14 Sep 2023 · 50 minutes
79. Invading Afghanistan: The Return of a King

It is 1839 and Britain has declared its intention: to invade Afghanistan and return Shah Shuja to the throne. Despite... more

12 Sep 2023 · 54 minutes
78. The Battle of the Spies

The rivalry between Russia and Britain continues to grow as both of their attentions begin to centre more and more... more

07 Sep 2023 · 50 minutes
77. The Great Game Begins

It will all begin on the banks of the River Niemen. Tsar Alexander forms a pact with Napoleon; the Russian... more

05 Sep 2023 · 52 minutes
76. The Empress & The General

With her reign in peril in three separate arenas, Catherine begins to turn her attention to a young soldier, Grigory... more

31 Aug 2023 · 52 minutes
75. Catherine the Great: The Golden Age

Not a drop of Russian blood. A woman in a world ruled by men. A loveless marriage to a man... more

29 Aug 2023 · 51 minutes
74. Peter the Great: The First Emperor

A giant of Russian history, and a giant of a man. Peter the Great, standing at 6'8, established Russia as... more

24 Aug 2023 · 1 hour,
73. Ivan the Terrible and the Founding of Russia

Subjected, downtrodden, brutalised. The principality of Muscovy had long suffered at the hands of the Mongols. But as their overlords... more

22 Aug 2023 · 52 minutes
Empire
76. The Empress & The General
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Description

With her reign in peril in three separate arenas, Catherine begins to turn her attention to a young soldier, Grigory Potemkin. What... more