Dan Snow's History Hit
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Dan Snow's History Hit
Episodis Recents
57 episodis
The Origins of the Tank
How did century-old 'landships' developed from agricultural tractors evolve into the armoured giants of the modern battlefield? Today, we trace the li...
Mary Beard on Ruling the Roman Empire
What did it take to rule an empire that was never meant to have an emperor?
In this second episode of our series on the Roman Empire, we're join...
Harald Hardrada
Exile, mercenary, Viking king. Harald Hardrada, 'Thunderbolt of the North', fought his way from Norway to Byzantium, from the streets of Constantinopl...
The Rise of the Roman Empire
How did a cluster of Iron Age huts grow into one of history's greatest civilisations?
In the first episode of our series on the Roman Empire, we...
The Great Fire of London
In the early hours of September 2, 1666, a small fire broke out on the ground floor of a baker's house in Pudding Lane. In five days, that small fire...
WWII's Greatest SAS Mission? The Great Train Raid
Today, we uncover a forgotten SAS mission straight out of a war thriller: an elite unit jumps the chain of command and hijacks a 'pirate train', turni...
The Rise and Fall of the Boleyns
We trace the extraordinary rise and fall of the House of Boleyn. From humble Norfolk tenant farmers, the Boleyns used everything from wool trading to...
Investigating the Nazi Massacre at Rumbula
An underground Nazi weapons factory and stash of 77-year-old Denazification files. What is it really like to discover that your grandfather was a memb...
Bloody Mary
In 1553, Mary Tudor became the first woman to sit on the English throne - a reign of just five years, that history has remembered almost exclusively t...
The Black Prince
He was one of medieval England’s most formidable warriors. Today we hear how Edward of Woodstock - the Black Prince - earned that reputation, tracing...
Churchill's Secret Army
Trap doors under toilets, hidden radio rooms in the back of wardrobes, secret bases behind waterfalls....Dan investigates an extraordinary network of...
The Commanders: The Best of the Rest
For the final episode in our 'Commanders' series, we've drawn on your suggestions to pay tribute to the commanders who didn’t make our main episodes,...
NEW SERIES: The Crusades
Discover the story behind one of history’s most powerful and controversial eras in our three-part mini-series on the Crusades.
From a complete g...
The Crusades: A Complete Guide
This is your guide to almost two centuries of holy war - from start to finish. We untangle faith, politics and myth, and reveal how the Crusades resha...
The Commanders: Zhukov
Marshal Georgy Zhukov was undoubtedly one of the Second World War's most formidable figures. Rising from humble peasant origins, Zhukov became the arc...
The Real Peaky Blinders
Today, we step beyond the slow-motion swagger and into the gritty, complex reality of the Peaky Blinders. Who were the gangsters behind the myths? And...
The Commanders: Yamamoto
Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto was the mastermind of the “sneak attack” on Pearl Harbour that dragged the United States into the Second World War. His strat...
The Rise of Putin
In September 1999, just weeks after 46-year-old Vladimir Putin became Russia’s prime minister, a series of apartment bombings ripped through Russian c...
The Commanders: Eisenhower
As Supreme Commander, Eisenhower spearheaded the successful Allied invasions of North Africa, Italy and Western Europe. He's consequently one of the m...
The Battle of Gettysburg
In July 1863, the quiet town of Gettysburg became the site of one of the most decisive clashes of the American Civil War. Over three intense days, Uni...
Can Air Power Alone Topple Governments?
With the Iran war still unfolding, we ask the question: Can air power alone topple a government?
From the First World War onward, military strat...
The Commanders: Montgomery
Celebrated for his victories in North Africa and Europe, Bernard Montgomery built a reputation for meticulous planning and caution that many soldiers...
Edward VIII & Wallis Simpson
In this episode, we explore the dramatic love story between King Edward VIII and the twice-divorced American socialite Wallis Simpson - a romance that...
The Commanders: Rommel
In the sands of North Africa, Erwin Rommel became a battlefield legend. His bold manoeuvres and audacious tactics captured the imagination of friend a...
NEW SERIES: THE COMMANDERS
Our world is shaped by decisions — bold, reckless, and often irreversible. And nowhere did choices matter more than in the Second World War, the deadl...
The Trial of Charles I
More than 350 years ago, something unprecedented happened in Britain: a reigning king was arrested, put on trial, and executed. You may have seen many...
Royal Siblings, Scandals and Crises
The arrest of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly Prince Andrew (who denies any wrongdoing and is innocent until proven guilty), has encouraged news...
The Peasants' Revolt
In 1381, after plague, famine and war had pushed England to the brink, a final blow sparked an extraordinary uprising. This episode explores the Peasa...
The First Vikings in Iceland
From icy seas to fire-lit longhouses, Dan heads to Iceland to trace the birth of one of the world’s most unique medieval cultures — at the very edge o...
The Sex Life of Charles II
He had at least 14 known mistresses and a hoard of illegitimate children; Charles II's private life was as politically charged as it was scandalous. H...
The Great Famine
In the late 19th century, Ireland suffered a potato blight that became a mass catastrophe. Today, we explore the conditions that left millions vulnera...
How Did Three Samurai Warlords Unite Japan?
Today, we dive into the chaotic final act of Japan’s Warring States period, and hear about the three warlords who brought it to an end. Oda Nobunaga,...
Whaling
The history of whaling is complicated. At its height in the 18th and 19th centuries, whaling was a global enterprise built on perilous voyages, long s...
The Dambusters Raid Explained
In May 1943, the RAF launched one of the Second World War’s most audacious missions: the Dambusters Raid. Today, we follow the raid as it unfolded, he...
The Top Assassination Attempts on Hitler
What does it take to kill a dictator? In this episode, we explore the most dramatic assassination attempts on Adolf Hitler. From Georg Elser, the lone...
U.S. Interventions in Latin America: A Short History
For over 200 years, American presidents have repeatedly justified intervention as 'protection' - from the Monroe Doctrine of the 1820s, Teddy Roosevel...
The Rise, Fall and Rise of the Taliban
The Taliban’s return to power in August 2021 shocked the world. But, it was not an abrupt collapse — it was decades in the making. Lyse Doucet has spe...
How Did Ancient Romans become Christians?
Around 50 CE, a small group of travellers began to preach that a Jewish man, crucified by the Romans, had risen from the dead. Teaching love, forgiven...
What was the Hanseatic League?
The Hanseatic League was a medieval trading network that stretched across Northern Europe. Formed in Northern Germany in the 12th century, it was an e...
How Did the British Empire Build the Modern World?
Tobacco, sugar, rum, cotton, rubber, tea, coffee, spices, industry, borders, slavery, war - all things spread across the globe thanks to the British E...