History Extra Podcast

Historian and author Matthew Parker discusses how Ian Fleming's James Bond novels reveal his thoughts about the changes taking place in Jamaica in the 1950s and 1960s. Meanwhile, author and biographer Caroline Moorehead discusses her new book about resistance to the Nazis in occupied and Vichy France during the Second World War Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Historian and broadcaster David Olusoga discusses the subject of his new TV series The World's War, revealing how millions of people across the globe arrived in Europe to fight the First World War. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As we approach the centenary of the First World War, historian Alexander Watson, author of Ring of Steel: Germany and Austria-Hungary at War, 1914-1918, offers a German and Austro-Hungarian perspective on the events of 1914–18 and explains how the Central Powers were overcome by the Allies. Meanwhile, we continue our series of extracts from interviews with veterans of the war, this time focusing on the month the conflict broke out. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Chris Skidmore, who is writing a new biography of Richard III, talks to us about how his research is presenting a different picture of the controversial 15th-century king. Meanwhile, we speak to Pamela Hartshorne about the challenges people faced in Tudor England when trying to keep their cities clean and hygienic.   Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Former Liberal Democrat leader Paddy Ashdown talks to Matt Elton about his new book on French resistance fighters who took on the Nazis during the Second World War. Meanwhile, Kathryn Ferry takes a trip to Hastings and St Leonards, in the company of Charlotte Hodgman, to explore Britain's interwar holiday boom. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Peter Finn and Petra Couvee reveal how the CIA tried to change the course of the Cold War by smuggling banned literature into the USSR, including Boris Pasternak's 1957 novel Doctor Zhivago. Plus, in the second instalment of a series of extracts of interviews with First World War veterans – recorded by the Imperial War Museum – retired parachutist Dolly Shepherd, reservist George Ashurst and Royal Navy seaman George Wainford take us back to July 1914: Franz Ferdinand is dead, and war is looming on the horizon. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Classical historian Michael Scott delves into the remarkable history of Delphi, the site of a renowned oracle in Ancient Greece and a place that was visited by many leading figures in the Greek and Roman worlds. Plus we speak to Hugh Thomas, who has just completed the third volume of his trilogy of books on the Spanish empire, about how Spain managed to rule vast territories during the 16th century Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Historian and Conservative MP Kwasi Kwarteng explores the long and complex relationship between wealth and warfare, from the Spanish empire until the present financial crisis. Meanwhile, Richard Van Emden explains how he put together a new book of first hand reminiscences from the First World War Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Timothy Mowl guides us around a historic English garden, while Andreas Campomar explains Latin America's fixation with football Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We're joined in the studio by the acclaimed Yale historian Adam Tooze to talk about his new book The Deluge, which focuses on the climax of the First World War and the resultant rise of the United States. Plus, we kick off our new Our First World War series with audio clips of interviews with veterans of the conflict. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Historians Catherine Merridale and Cyprian Broodbank have just been announced as the winners of the latest Wolfson History Prizes for their books on the Kremlin and the Mediterranean world. We spoke to them about their research and the challenges of writing popular history. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As we approach the 70th anniversary of D-Day, military historian James Holland challenges some popular assumptions about the 1944 Normandy campaign and recounts his experiences of meeting veterans. Meanwhile, historian and author Sarah Gristwood pays a visit to Tewkesbury Abbey, which was a pivotal location in the 15th-century Wars of the Roses. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Jerry Toner discusses the lives of slaves in Ancient Rome, while Tim Butcher explores the life of Gavrilo Princip, killer of Franz Ferdinand Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Monte Cassino, Matthew Parker explores one of the Allies' toughest challenges in the Second World War. Meanwhile we speak to Professor Orlando Figes, author of a new book and website about Russia's revolutionary period. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week we explore the life and work of two intellectual giants of the 19th century. First up, Robert Mayhew discusses the Georgian economist Thomas Malthus whose theories on population growth have remained controversial ever since. After that we're joined by Andrew Lycett, the latest biographer of the Victorian thriller writer Wilkie Collins, whose own life was also filled with secrets. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ruth Levitt describes how London's cemeteries couldn't cope with the rising number of dead in the 19th century and reveals the solutions the Victorians devised for this problem. Meanwhile, we speak to Martin Sixsmith, presenter of the Radio 4 series In Search of Ourselves, about the history of psychology. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We speak to Ian Morris, author of War: What is it Good For?, about why he believes conflict has sometimes been a force for good. Plus, railway historian Di Drummond pays a visit to Manchester Liverpool Road Station where the age of passenger rail travel was born. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week's podcast focuses on African history. First up, Miranda Kaufmann visits a replica of Francis Drake's Golden Hind and there explains how Africans played an important role in the Tudor explorer's adventures in the 16th century. Meanwhile, Gus Casely-Hayford reveals the amazing historical achievements of the inhabitants of Timbuktu in Mali, in a talk that was given at our 2013 History Weekend festival in Malmesbury. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Scott Anderson, the latest biographer of TE Lawrence (better known as Lawrence of Arabia) describes his subject's eventful life and considers whether Lawrence's vision might have created a more stable Middle East. Meanwhile, we're joined by Helen Rappaport, author of a new book on the private lives of the four daughters of Nicholas II of Russia, who would eventually all be murdered by the Bolsheviks. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Dominic Sandbrook charts the highs and lows of 1970s Britain in a lecture delivered at our History Weekend festival Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices