The world’s most popular history podcast, with Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook.
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WATERGATE/NIXON apple.co/3JrVl5h
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Born into a world of treachery, violence and death, William of Normandy defied all expectations, forging a legacy that lasts to this day. Born out of wedlock and dismissed as an upstart, he was originally known as William the Bastard. Inheriting the Duchy of Normandy at just eight years old, William was faced with betrayal, bloodshed, and anarchy. From the restless Normans, who expanded across Europe as mercenaries and horsemen, to the growing threat of Anjou, the early years of his reign were blighted by power struggles. Following the brutal murder of his guardians, and with Normandy on the brink of collapse, William was forced to survive in a world without loyalty, where ambition was the ultimate currency. Meanwhile, across the Channel, the English throne was in turmoil, as the sons of Æthelred the Unready fought for survival and power…
Join Tom and Dominic as they trace William’s rise from a vulnerable child to a formidable young duke, setting the stage for the ultimate confrontation: his claim to the English crown.
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Following the bloody St Brice’s Day Massacre, of the 13th of November 1002, which saw King Æthelred brutally exterminating the Danes from England, the Vikings were hungry for revenge. None more so than the terrifying Scandinavian King, Sweyn Forkbeard. Having capitalised on his famous father, Harold Bluetooth’s unification of Norway and Denmark, through his aggressive christianisation of the formerly pagan peoples there, Sweyn had built up a formidable force. It was this power that Æthelred had unwisely taunted, underestimating the might of the Danes. He would pay the price only a few short months later when Sweyn’s terrible fleet landed at Wilton Abbey in Wessex - one of the greatest symbols of the House of Alfred the Great - to bleed England dry, and destroy her King. Time and time again, from this date onwards, Sweyn’s Danish raids would devastate England, even going so far as to lock the Archbishop of Canterbury in a cage…by 1013 Æthelred’s reign was essentially over, his family having fled to Normandy, and England under Danish rule. But then, the death of Sweyn Forkbeard would change everything, setting in motion another titanic war of succession, this time pitting the Scandinavian Cnut against Æthelred’s son Edmund Ironside. Who would triumph in this climactic clash of would-be kings?
Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss the revenge of the vikings and the rise of Cnut, as 1066 and the Battle of Hastings loom into view...
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The Norman Conquest of 1066, culminating in the legendary Battle of Hastings, is perhaps the greatest turning point in the history of the English nation. It was a year that changed the fate of England forever, forging empires, and settling continents. And yet, despite its infamy and significance, the true nature of those totemic events are often forgotten. So what happened in the build up to the Battle of Hastings? The dramas of 1066 were set in motion by a succession crisis in 975 AD, following the death of King Edgar. England by that time was the wealthiest and best run government in Northern Europe, a kingdom of united English speaking peoples, established by Alfred the Great and his successors. Following the mysterious death of Edgar’s first son, Edward, his second son, Æthelred - later known as ‘The Unready’ - took the throne. For many years his kingdom flourished, until disaster struck: the Vikings returned to reign terror upon the Anglo-Saxon people, under the leadership of the terrifying Olaf Tryggvason, King of Norway. With his coffers straining, his people enslaved, and his lands shrinking, Æthelred, now wed to the foreign Emma of Normandy, finally decided to take drastic action, and weed the Vikings out once and for all. So it was that with the dawning of the millennium, a terrible, bloody massacre began….
Join Tom and Dominic as they set out upon one of greatest narratives in all English history, with the build up to 1066 and the Battle of Hastings. Would England survive the wrath of the Vikings?
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The second revolution that engulfed France over the course of 1792 reached its climax in December, with an astonishing, world-changing spectacle, which held all the eyes of Europe spellbound: Louis Capet, formerly King Louis XVI of France, was on trial for his very life. A guilty verdict would undermine millennia of thought and tradition, ripping apart the longheld inviolability of the king, still held sacred in some quarters of France, and setting a dangerous precedent for the other monarchs of Europe. For the revolutionary leaders, then, this was a cosmic strike against tyranny, unpicking the very foundations of French society. The trial would serve to proclaim the institution of the new regime; a ritualistic rebirth born of the death of the king. It would last a month. Then, on the 15th of January, a verdict was finally reached: Louis was found guilty, and condemned to death by guillotine. With the former king’s day numbered, was there any way the judgement could be overturned? And if not, what would the consequences of this seismic event be for the future of France, Europe, and the world…?
Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss the climax of the French Revolution - itself one of the most important moments of all history - with the extraordinary trial and death sentence of King Louis XVI. Would the sacrificial spilling of his royal blood cleanse the world of monarchy, and launch a new dawn for the Republic of France, once and for all?
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“From this place and from this day forth commences a new era in the world’s history, and you can all say you were present at its birth!”
By September 1792, the Prussians, under the leadership of the formidable Duke of Brunswick, were closing in on revolutionary Paris. There, the streets roiled with the clanging of church bells, thousands of volunteers, patriotic songs and slogans, and of course; the dead bodies of all those killed during the September Massacres. It was against this feverish backdrop that on the 20th, the new National Convention - the most democratic of the assemblies yet, with unlimited powers to remake the nation - met at the famous Riding School. And though it was riven by internal rivalries under the contentious three headed triumvirate of Danton, Marat and Robespierre, remake the nation it did. Voting to abolish the monarchy once and for all, the Convention declared the institution of a new world and a new beginning for France, with all state documents from that day forth bearing the immortal words, ‘Year One’. But, with their Prussian enemies baying at the gates, would revolutionary France survive to see more than one year? A great military reckoning was approaching, which would decide the fate of the new Republic and perhaps, universal liberty. As the armies of France and Prussia met for what would prove to be one of the most ideologically significant battles of all time, political tensions were mounting in Paris…
Join Dominic and Tom for this crucial, tremulous episode of the French Revolution. With Prussia closing in, bodies littering the streets, and the revolutionary leaders hungry for each other's blood, would the Revolution survive?
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In the summer and Autumn of 1792 - with the Prussians bearing down on Paris, the streets thronged with the stirring swell of the Marseillaise, but also the rotting bodies of those brutally killed during the September Massacres - the French Revolution bore a new symbol of optimism and hope: Liberty. Embodied by a female figure, later known as Marianne, and famously enshrined in Eugène Delacroix’s iconic painting, she was an important reminder that the revolution was about more than just violence, but also the dream of a brighter future, in which all the people of France would have a steak. Marianne was the new Republic personified, and manifested all those virtues most desired by the new order; freedom, equality and reason. But, did this new symbol have any resonance for the actual women of the revolution? Certainly, they had played a major role in bringing the King and Queen back to Paris from Versailles in 1789, helping patriots who stormed Tuileries in 1792, and were keen spectators to the febrile politics of the revolution. For this, women were enshrined as ‘mothers of the nation’, a vital mass of humanity thought to be inspired by an animating emotional power. And yet, unlike their male counterparts, few women save Marie Antoinette, at whom sexualised misogyny was constantly hurled, have stood the test of time. So who were the women at the very heart of the French Revolution? And what did they do to change the course of history?
Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss the evolving ideology of the French Revolution - one of the most decisive moments of world history - and some of the women at the centre of it all from the very start.
Watch 'A Thousand Blows’, a new original series, now streaming on Disney+ globally and on Hulu in the US
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‘Still more traitors, still more treason…"
It is 1792 and France has been at war since April; it is not going well. In Paris, the Tuileries Palace has been stormed, and the royal family imprisoned. Meanwhile, tensions are rising between the main political factions of the Revolution, the Girondins and the Montagnard, led by the icy Maximilien Robespierre. The streets of Paris teem with armed young men - the Federes and the Sans-Culottes - responsible for the brutal slaughtering of the Swiss Guard earlier that year. They have arrested and imprisoned thousands of people. It is into this progressively febrile atmosphere of paranoia and fear that terrible news arrives: the Prussians, hungry for vengeance, have taken the fortress of Verdin. Rumours swirl of treason and betrayal from deep within Paris itself, and a new, chilling idea is raised to wash the city of counter revolutionaries once and for all: cleanse the prisons. So it is that on the 2nd of September, a group of Prisoners being escorted from one prison to another is stopped, and methodically hacked to death. The survivors face an impromptu tribunal before receiving the same treatment. Over the next few days, all prisoners across Paris are likewise judged, and many similarly damned and mutilated. A tide of bloodshed is rising, which will soon flood the streets of Paris, taking thousands of lives with it. Who will survive the massacre?
Join Dominic and Tom for the next series of the French Revolution, as they pick up this epic story - one of the most resounding and complex historical events of all time - with arguably the most horrific episode of the whole revolution: the September massacres…
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“Anyone who even thinks of abandoning this mission will be cut up into a thousand pieces…I am the wrath of God!”
At the height of the age of exploration, during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, one story in particular gripped the imagination of European colonialists: El Dorado, a legendary city of gold, hidden in the very heart of the South American Rainforests. But no kingdom sought this prize more furiously than the mighty Spanish Empire. Determined to restore their fortunes with El Dorado’s treasures, they sent countless expeditions in search of the golden city, to no avail. Then, in 1559, the authorities in Lima assembled a new expedition, bigger and better than ever before, under the leadership of the knight Pedro de Ursula. The group he mustered to go with him would prove ill chosen indeed. Among them was his famously beautiful mistress, Dona Inez, and more ominously still, a fierce eyed, limp-footed man by the name of Lope de Aguirre. Little did his companions know that they had a devil in their midst. Aguirre would prove to be one of history’s strangest and most unsettling characters, and one of the great villains of the Spanish conquests of the New World. Cruel and psychopathic, he would eventually violently usurp Ursula’s command, and lead his companions not in search of El Dorado, but further and further into the Amazonian interior, enacting a regime of paranoid terror as they went. It would prove to be one of the strangest, most gruesome, and also the most horrific journeys of all time, replete with murder, betrayal, treason, and above all, madness….
Join Tom and Dominic, as they discuss the iniquitous Spanish conquistador Aguirre, and his journey both into the heart of the South American wilderness, but also into human madness. It is a story of mystery and adventure, gold and greed, horror and death.
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In Tudor England, during the reign of Elizabeth I, there lived in the very heart of her court a magician, alchemist and polymath, bent upon conversing with the angels of heaven and other supernatural beings. His name was John Dee, and he would prove to.be one of the most remarkable men of his age, living long enough to witness both the dying days of the reign of Henry VIII, and the succession of Elizabeth’s heir. Throughout it all, he existed near the very epicentre of English royal power and religious controversy, dabbling with both treason and heresy, and the gruesome punishments for both, on multiple occasions. His life therefore holds a tantalising mirror up to the tumultuous periods through which he lived, and features some of the great stars of Tudor England. From the religious persecutions of Bloody Mary, when Dee came closest to destruction, to the rise of Elizabeth I, a learned scholar in her own right, who looked to him to explain the signs of the universe to her, and the birth of the British Empire - with Dee one of its earliest champions. His obsession with reading the divine language of heaven and thereby understanding the very deepest secrets of the universe, would see him scrying in mirrors to read the future at the risk of his immortal soul, travelling to Prague - Europe’s bastion of magic - and forging his famous relationship with the wily Edward Kelly. But, was it angels or demons who lured Dee across Europe, and into the very deepest depths of the occult..?
Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss England’s very own Merlin; John Dee, and his extraordinary life as the court magician of Elizabeth I, during a time of dawning empires and clashing religions.
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“The horror! The horror!”
Joseph Conrad’s ‘Heart of Darkness’ - the inspiration for Francis Ford Coppola's ‘Apocalypse Now’ - is one of the most celebrated literary works of all time, though now increasingly contentious. Based on Conrad’s own terrible journey into the Congo in 1890, and the horrors he beheld there while it was under the sway of King Leopold of Belgium’s monstrous regime, the novella, published in 1899, delves into man’s capacity for evil - the primal beast lurking beneath the surface of all humans - and has long stood as the preeminent cultural representation of European colonialism. It tells the story of Mr Kurtz, a great ivory trader who has disappeared deep into the African interior, and appears to have lost his mind, having penetrated some terrifying, ancient truth. Initially, Conrad’s disturbing account was viewed as the ultimate attack on imperialism, though aspects of the novella have also invited accusations of racism and imperialism, in part owed to Conrad’s own sympathy for Empire. So what is the truth at the heart of 'Heart of Darkness'? And who was Joseph Conrad himself? What horrors did he behold to have inspired such a poignant account of the nightmares within and without…?
Join Dominic and Tom as they discuss Joseph Conrad, ‘Heart of Darkness’ and the real life events that inspired it, and the long term reverberations of the novella in culture and literary criticism today.
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Exposing the dark pit of human suffering, cruelty and corruption that had long been secretly festering in King Leopold’s Congo, would reveal one of the greatest abuses of human rights in all history, and instigate a human rights campaign that would change the world. Having established it as what was essentially his own private colonial fiefdom in 1885, Leopold had grown rich off the vast quantities of rubber and ivory that his congolese labourers reaped and transported in unimaginably brutal conditions. The man to finally discover the horrendous scheme, and Leopold’s personal corruption, was Edmund Dene Morel, a young shipping clerk who noticed something deeply suspicious about the exports being sent back to the Congo from Belgium. With the backing of a wealthy tycoon, and in tandem with extraordinary individuals such as the magnetic Roger Casement who had personally experienced the horrors of the Congo, Stanley would for the next decade and more of his life embark upon an excoriating attack on Leopold and his regime. He interviewed countless first hand witnesses, published an outpouring of articles detailing the truth of what was going on, spoke convincingly at public gatherings, and set up an influential organisation, all of which served to attract much popular support and attention to the campaign. Soon, the question of the Congo had become an international political affair. But would it be enough to quell the horrific treatment of the Congolese people and discredit Leopold once and for all?
Join Dominic and Tom as they describe the discovery, expose, and excoriation of King Leopold’s appalling human rights abuses in the Congo, resulting in one of the most important human rights campaigns of all time. Did it succeed? And, with some of Europe’s major colonial powers clamouring to condemn Leopold, what were the long term implications for European imperialism overall?
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“A secret society of murderers with a king for a ringleader”.
In 1885 King Leopold of Belgium; an awkward, ruthless, selfish man, was recognised as the sovereign of the Congo. Long determined to carve out his very own private colonial domain, he had alighted upon the Congo - Africa’s vast and unplundered interior. With the help of the explorer Henry Morton Stanley, who had found a way to circumnavigate the Congo’s formerly insurmountable rapids, he concocted a cunning scheme to legally make it his own, while casting himself as a civilising saviour. Yet, despite his ostensibly philanthropic motivations, Leopold’s goal was always profit. More specifically, ivory, and later rubber, and before long a thriving hub of industry had been established in the Congo, bustling with soldiers, traders and missionaries. Meanwhile and most significantly, tens of thousands of Congolese people were being beaten, coerced and essentially enslaved into harvesting and carrying the riches of their land for their European oppressors. Their treatment was barbaric, the conditions in which they were made to live grotesque, and their suffering unimaginable. It was there, in King Leopold's Congo, that for years some of the worst violations of human life in all of human history were perpetrated. A terrible, secret heart of darkness, Until, at last, a young shipping clerk in Antwerp stumbled across something that would change the course of history forever...
Join Dominic and Tom as they discuss Western history’s most brutal and barbaric colonial conquest: King Leopold’s exploitation of the Congo Free State and her people.
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The story of King Leopold of Belgium’s brutal regime in the Congo Free State, during the late 19th century, is one of the darkest and most important in global history. It is a story of horror - the murky depths of the human soul pushed to its primal limits, European colonialism and the first Scramble for Africa, royalty and politics, celebrity, and modernity. From that pit of depravity, in which the Congolese people endured unimaginable suffering at the hands of their dehumanising western drivers, the first human rights campaign was born, and one of the most seminal novels of all time. So, how was it that the Congo, Africa’s as yet unplundered, un-impenetrable, and deeply mysterious core in the late 1870’s, became the private financial reservoir of one ambitious monarch, while Europe looked on? What occurred during the reign of terror he unleashed there, and why? And, who was King Leopold himself, the troubled, cunning and utterly twisted individual behind it all?
Join Dominic and Tom as they lead us - following in the footsteps of Henry Morton Stanley, the explorer who first pierced the shadowy veil of the Congo in Africa’s interior, and let it bleed into the hands of King Leopold himself - deep into the heart of darkness. As the curtain is lifted from the Congo’s formerly obscuring unknowability, her people's grotesque future of abominable exploitation is revealed, along with man’s capacity for evil, and the demonic greed of one man in particular…
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Following the bloody assassination of the twenty-eight year old Emperor Caligula, Rome found herself without a leader. Who then should fill the enormous power vacuum left by the death of an emperor? Should Rome return to a Republic? Then, one overlooked candidate - a scion of the hallowed family of Augustus long lurking in the wings of imperial power - unexpectedly rose to the fore: Claudius, Caligula’s uncle. Famed as a drooling idiot all his life, Claudius’ apparent shortcomings had kept him safe from the ruthless ambitions of his family and enemies. But his life of anonymity would now be brought to an abrupt end, with a shocking coup led by the Praetorian Guard. The Praetorians, one of the most potent forces in Rome, feared the loss of the emperor’s patronage, and so pulled him out from the curtain behind which he had been hiding, carried him to their camp, and declared him emperor. The reign that ensued - described in gory, glistening, salacious detail by the Roman historian Suetonius - would see Claudius dismantle his mask of imbecility to reveal himself clever and studious, but easily duped by his advisors, freemen, and wives alike. It would see him claim the conquest of Britain, increase the strength of the Roman army, fall foul of the senate, play cuckold in one of the most famous sexual scandals of all time, and marry his niece. All the while, the shadows of Nero’s rise to supreme power were lengthening…
Join Tom and Dominic for the mighty conclusion of their journey through the lives of Rome’s first Caesars, as described in rich, technicolour by Suetonius, climaxing with the epic reign of Rome’s most unexpected emperor: Claudius.
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"Enough of the Princeps, what remains to be described, is the monster..."
The Roman emperor Caligula endures as one of the most notorious figures in not only Roman history, but the history of the world. Famed as a byword for sexual degeneracy, cruelty and corruption, the account of his life written by the Roman historian Suetonius has, above all, enshrined him as such for posterity. Throughout the biography there is a whiff of dark comedy, as Caligula is cast as the ultimate demented caesar, corrupted absolutely by his absolute power and driven into depravity. Born of a sacred and illustrious bloodline to adored parents, his early life - initially so full of promise - was shadowed by tragedy, death, and danger, the members of his family picked off one by one by the emperor Tiberius. Nevertheless, Caligula succeeded, through his own cynical intelligence and cunning manipulation of public spectacle, to launch himself from the status of despised orphan, to that of master of Rome. Yet, before long his seemingly propitious reign, was spiralling into a nightmare of debauchery and terror….
Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss the most notorious emperor in Rome: Caligula, a man said to have slept with his sister, transformed his palace into a brothel, cruelly humiliated senators, and even made his horse into a consul. But what is the truth behind these horrific legends? Was Caligula really more monster than man...?
Pre-order Tom Holland's new translation of 'The Lives of the Caesars' here:
https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/279727/the-lives-of-the-caesars-by-suetonius/9780241186893
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The Roman historian Suetonius’ biography of the controversial Emperor Tiberius is one of his most shocking and salacious, condemning Tiberius to infamy. But was Tiberius really the perverted monster Suetonius would have us believe? Born of Rome’s most illustrious family and a sacred bloodline - the Claudians - Tiberius’ mother Livia was unceremoniously taken from his father while she carried him, to marry the great Emperor Augustus. So it was that Tiberius grew up in the very heart of imperial power, proving himself intelligent, and a superb military commander. But, following the unforeseen deaths of Augustus’ young heirs, he found himself primed to become the next caesar of Rome. The reign that ensued would prove largely peaceful, prosperous and stable, though Tiberius himself was increasingly plagued by paranoia and fear. While the last of Augustus’ bloodline were wiped out one by one, he retired to Capri, much to the horror of the Roman people. Before long, rumours had begun percolating of the heinous deeds, sick proclivities, and vile abominations Tiberius was practicing on his pleasure island…
Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss Tiberius, the impressive though widely lambasted second emperor of Rome. What is the truth behind the sordid myths and mysteries of his reign…?
Pre-order Tom Holland's new translation of 'The Lives of the Caesars' here:
https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/279727/the-lives-of-the-caesars-by-suetonius/9780241186893
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The Roman historian Suetonius’ The Lives of the Caesars, written during the early imperial period of the Roman Empire, is a seminal biography covering the biographies of the early emperors of Rome, during two spectacular centuries of Roman history. Delving deep into the personal lives of the caesars and sparing no detail, no matter how prurient, pungent, explicit or salacious, it vividly captures Rome at the peak of her power, and those colourful individuals at the heart of everything. It is an unsettling yet fascinating portrait of the alien and the intimate, that sees some of history’s most famous characters revealed as almost modern men, plotting a delicate line between private and public, respectability and suspicion. From the showmanship of Augustus, the first Caesar, and his convoluted family melodramas, to Tiberius, a monster in the historical record famed for his sexual misdeeds, to Caligula, who delighted in voyeuristic moral degeneracy, and the looming shadow of Nero; all will be revealed…
Join Tom and Dominic as they launch into Suetonius and the lives of Rome’s most infamous emperors, illuminating a world of sex and violence that both venerates, deifies and condemns absolute power. When the curtain is lifted, what deprivation lurks behind the majesty of Rome? And who was the real Suetonius, the man laying it all bare?
Pre-order Tom Holland's new translation of 'The Lives of the Caesars' here.
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Twitter:
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producers: Tabby Syrett + Aaliyah Akude
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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How did a Russian spy manage to infiltrate the upper echelons of London and New York society? Was Anna Chapman really an old fashioned Russian honeytrap or was she underestimated by the world's press? What was life like for wealthy Russians in "Londongrad" in the early 21st century?
The year is 2001 and the 18-year-old daughter of a Russian oligarch is partying in London. She meets a handsome young man at a warehouse rave and her passport to a new life in Western Europe glistens before her very eyes. What could possibly go wrong? Join David and Gordon as they take us back to the height of Londongrad and what happens when a Russian spy tries to infiltrate high society.
To hear the full episode, search The Rest Is Classified wherever you get your podcasts or click here to discover the episode on Spotify.
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The story of Wojtek - the bear who took on the Nazis - amidst the death and devastation of the Second World War, and more specifically Poland's heroic resistance, is a flicker of redemption amidst an otherwise deeply depressing period of history. His is a life that exemplifies not only Poland’s struggle in microcosm, but also the global nature of the war overall. Discovered by a young boy as a tiny cub, his mother dead, he was sold to Polish officers travelling to Palestine in the hills outside Tehran. The soldiers nursed and fed the young bear with milk from a vodka bottle, treating him like one of their own. Later, he was even purported to keep them warm at night, drink beer, delight in wrestling and showers, and both march and salute. When the Polish forces were finally deployed to Europe, ‘Wojtek’ as he had been named, went with them; a mascot and morale booster to the men. There he was given military rank, and actively participated in the Italian campaign, carrying ammunition and artillery crates. But with death and destruction on all sides, what would be his fate?
Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss Wojtek, one of history’s most extraordinary animals, and his life in the army - an emblem of hope and resilience in the face of the horrors of the Second World War.
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Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
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@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett + Aaliyah Akude
Editor: Jack Meek
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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The Nazi invasion of Poland is one of the most harrowing episodes of the Second World War, which saw terrible scenes of abuse take place. Though long threatened, Poland was in no way prepared to face Hitler’s war machine when it finally attacked. Replete with tanks and planes, his would be a new kind of warfare. So, on the 10th of September 1939, Warsaw became the first capital in Europe to face relentless bombing raids, with Hitler - delighted by war - a spectator to the whole thing. The breaking point came when Stalin, whose troops had been fighting in Japan, agreed to send in his Red Army into Poland to reinforce the Germans. Before long, and despite their heroic resistance, the Poles had been decimated by German machinery, and nine days later the Nazis entered Danzig in triumph. With Warsaw an apocalyptic wasteland, Nazi occupied Poland became a hell of random brutality, discrimination, and horrific violence, particularly for the Jewish members of the population.
Join Dominic and Tom for the tragic conclusion of their journey into the dark depths of the fall of Poland, including the invasion of the German war machine, Russian participation, and Poland's inspiring defence.
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Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett + Aaliyah Akude
Editor: Jack Meek
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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By the 11th of April 1939, Adolf Hitler and his Nazis were in the process of drawing up a plan of attack for Poland, the Poles having resisted Germany’s attempts to make them hand over Danzig and turn themselves into a satellite state. Now, with a new military alliance between France, Britain and Poland established, the time has come for Hitler to throw the dice and cast Europe into the long predicted war. Yet, at this most crucial and long awaited moment of his career, Hitler found himself in a state of emotional distress. Uncertain of whether France and Britain would join the war upon his invasion of Poland, and aware of Germany’s economic turmoil, the stakes had never been higher. He therefore decided to make a deal with his greatest ideological enemy - Joseph Stalin - forming an alliance with Russia, with the intention of dividing up Poland between them. Then, on the 1st of September, Hitler gave a landmark, excoriating address at the Reichstag, declaring war on Poland and tearing up his naval pact with Britain. War, it seemed, had become truly inevitable.
Join Dominic and Tom as they discuss the build up to Hitler’s invasion of Poland, one of the darkest episodes of all time, and the moment that the Second World War truly began.
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Twitter:
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett + Aaliyah Akude
Editor: Jack Meek
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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Following the Munich agreement of September 1938, Nazi troops marched into Czechoslovakia and ruthlessly claimed it as a German protectorate. Still, even following his annexation of Czechoslovakia, Hitler’s determination to make Germany the greatest power in Europe was far from sated. Thus, hungry for war and keenly conscious of Germany’s fast imploding economic situation, his mind had turned by the beginning of 1939 to his next unfortunate target: Poland. And it was not only defeat that he envisaged this time, but Polish liquidation. But, with both the Poles and British becoming increasingly wary of Germany's growing assertiveness and militarism, in March 1939 they and France forged a military alliance. Enraged by this, Hitler finalised his plans for the conquest of Poland. In an unexpected turn of events, he also went in search of an unlikely ally of his own to counter the new alliance from which he was smarting: Russia’s Joseph Stalin, the Nazis’ ideological antagonist…
Join Tom and Dominic for the appalling story of the build up to Hitler’s genocidal war on Poland. Was it possible that even at this inflamed juncture, war could still have been prevented?
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Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett + Aaliyah Akude
Editor: Jack Meek
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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On 17th September 1938, in Munich, one of the most extraordinary meetings in history took place. Neville Chamberlain launched an extraordinary and unprecedented diplomatic coup. Boarding a plane, he set off to meet Adolf Hitler in a desperate attempt to prevent war over Czechoslovakia, following the Nazis’ territorial incursions into Czechoslovakia. Little did he know that Hitler was already planning to launch a full blown war on the first of October - just two weeks later. Chamberlain, in his own mind the man of the hour, boldly wrestling the fate of Europe back under control, left with the goodwill of the British public behind him. Arriving at the Berghoff, Hitler’s fabled eerie, the two men talked and debated for three hours. Finally, Hitler agreed not to precipitate military action while Chamberlain discussed the situation with his Cabinet. Ominously, both men were delighted by the turn of events. Upon returning home, Chamberlain declared himself convinced of Hitler’s reliability, despite knowing full well of the atrocities he had already committed. Finally, in September 1938, another totemic emergency meeting of the main European powers took place in Munich, and an agreement - the consequences of which would change the world - was reached. Chamberlain would return to Britain a hero, but given the war that would follow, should he instead have been cast as a traitor?
Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss the Munich Agreement: one of the most discussed, and infamous diplomatic instances in history, which has forever since shaped the way that Western nations have addressed international affairs. Had Neville Chamberlain delayed war with Germany, or inevitably doomed Czechoslovakia and Poland to the ruthless ravages of Adolf Hitler and his Nazi party?
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Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett + Aaliyah Akude
Editor: Jack Meek
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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Throughout the course of the 1930s, Adolf Hitler’s Nazi party has overwhelmingly, terrifyingly seized power in Germany. Now, Hitler’s vile ambitions have turned to Czechoslovakia. On the 12th of September 1938 at the Nazi Party Congress in Nuremberg, he rabidly defended the supposed interests of the German speaking minority in Czechoslovakia, claiming that they had been ravaged and tortured by their cruel Czech overlords, but not so. In reality, Hitler is preparing the ground for the invasion and dismemberment of Czechoslovakia - what he sees as a crucial step towards the creation of a new German dominion in central and eastern Europe. In so doing, he is setting Europe upon the road to an increasingly imminent Second World War. With Nazism driven above all by the shattering experience of the First World War, a hunger for war burns at the very centre of the Nazi’s ambitions. For Hitler, it is personal - the German economy is in meltdown and with it, his frayed mental and physical state. Was it possible, then, that at this crucial juncture in 1938, the outcome of war could be prevented? Certainly, Britain’s Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, was determined to make it so…
Join Tom and Dominic for the opening episode in their next series on the Nazis’ road to the Second World War. With European politics in turmoil, Adolf Hitler hungry for war, and Neville Chamberlain desperate to appease him, will there be peace in our time? At Munich, one of the most controversial diplomatic instances in history, the fate of the world will be decided.
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Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett + Aaliyah Akude
Editor: Jack Meek
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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Ludwig Van Beethoven, like his precursor and possible acquaintance Mozart, is one of the most famous figures in Western musical history. With his wild hair and furrowed brow, his was a genius marked not by flamboyance and flare, but dark, bombastic gravity. Like Mozart, though, his musical talents also emerged at a young age. Born in Bonn, Germany, in 1770, he was initially taught by his father. Finding his home life dysfunctional however, he eventually moved to Vienna at the age of twenty-one. There he would study musical composition under the great composer Haydn, and garnered a reputation for being a talented pianist. By 1800, his symphonies were being performed to much acclaim. But, as music’s first true star and with the world seemingly before his feet, a terrible shadow was hanging over Beethoven - his encroaching deafness, which saw him becoming more and more anti-social. How was it, then, that in spite of this terrible affliction, he came to write some of his best known works during the height of his deafness? And what became of him?
Join Tom and Dominic at the Royal Albert Hall, featuring the Academy of St Martin in the Fields and the Philharmonia Chorus, conducted by Oliver Zeffman, as they delve into the life of Beethoven, one of the most venerated figures in the history of music. With his unkempt appearance, ferocious reputation, and famously ill-fated deafness, what was the truth behind the legends of this extraordinary man? And how did he come to write some of the most iconic pieces of classical music of all time?
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Academy of St Martin in the Fields
Orchestra
Philharmonia Chorus
Chorus
Oliver Zeffman
Conductor
Stephanie Gonley
Leader & Violin Soloist
Mishka Rushdie Momen
Pianist
Nardus Williams Soprano
Katie Stevenson
Mezzo
Andrew Staples
Tenor
William Thomas
Bass
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Twitter:
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@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producers: Tabby Syrett + Anouska Lewis + Aaliyah Akude
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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In 1756 a musical prodigy was born in Salzburg, Austria: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Thanks to the efforts of his exacting father, Mozart's genius was exhibited and celebrated in some of the greatest courts of Europe from a young age. At four years old he wrote his first keyboard concerto, at six he was performing for the empress Maria Theresa. Soon he and his father were touring Europe, and the young Mozart's exploits proved increasingly lucrative for his overbearing parent. But, like all young men, Mozart was growing up and becoming increasingly uncontrollable. Feeling stifled and professionally frustrated, he began to disobey his wealthy patrons and went freelance, risking financial security and the favour of his family. Yet, it would also see him falling in love, and writing some of his most glorious works. Nevertheless, time and life was running out for the young composer, as he began to write the powerful Requiem, which may prove to be for his own death...
Join Tom and Dominic at the Royal Albert Hall, featuring the Academy of St Martin in the Fields and the Philharmonia Chorus, conducted by Oliver Zeffman, they explore one of the most famous musical figures of all time: Mozart. What was the origin of his genius? What are the stories behind some of his most famous works, such as The Magic Flute and Don Giovanni? And, what is the truth behind his tragic and much mythologised death, young and penniless?
Academy of St Martin in the Fields
Orchestra
Philharmonia Chorus
Chorus
Oliver Zeffman
Conductor
Stephanie Gonley
Leader & Violin Soloist
Mishka Rushdie Momen
Pianist
Nardus Williams
Soprano
Katie Stevenson
Mezzo
Andrew Staples
Tenor
William Thomas
Bass
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Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett + Anouska Lewis
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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“And from that moment on, he was addressed as emperor and Augustus!”
The coronation of Charlemagne on Christmas Day 800 AD, is one of the landmark moments in all world history. More than three centuries after the fall of the Roman Empire in the West, the emperors had returned once more, and a Caesar ruled in Rome. But how did this legendary event come to pass? For many years Charlemagne, though a formidable figure, had been but one power player in the game of empires, competing with the emperor of Constantinople and the new Pope in Rome. Then, in 797 a spectacular crisis struck Constantinople. The cruel and politically feckless emperor, Constantine VI, was ruthlessly usurped by his mother, Irene, who became the first and only ruling empress in the whole sweep of Roman history. In the West though, her rule as a woman was not acknowledged. To Charlemagne, then, it seemed the perfect opportunity to claim the vacant throne. What unfolded after this would see Rome and Constantinople lock horns in a terrible power struggle, involving blindings, mutilation and political scheming. With Charlemagne acting as arbiter between them, would he take the ultimate step and become, for the first time since 476 AD, the emperor in Rome?
Join Tom and Dominic for the climax of their epic series on Charlemagne: the Frankish king turned emperor, who transformed the western world forever. What would become of his mighty empire, faced with Saracen pirates, vikings and division?
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Twitter:
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Editor: Aaliyah Akude
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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“Here was a program to wet the ambitions of warlords as well as scholars, and to send men into battle beneath the fluttering of banners, the hiss of arrows, and the shadow of carrion crows…”
The year is 777 and Charles the Great - Charlemagne - has ruled as joint king of the Franks alongside his brother, Carloman, for nine years. Now though his brother and greatest impediment to sole authority has died under mysterious circumstances. The sole successor to the mighty Carolingian dynasty, then, Charlemagne behaves differently from all the Frankish warlords that have come before him. In the aftermath of the once great Roman Empire, he seems to have modelled himself on the image an Augustus, pushing the already formidable kingdom that he has inherited towards greater and greater dominion. In his sights now are the Saxons, long growing fractious in Germany, and also the terrifying Lombards. The campaigns that ensued would be more ruthless than any before, with Charlemagne himself personally leading his men into battle. But his regime is not only one founded upon the blade of a sword and militaristic might, it is also a religious and educational revolution. It would utterly transform the west forever, introducing widespread writing and learning, and Christianising vast swathes of Europe - poor and elite alike. But Charlemagne’s total dominion of the West was still incomplete. What would happen next?
Join Tom and Dominic as they delve deeper into the rise of the mighty Charlemagne: his transition to sole ruler of the Franks, his violent militaristic conquests, and a Christian regime that would change the world.
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Twitter:
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@holland_tom
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Editor: Aaliyah Akude
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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The Frankish king, Charlemagne the Great, is one of the titanic figures of European history, simultaneously renowned and shadowy. His rise to supreme power is a staggering story of warring religious empires, betrayal, battle, blindings and brutal conquest. How, then, did this one time Frankish interloper become the father of Europe, progenitor of a Holy Roman Empire whose descendants would rule right up until the time of Napoleon, and Emperor of the West? It begins in 741 AD when, following the death of the Frankish leader Charles Martel - ‘The Hammer’ - his two sons, Carloman and the pious by ruthless Pepin were forced to look to the Pope in Rome, then a subsidiary to the Byzantine empire, to buttress their authority. The Pope too was increasingly embattled at that time, struggling against invasions by the ferocious Germanic Lombards from the north of Italy. Desperate, he called upon Pepin for aid. So it was that, after his brother’s abdication, Pepin was officially anointed by the Pope as the sole King of the Franks, before crossing the Alps and smashing Lombardy. After his death, he would leave his kingdom the foremost power in Western Europe, and in the hands of to his own two sons: Carloman and Charles, later known as Charlemagne. A terrible power struggle would ensue…
Join Tom and Dominic for this next instalment of their mighty series on the Franks and the rise of Charlemagne. How would Charles’ and Carloman’s battle for power play out?
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Twitter:
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Editor: Aaliyah Akude
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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By 711 Europe and the Frankish warlords were facing a graver threat than ever before. Bands of Northern African, nominally Muslim raiders had begun a steady incursion throughout the West, loosely unified under the banner of the Umayyads. Having already taken and plundered the Christian territories of the Goths, their eyes now fell upon the Frankish kingdom in Gaul, by now the greatest power in Europe. It would be a formidable prize if taken. But fortunately for the Franks, their leader was the greatest of their warlords since the rise of Clovis I: the mighty Charles Martel. Finally, the two great hosts - Charles with his allies from Aquitaine and the Umayyads under the leadership of Abd al-Rahman al-Ghafiqi. A world shaking, spear shattering, blood-letting battle would ensue, the outcome of which would come to determine the future of Europe.
Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss the build up to, climax, and aftermath of the Battle of Tours - one of the most important battles in Western history, which would prove the making of the Franks, and pave the road to the ascent of Charlemagne.
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Twitter:
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett + Aaliyah Akude
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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Following the death of the legendary Frankish King Clovis, his son Clothar I divided the mighty realm his father had hacked out from the warring warlords of Europe between his four sons. But peace was not to reign…the most ambitious of his brood - Chilperic - seized Paris, his brother’s domain, following his death. Drawn to his swelling power, a seemingly humble yet beautiful slave girl, Fredegund, rose up from obscurity to become Chilperic’s mistress. Little did he know what a ruthless force of nature he had invited into his bed. Before long, she had persuaded him to cast aside his first wife, Audovera. His second, Galswintha, was not so lucky. Soon after their marriage she was found strangled to death, and Fredegund - her probable murderer - was crowned queen in her place. Meanwhile, Galswintha’s equally merciless sister, the intelligent Queen Brunhilda of Austrasia was plotting the gruesome downfall of her sister’s killer, hungry for revenge. The terrible and enduring feud between these two remarkable women had begun…
Join Tom and Dominic for this most unbelievable of stories in the second instalment of their series on the rise of the Franks, as they unveil the clash of two indomitable warrior queens, drenched in blood, violence, vengeance, scheming, and witchcraft. The outcome of their civil war would reshape the face of the West.
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Twitter:
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett + Aaliyah Akude
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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The Rise of the Franks - a mighty host of warlords; forefathers of the western world and forgers of medieval civilisation, under the totemic leadership of history’s most glorious King: Charlemagne. It is a tale rich in fantasy and myth, transporting us into a distant age and the dark debris of a crumbling Roman empire; landscapes scarred by ruins, clashing queens, poisonings, sorcery, bloody battles, ice castles, and axe-wielding warriors, more reminiscent of King Arthur, Game of Thrones and the Lord of the Rings than real life. Once insignificant, terrifying barbarians from the peripheries of Gaul, with flaming red hair and formidable moustaches, they would emerge from the ashes of the Roman Empire in the 4th century AD, and become the heirs of the Caesars. But how? The answer lies in warring barbarian strongmen, the collision of old gods and the new, a mighty Christian martyr, a mysterious ancient bloodline born of perhaps Jesus Christ himself, the emperors of old, and a sea monster; and a battle to determine dominion of the West…
Join Tom and Dominic as they launch into one of the greatest stories in all of European history: the rise the Franks. Europe’s mightiest warriors, warlords and kings, whose legacy would reshape the world forever.
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Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett + Aaliyah Akude
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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In as early as 5000 BC the vast and spectacular city of Uruk - replete with towering walls, glistening temples and complex irrigation systems - lay sprawled across the face of Southern Mesopotamia. Not only is Uruk the oldest city in the world, but it is arguably one of the most consequential, having facilitated one of the great turning points of human civilisation. Here, in this mysterious metropolis lay the origins of urbanisation, making Uruk the predecessor and antecedent of every modern city today. It was the cradle of formidable trading networks, sophisticated craftsmanship, agricultural prosperity, the earliest examples of writing, and even home to the very first person in human history to be named. Yet, by 700 AD this once great wonder of the ancient world had been abandoned, leaving nothing behind but haunting ruins and two burning questions: firstly, how did this marvel of urbanisation come to exist, and secondly, what led to its ruin? Was it colonisation, climate change, or conquest…?
Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss Uruk, the first city in the whole of world history and the mother of modern urbanisation, revealing the remarkable tale of its discovery, its mysterious origins, and equally enigmatic decline.
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Twitter:
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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The 1st of August 1798 saw the British fleet sailing towards Alexandria into a land of classical history and mythology, the sun setting like blood over the River Nile and French flags flying over the city. The scene could not be more perfectly suited to the cataclysmic battle that would soon take place there, in which Horatio Nelson would guild his legend forever. Charged with leading a squadron of fourteen ships into the Mediterranean to find Napoleon Bonaparte and his vast fleet, Nelson had chased him all the way to Alexandria which the French had seized along with the rest of Egypt. At last, lookouts spot the masts of Napoleon’s ships - a moment of near transcendent excitement for Nelson and the men of his fleet. At last, it seemed, the moment had come for their battle of total annihilation in all its gore and glory. Wary of this, the French commanders urged Bonaparte to withdraw, but in his hubris the French general refused. So it was that the greatest naval battle of the 18th century began, to the thunder of cannons, screaming sailors, and the chaos of gun smoke, soot, splinters and blood….
Join Dominic and Tom as they describe one of the most decisive and dramatic moments of both naval history and Horatio Nelson’s life: the Battle of the Nile.
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Twitter:
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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In the wake of the Battle of Cape St. Vincent in 1797, Horatio Nelson, though a much acclaimed public hero for his bravery during the battle, is in the doldrums. Having led a harebrained attack on Tenerife, Nelson must now contend with the loss of his arm. Upon returning to England, famous and lauded, Nelson declared his intention to retire to a cottage in the countryside to recover. However, carrying on the tide from France came murmurings that that the French were amassing an enormous force of soldiers and ships. The supreme commander of this formidable host: a Corsican by the name of Napoleon Bonaparte. It seemed that at last, the monumental struggle for which Britain had been grimly preparing up for so long - a total struggle of apocalyptic proportions - was in the offing. And with it, Nelson, the man of the hour, was given command of the squadron charged with finding the vast French fleet and hunting down the formidable Napoleon. Nelson’s hour of glory had finally arrived.
Join Dominic and Tom as they discuss the aftermath of the Battle of St. Vincent, Nelson’s burgeoning legend and emotional turmoil, and his thrilling hunt for Napoleon Bonaparte.
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Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com
_______
Twitter:
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
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Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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Valentine’s day, 1797: the British Royal Navy are hoping for a decisive clash with the Spanish enemy, off the coast of Portugal, at Cape St. Vincent. Nelson has already narrowly avoided capture at the hands of the Spanish, after sailing through their fleet unnoticed, thanks to the auspicious cover of thick fog. But the British are outnumbered, and the Spanish fleet has at its head the largest warship in the world, the Santísima Trinidad. The stakes couldn’t be higher: if the Spanish aren’t stopped, they could head North towards the western coast of France and join forces with the French, the consequences of which would be terrible. Indeed, the French would then reign supreme over the Channel, offering them the perfect conditions to invade Britain. But after a disastrous start to the battle for the Royal Navy, all seems lost for the Royal Navy, until a single British ship breaks formation, and takes on the Santísima Trinidad. But who could possibly be behind such an insane manoeuvre?
Join Tom and Dominic in the third part of our series on Lord Nelson, as they dive into the chaos and carnage of the Battle of Cape St. Vincent, and look at how Nelson’s incredibly daring charge saved Britain…
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*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*
If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.
Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com
_______
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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It is 1793 and France has declared war on Britain, meaning that the British navy must serve as both sword and shield to Europe. Horatio Nelson is at this time a slim and sickly 34 year old captain who nevertheless burns with the zeal to serve his king and country, and has recently taken over command of the impressive Agamemnon. Meanwhile, the British navy has taken Toulon by the summer of 1793 through diplomatic means - its foothold in the Mediterranean - but is struggling to hold it. Upon arriving in the city Nelson is shocked to find it besieged by the French, under the leadership of one Napoleon Bonaparte - the first time that these two titanic rivals of history will brush shoulders, but not the last. At last the city falls to the French, and the British must go in search of another Mediterranean base. They settle upon Corsica - Bonaparte’s homeland. It is there, on the morning of the 12th of July that during the siege of Calvi that Nelson is struck in the face by a spray of stone and shrapnel, severely blinding his left eye forever more. Will this critical injury prematurely end his promising career? Just as a great armada of Spanish and French ships gathers on the horizon, heralding the coming one of history's bloodiest naval battles...
Join Dominic and Tom as they discuss the Siege of Toulon, Nelson’s heroic early forays into the Mediterranean, and the dramatic aftermath of his first near fatal injury.
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LIVE SHOWS
*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*
If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.
Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com
_______
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
It’s 1758 and Britain’s greatest naval commander has just been born. The young Horatio Nelson has inherited his father’s love of god and his mother’s hatred of the French. At age 12, he leaves Norfolk for a life on the high seas. As a teen, Nelson narrowly avoided death on multiple occasions. He survives a nasty encounter with the Sultan of Mysore, the blistering cold on a failed expedition in the North Pole, a nasty bout of Malaria contracted in India, and far more besides. Propelled by his excellence and bravery, he rose quickly to become a captain.This brings us to 1788 where Nelson, now a married man in his thirties and back in his childhood home, learns that England is going to war with France. Without hesitation, he swaps the simple domestic life for the thrill of the high seas once more…
Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss Nelson's early life and adventures, as he sets out along a path that would eventually enable British domination of the seas; and the world.
_______
LIVE SHOWS
*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*
If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.
Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com
_______
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
“Nixon now! Nixon now! More than ever we need Nixon now!”
It's the 5th of November 1968, and Richard M. Nixon is on tenterhooks, alone in his dark hotel room. He watches as the final states are called in the presidential election. Will he fall at the same hurdle as he did in 1960? Off the back of losing to JFK eight years prior, Nixon is running as the Republican presidential candidate. This time not only does he face Democrat Hubert Humphrey, but the independent segregationist candidate George Wallace threatens to split Nixon’s votes. A west coast outsider who embraces modern media, Nixon aims to capture the hearts of Middle America. But will he succeed this time around?
Join Dominic and Tom for the final instalment of our series on America in 1968, as they dive into the political campaign that would go on to become the prototype for all future campaigns, as traditionally blue states turn red…
_______
*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*
If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.
Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com
_______
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The Democratic National Convention is in Chicago, and the incumbent president, Lyndon B. Johnson, has pulled out of the race. Anti-war protestors are flooding the streets of the city, and Johnson continues to press on with the war in Vietnam. Bobby Kennedy’s assassination has turned the Democratic candidacy contest into a two-horse race between Hubert Humphrey and Eugene McCarthy. And while they’re battling inside the convention for delegates, the real fight is taking place on the streets. Dope-smoking youth activists known as the “Yippies” have called for a protest against the Vietnam War, and their threats made in the name of the ‘politics of play’ have been taken seriously by Chicago police, who react with brutal force. Flowers and poems meet truncheons and guns. As DNC votes are being counted, images of these confrontations are broadcasted on newsreels across the nation.
Join Tom and Dominic to discuss a Democratic National Convention that saw Chicago descend into violence and chaos. Listen as they explore what led to one of the most anarchic political conventions, and how it impacted a divided America.
_______
*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*
If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.
Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com
_______
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
“Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever!”
George Wallace, Governor of Alabama, was one of the most successful third-party presidential candidates in American history. In 1968, he ran a populist campaign pitching himself against the Civil Rights movement. He pushed to uphold formal structures of white supremacy in the South, forever employing racist dog whistles at his rallies and in the media. He may not have won the presidency, but his approach paved the way for a new, incendiary brand of politics, which permeates American society to this day...
Join Dominic and Tom to discuss George Wallace’s 1968 campaign. They explore the legacy of his political career, how it shaped the modern Republican party, and why the Alabama Governor could be considered the precursor to Donald J. Trump.
_______
*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*
If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.
Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com
_______
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
_______
*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*
If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.
Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com
_______
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis + Alice Horrell
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
“What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence and lawlessness, but is love, and wisdom, and compassion toward one another”
As Attorney General during JFK’s presidency, Bobby had often played second fiddle to his older brother. But by 1968, Robert F. Kennedy had become a distinct political leader dedicated to social justice. In March he declared he would run in the primaries to become the Democratic presidential candidate. He galvanised support amongst marginalised communities, young people, and anti-war voters, and in the immediate aftermath of Martin Luther King’s assassination, he gave an emotional impromptu speech to a predominantly Black crowd, mentioning his own brother’s assassination for the first time in public. On the evening of June 4th, it was announced that Bobby had won the California primary. With bleeding palms from shaking so many hands along the campaign trail, he gave a victory speech to a crowded room of supporters in the Ambassador Hotel. But the joy was to come crashing down as tragedy struck the Kennedy family once more…
Listen as Dominic and Tom discuss another of 1968’s American assassinations, and the build up to the moment when Bobby Kennedy died in the arms of a seventeen-year-old kitchen busboy.
_______
*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*
If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.
Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com
_______
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The peaceful figurehead of the Civil Rights movement in the early 1960s, Dr Martin Luther King had inspired hundreds of thousands to demand equal rights for African Americans. But by 1968, the once uniting leader seemed to be losing popularity, both amongst activists and in the press. As he grappled with being hunted and threatened by the FBI, he was also contending with a new generation of more militant activists who felt that his nonviolent approach was not working. Downtrodden but not defeated, King plans a new Poor People’s Campaign to combat poverty in America. As part of this new focus, he visits Memphis to support striking sanitation workers. The day before his final moments at the Lorraine Motel, he preaches to a crowd, ‘I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land.’
Join Dominic and Tom as they discuss the tragic assassination of Martin Luther King, including the public outcry that ensued, and his more recent legacy as a secular saint in the USA with a dedicated national holiday.
_______
*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*
If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.
Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com
_______
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
"Tonight I want to speak to you of peace in Vietnam and Southeast Asia.”
On the night of Sunday, 31st of March 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson, after announcing an end to the bombing of North Vietnam, stunned the world by revealing he would not seek the democratic nomination for that year’s presidential election. The seemingly never-ending Vietnam War had already made LBJ hugely unpopular with his progressive base. But now, facing challenges from Eugene McCarthy, the ambiguously anti-war senator from Minnesota, and Robert “Bobby” Kennedy, heir to the Kennedy throne, Johnson had decided to bow out. And so, as the war slowed for a moment, the Democrats would have to decide on the best candidate to take on a certain Richard M. Nixon…
Join Tom and Dominic in the first episode of our six part series on America in 1968, as they look at the stories of Lyndon B. Johnson, Eugene McCarthy, and how the Vietnam War would come to define them both.
_______
LIVE SHOWS
*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*
If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.
Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com
_______
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
“Let us march! Let us march! May impure blood water our fields!”
Written after the declaration of war against Austria in 1792, “La Marseillaise” was born in the provinces of France, away from the Parisian metropole, and immediately became popular as a unifying rallying cry against foreign invaders, and the enemies of the Revolution. It was the “fédérés” from Marseille, instrumental in the storming of the Tuileries Palace, who had first brought the song to the streets of Paris. But how did this uncomprimising, gruesome tune come to resonate with all the various factions within revolutionary France?
Join Tom and Dominic in the final part of season two of The French Revolution, as they uncover the origins of the most famous war song of them all: La Marseillaise.
_______
LIVE SHOWS
*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*
If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.
Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com
_______
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis + Aaliyah Akude
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The war between revolutionary France and the allied powers of Prussia and Austria has reached fever pitch, and in early August 1792, the latter party threaten a terrible vengeance on Paris should harm be done to the French royal family. But far from calming tensions, this threat puts the King, Marie Antoinette and their children in terrible danger. They’ve been kept in the Tuileries Palace since their failed escape, and on the 10th of August, a frenzied crowd, led by National Guards and “fédérés” from Marseille, storm the palace, massacring the Swiss guards defending the Royal family, as they tear through the halls, in search of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette…
Join Tom and Dominic in the fourth instalment of season two of the Fetch Revolution, as they dive into the chaos and carnage of the storming of the Tuileries.
_______
Looking for all of our episodes on the French Revolution? Check out The Rest Is History’s French Revolution playlist
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX6W9e1zgsgaG
_______
LIVE SHOWS
*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*
If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.
Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com
_______
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
During the "Ancien Regime", royal executioners held an unholy status, and would strike up fear in the crowds as they walked the streets of Paris. But with the Revolution, the role of executioners in society was reformed, and whilst they lost some of their privileges, they were ushered into to a new, universalist France. And as the Revolution brought forward more and more enemies of the state, executioners were faced with more victims than the axe could handle. This, combined with an ever growing debate around the humanity and dignity of executions, would lead to the invention of a killing machine still used by the French state more than 150 years later…
Join Tom and Dominic in the third part of our second season of the French Revolution, as they look at gruesome methods of execution under the French monarchy, the changing role of executioners, how the Guillotine came to loom so large over the fate of so many…
_______
Looking for all of our episodes on the French Revolution? Check out The Rest Is History’s French Revolution playlist
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX6W9e1zgsgaG
_______
LIVE SHOWS
*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*
If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.
*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*
Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.
Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com
_______
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis + Becki Hills
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
“You have shaken off the yoke of your despots, but surely this was not to bend the knee before a foreign tyrant…”
It’s January 1792, and one of the largest factions in revolutionary France, the Gironde, is calling for war against Austria. The French people’s hatred of Marie Antoinette has always fuelled suspicion of the Austrians, and at the same time, there has been constant, treacherous correspondence between the French royal family and their European cousins. And so, when one of the prominent members of the Gironde calls to arms in early 1792, little does he realise that the war he wants will haunt Europe for the next 25 years, totally redrawing its map, and costing millions of lives…
Join Tom and Dominic in part two of our second season of the French Revolution, as they dive into the first of many wars to come between Revolutionary France and its European rivals.
_______
Looking for all of our episodes on the French Revolution? Check out The Rest Is History’s French Revolution playlist
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX6W9e1zgsgaG
_______
LIVE SHOWS
*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*
If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.
*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*
Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.
Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com
_______
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis
Editor: Ross Buchanan
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Welcome to Season 2 of The French Revolution!
Revolutionary fervour threatens to engulf the streets of Paris, as demonstrators have gathered on the Champ de Mars to sign a petition demanding the removal of the King. Two days prior, the National Assembly had decreed that Louis XVI would remain King under a constitutional monarchy, even after his failed escape to Varennes, an inexcusable betrayal of the French people. The crowd has begun to swell on the Champ de Mars, and two men have already been lynched by the mob. The National Guard, with Lafayette at its head, has been sent to disperse the demonstrators, and a bloody, violent face-off erupts…
Join Tom and Dominic in the first part of our second Season of the French Revolution, as they break down the events of the Champs de Mars Massacre.
_______
Looking for all of our episodes on the French Revolution? Check out The Rest Is History’s French Revolution playlist
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX6W9e1zgsgaG
_______
LIVE SHOWS
*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*
If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.
*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*
Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.
Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com
_______
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis + Aaliyah Akude
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In the aftermath of Boudicca’s uprising, the Romans felt they could not withdraw from the British Isles. They sent their most competent fighters and leaders to suppress the indigenous Britons in the south. As the Druids of Wales were defeated, and the resistant Caledonians were massacred, the process of Romanisation in Britain began. London became the urbanised imperial capital, and the Roman love of hot springs saw the development of Bath. And, forty years after their arrival, they finally reached the Highlands, conquering lands as north as Orkney.
Listen as Tom and Dominic discuss how the Romans circumnavigated the British Isles, colonised its lands and returned to Rome as heroes.
_______
LIVE SHOWS
*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*
If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.
*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*
Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.
Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com
_______
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
“Two cities were sacked, eighty thousand of the Romans and of their allies perished, and the island was lost to Rome. Moreover, all this ruin was brought upon by a woman...”
Few figures have statues dedicated to them in the towns they incinerated. But Boudicca was no ordinary figure. With a name that means “she who brings victory”, Boudicca was Rome’s supervillain. She was a freedom fighter who stood up to the greatest imperial power in the world. In 60 AD, Boudicca led her Iceni army to attack Colchester and London, cities left bare and vulnerable without fortifications. But the Romans would not accept such defeats without taking revenge…
Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss the life of the first vivid personality in British history, a fierce tale of a warrior queen.
_______
LIVE SHOWS
*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*
If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.
*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*
Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.
Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com
_______
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Viewed as an idiot by those around him, Claudius felt the need to prove himself. In the century since Caesar had invaded Britain, the mythology surrounding the island had taken hold in Roman imaginations. Stories of sea monsters, terrifying Druids, and human sacrifice by barbarians, instilled fear into the imperial legions. But Claudius was determined, and launched a two-pronged attack on the southeastern coast to immortalise his name as a victor. Accompanied by German mercenaries, Roman soldiers forced their way across the Medway in Kent and headed up the Thames to London. British elites had two options: resist or collaborate…
Join Tom and Dominic as they piece together, coin by Roman coin, how Claudius conquered Britain in 43 AD.
_______
LIVE SHOWS
*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*
Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.
*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*
If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.
Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com
_______
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis
Editor: Aaliyah Akude
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Julius Caesar saw the Britons as brutal savages. Yet the Romans romanticised their lack of civilisation, deeming them as untainted by Mediterranean luxury. In 55 BC, after sending scouts along the Kentish coast, Caesar launched an invasion of the island as part of his Gallic Wars campaign. After a disastrous first attempt marred by storms, the “menacing horde of barbarians” of the English Home Counties asked Caesar for help and he returned with a bigger, stronger army to support their prince. Will this campaign succeed?
Join Tom and Dominic as they explore Caesar’s invasion of Britain and how it entered the orbit of the great imperial power.
_______
LIVE SHOWS
*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*
Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.
*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*
If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.
Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com
_______
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis
Editor: Aaliyah Akude
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
After lying in state in an open casket, Evita’s corpse is taken down to a secret laboratory in the basement. And as the Argentinian Victor Frankenstein, Dr Ara, busily embalms her body, her ghost continues to haunt the nation. Sightings of her face are reported in obscure places all over the country.
With Evita gone, Colonel Perón embarks upon an affair with a much younger girl and has a creepily paternal romantic relationship with her. Meanwhile, as Perón’s sparkle starts to fade amongst the public, Evita’s body vanishes…
Listen as Dominic and Tom explore the final and most bizarre chapter in the extraordinary story of Evita Perón.
_______
*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*
If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.
*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*
Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.
Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com
_______
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The workaholic mother of a nation, Evita’s health deteriorates and she faints at a public event. A self-proclaimed martyr, she seems to be willing to die for Perón and Perónism, and her supporters see her passion. As she continues her public work, her supporters call for her to run as Vice President in the upcoming election - a position of power no woman on Earth has yet held. Evita’s supporters seem to outnumber Colonel Perón’s, with unions organising mass meetings that bring up to 2 million people to the city streets.
As the couple look out at the crowds from the balcony, they get the sense that they have created a monster of a movement that they may have lost control over…
Listen as Tom and Dominic discuss the growing public frenzy that snowballs in Argentina towards the end of Evita’s life.
_______
*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*
If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.
*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*
Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.
Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com
_______
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
“There is only one man who can lead any worker’s regime.”
Together, Eva and Colonel Perón built a political movement powered by operatic rhetoric. Perónism promised genuine benefits for the working class, denouncing violence and emphasising ritual and spectacle. Eva embodied the working-class migrant to Buenos Aires that Perón sought to attract, and she increasingly entered the role of his partner both at home and in government.
Ostentatiously flamboyant in her dress sense, how did Evita become a woman of the people who also wore Christian Dior?
Listen as Tom and Dominic unpack how Eva became Evita, the most powerful woman in global politics.
_______
*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*
If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.
*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*
Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.
Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com
_______
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett + Anouska Lewis
Editor: Becki Hills
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
An admirer of Hitler and Mussolini, Colonel Perón rose through the ranks during the 1943 military coup in Argentina. Following a disastrous earthquake in 1944, Perón crossed paths with Eva at a fundraising event. Now a successful radio actress, Eva was 20 years his junior but became completely infatuated with him and swiftly removed her romantic rivals. And despite the relationship being unpopular amongst his army comrades, the two grew closer. Meanwhile Peron gathered support amongst trade unions through his rousing, dramatic speeches, and began his journey toward ultimate political power…
Listen as Dominic and Tom discuss how Eva became Perón’s mistress and gradually rose to be seen by his side in the public imagination.
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*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*
If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.
*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*
Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.
Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com
_______
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
“Don’t cry for me Argentina, the truth is I never left you.”
Few political figures have been both hailed as a saint and immortalised through an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical. The mythology of Evita Perón continues to permeate through Argentinian society, but what’s the real history of her life?
Eva and her siblings were born out of wedlock and subsequently shunned by the community in her rural village. Losing her father in a car crash at a young age, she grew up with a terrible sense of hurt and a desire for a better life. Cinema was a welcome distraction and soon had a significant influence on Eva. Despite not being the most talented actor, her emotive and monotone voice suited the hugely popular soap operas on the radio in Argentina. But she sought total stardom, and she was willing to move to the capital to find it…
Join Dominic and Tom as they discuss Eva’s escape from a childhood of resentment to the bright lights of Buenos Aires with her sights set on making it as an actor.
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*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*
If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.
*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*
Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.
Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com
_______
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
It’s August 1944: the Liberation of Paris is underway, and France appears to slowly be extricating herself from Nazi control. But, on the French western shores, in Saint-Malo, the deafening sounds of artillery fire continue to punctuate daily life, with the Germans making a last-ditch attempt to hold the coastal town. And when the U.S. Army arrive to lay siege to the German positions, the last person expected to be among the Allied forces is a photographer, let alone a female one… Until the publication of The Lives of Lee Miller in 1985 by her son, Antony Penrose, very little was known of the woman who forced her way into occupied Europe, and documented the true horrors of the Nazi campaign. Her photographs capturing Nazi evil went around the world, exposing the atrocities of the Holocaust and the harrowing aftermath of the death of Hitler.
Now, her incredible story is being told in a new film, LEE, with Kate Winslet taking on the role of the formidable title character. From a marriage to a man famed for dying himself blue, to a staged photoshoot in Hitler’s bathtub, Join Tom and Dominic as they explore the extraordinary story of Lee Miller.
Joining Winslet is Andy Samberg playing Life Magazine photographer David E. Scherman; Alexander Skarsgård playing English Surrealist painter, photographer, poet and biographer Roland Penrose; Marion Cotillard playing Solange D’Ayen, the fashion director of French Vogue and close friend of Miller’s: Josh O’Connor playing Tony, a young journalist and Andrea Riseborough playing British Vogue Editor Audrey Withers. Only in cinemas from Friday 13th September, book tickets now - https://www.leefilm.co.uk
As always we appreciate your feedback on The Rest Is History to help make the podcast better: https://forms.gle/GymJghf56DFzZ8rAA
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LIVE SHOWS
*The Rest Is History BOOK TOUR*
To celebrate the launch of our second book, “The Rest Is History Returns”, Dominic and Tom will be appearing onstage in both Oxford and Cambridge in September!
*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*
Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.
*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*
If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.
Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com
_______
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
“I like an Englishman to look like an Englishman, and beards are foreign and breed vermin. Also depend upon it, they will lead to filthy habits.”
Europe has had a love-hate relationship with facial hair since the Late Middle Ages. In the eleventh century, beards were celebrated as an expression of fertility caused by men’s “hot breath”. Yet by the turn of the twentieth century, a clean shaven man represented the youth and vigour celebrated in corporate culture. But how did the Reformation impact opinions on beards? Why did Peter the Great instate a tax on beards in Russia? How did the Crimean War lead to the popularity of the Victorian beard? And why did The Beatles end up bearded?
Join Dominic and Tom as they discuss the evolution of the modern beard. With a cast of hairy and hairless characters including the bearded witches of Macbeth, Winston Churchill, Jeremy Corbyn, George Best, W. G. Grace, Charles Darwin, and Lord Kitchener…
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*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*
If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.
*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*
Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.
Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com
_______
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
What did Marcus Aurelius, Jesus, and Ragnar Lothbrok all have in common? Apart from their notorious and symbolic deaths, all three men boasted luscious beards. Throughout history, beards have posed quite the conundrum for all those able to grow them. While some Roman emperors chose to outlaw beards in retaliation to the Greek penchant for hipster stubble, others chose to grow them long and strong to demonstrate their machismo and sexual prowess. The question of “to beard or not to beard” is one which has puzzled men (and women!) over the course of civilisation, leading to hairy battles and questionable postiches but, in this miniseries, Tom and Dominic settle the great debate once and for all.
Join our clean shaven hosts as they wade through the long and scraggly history of the beard. From Alexander the Great’s ingenious beardless marketing strategy to the chinstrap beards of Ancient Egypt, prepare to have your mind blown by the remarkable power of facial hair.
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*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*
If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.
*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*
Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.
Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com
_______
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
St Crispin’s day, 1415: Henry V stands victorious, after a tremendous defeat of the French forces at the Battle of Agincourt. He is just about to make a historic speech which will be retold by Shakespeare nearly two centuries later. There are mounds of bodies, too many dead for the chroniclers to count. Those who escaped the bloodshed have been taken prisoner back to England, including the young Duke of Orleans, on the day before his twenty-first birthday. And a month later, across the Channel, the Count of Armagnac comes to power in Paris, and rules so brutally that the residents of the French capital start to hope for an English invasion. Henry V is taking no time to rest, and begins planning his next offensive…
Join Tom and Dominic in the fourth instalment of our series on the Hundred Year’s War, as Henry V considers his next move after his triumph at Agincourt.
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*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*
If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.
*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*
Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.
Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com
_______
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
“We few, we happy few, we band of brothers”.
The Battle of Agincourt in 1415 endures as perhaps the most totemic battle in the whole of English history. Thanks in part to Shakespeare’s masterful Henry V, the myths and legends of that bloody day echo across time, forever enshrining the young Henry as the greatest warrior king England had ever known. So too the enduring idea of the English as plucky underdogs, facing down unfavourable odds with brazen grit. And though the exact numbers of men who fought in the two armies is hotly contested, the prospect was certainly intimidating for the English host looking down upon the vast French force amassed below them the day before the battle. Hungry and weary after an unexpectedly long march, and demoralised by the number of French that would be taking to the field, the situation certainly seemed dire for the English. One man amongst them, however, held true to his belief that the day could still be won: Henry V. An undeniably brilliant military commander, he infused his men with a sense of patriotic mission, convincing them that theirs was truly a divinely ordained task, and therefore in this - and his careful strategic planning the night before the battle - he proves a striking case of one individual changing the course of history. However, the French too had plans in place for the day ahead: total warfare. In other words, to overwhelm the English in a single devastating moment of impact, sweeping the lethal Welsh archers aside. So it was that dawn broke on the 25th of October to the site of King Henry wearing a helmet surmounted by a glittering crown and bearing the emblems of both France and England, astride his little grey horse, and riding up and down his lines of weathered silver clad men, preparing them to stride into legend…then, as the French cavalry began their charge, the sky went black as 75,000 arrows blocked out the sun. What else would that apocalyptic day hold in store?
Join Tom and Dominic as they describe the epochal Battle of Agincourt. From the days building up to it, to the moment that the two armies shattered together in the rain and mud of France. It is a story of courage and cowardice, kings and peasants, blood and bowels, tragedy and triumph.
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*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*
If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.
*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*
Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.
Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com
_______
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
On the 11th of August 1415, King Henry V of England - an austere, pious, thoughtful and terrifying warlord in only his late-twenties - set sail for France. He embarked in the largest ship ever built on English soil at the head of some 15,000 ships, his nobles, brothers and hordes of Welsh longbow-men in tow. Two days later, they made land, and their target: the Port of Harfleur, a nest of state-sponsored pirates. Henry’s intention was to use it as a spring-board to a wider campaign in France, capitalising on the chaos that raged there, before eventually annexing Normandy. The assault on Harfleur that followed was bloody and brutal. The first Norman town to be pulverised by artillery, the English canons created a hellish scene of smoke and fire. However, the siege went on longer than Henry had hoped, inflicting terrible devastation upon the city and his forces. Furthermore, large numbers of his men were falling sick and their supplies growing thin. Finally, after four long weeks of terrible siege warfare, the city fell. However, a massive French force was now assembling to recapture the fallen city, potentially undermining all the money and men that Henry had already spent on the campaign. With the clock ticking for the English towards the end of 1415, what would Henry’s next move be? First, in a daring move of legendary chivalry, he challenged the portly French Dauphin to a duel, to no avail. So it was that he decided to march right across France and take Calais; a bold public proclamation of his right to the whole of France. Would Henry’s plan prove overly ambitious, or would he get the decisive battle he craved…?
Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss Henry V’s first bloody forays into France, enacting his claim to the French crown that he truly believed was his by divine ordination, and thereby reigniting the tumultuous Hundred Years’ War….
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*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*
If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.
*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*
Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.
Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com
_______
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
“Once more unto the breach, dear friends. Once more, we'll close the wall up with our English dead […] And upon this charge, cry God for Harry, England and St. George!”
Such was Henry V’s call to arms at the siege of Harfleur, as written by Shakespeare. The son of the Usurper King, Henry V has decided to take up the English claim to the French throne, thereby putting an end to the truce that had marked a pause in the Hundred Years’ War. And so, in the late summer of 1415, Henry has decided to lay siege to the massive port of Harfleur, in Normandy, a renowned nest of state-sponsored pirates. The English king has waited a long time for this moment, and the odds may never again be so favourable to him: a civil war looms in France, as the formidable Burgundians, led by John the Fearless, jostle for power with their sworn enemies, the Armagnacs. The powerless French king, Charles VI, and his son, the Dauphin, can do nothing but watch the infighting unfold…
Join Tom and Dominic in the first part of their return to the story of the Hundred Year’s War, as Henry V takes up a decades-old claim to the French throne…
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*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*
If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in New York, San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., and Boston.
*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*
Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.
Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com
_______
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The year is 1403, and the Usurper King, Henry IV, faces a seemingly insurmountable challenge to his rule. He has been brought the news that his old friend, Harry “Hotspur” Percy, has betrayed him, and plans to lead his army against the King. Meanwhile, to the West, the revolt in Wales continues, at its head the formidable welsh king Owain Glyndŵr. And even in Scotland, where Henry IV thought he’d settled things down by silencing the terrifying Earl of Douglas, there is more trouble: a kitchen boy is claiming to be Richard II. And having made it halfway up to Scotland with his army to quell the newfound unrest, Henry IV must turn around, and march his men towards Wales, to face Hotspur at Schrewsbury...
Join Tom and Dominic as they dive into the biggest revolt against Henry IV’s rule, the making of his son and heir, Prince Hal, and the fate of the real Sir John Falstaff, abandoned by his dear friend Hal.
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*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*
If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.
*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*
Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.
Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com
_______
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
"Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown…”
Henry IV has been portrayed as both a shadowy, obscure figure, and a strong king who was loved by his people. Prior to ascending the throne, Henry, the son of John of Gaunt, was admired for his glamour, clemency, courage and strong faith, but these sympathies quickly turned to suspicion when he became a ruling regicide. Indeed, after a failed rebellion in 1388 against Richard II, Henry led a second coup against the king, and successfully usurped the throne in 1399. Once king, keen to gain legitimacy, he delivered his claim to the throne in English, and vowed to respect the will of the people. But he had inherited a divided country, which was surrounded by enemies in France, Scotland and Wales. And, despite being elected to the throne by his peers, and, as some sources claimed, prophesied by Merlin and selected by a greyhound, Henry quickly lost popularity, and himself faced violent rebellions. When the brewing uprising in Northern Wales finally erupted in the autumn of 1400, with the Scots following suit not long thereafter, Henry would need all his allies to stand firmly by his side…
Join Tom and Dominic as they explore the life and reign of Henry IV, an epic tale of plunder, rivalry and jealousy.
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*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*
If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.
*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*
Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.
Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com
_______
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The unexpected evolution of Italian food can serve as a tantalising doorway into some of the greatest moments of Italian history: from medieval monarchs, murdered popes, and the Renaissance, to secret societies, and Mussolini’s fascist propaganda. Yet the history of Italian food is also riddled with myths and ambiguities, particularly the rustic, romantic idea of it as deriving in the homes of rural peasants. In truth, though the distinctive culinary identity of different Italian cities endures - rising and falling with the fates of their cosmopolitan foundations - the beloved Italian staples of today bear little resemblance to their historical antecedents. For instance, Venetian food was once renowned for its Middle Eastern spices, and an alarming quantity of eels, sweetbreads and sugar is recorded from a feast in Renaissance Ferrara. When was it, then, that Italian food developed its unique identity and reputation? Can it in any way be traced back to the food of the Roman Empire? Did pasta really originate in China before being brought to Europe by Marco Polo? And, does margarita pizza really originate in the whims of a famous 19th century queen?
In today’s episode, Dominic and Tom are joined by historian John Dickie to indulge in a colourful journey through the piquant history of Italian food, dispelling and corroborating a few enshrined myths and legends as they go…
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*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*
If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.
*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*
Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.
Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com
_______
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In Sussex, in 1912, men quarrying in a gravel pit near Piltdown village turned up a human skull. According to Charles Dawson, a lawyer and amateur archeologist with a remarkable track record for finding ancient treasures, it belonged to a palaeolithic man, possibly millions of years old, and was therefore the earliest trace of mankind ever found in England. Greater still, Piltdown man as he came to be known, seemed to be the ‘missing link’ between apes and men. The discovery inflamed and delighted British society, confirming and buttressing dearly held beliefs about the evolution of modern Europeans, and radically transforming understandings of the origins of humanity. In the wake of the find and the widespread corroboration of its authenticity by some of the best academics of the age, further digs were conducted in the area, which unearthed even more wondrous discoveries - a jawbone, primitive tools, and strangest of all, a cricket bat; perhaps the first hint that all was not as it seemed…was the greatest discovery of all time nothing more than an audacious and extraordinarily skilful hoax? And if so, who was the culprit in this grand mystery?
Join Tom and Dominic, as they describe the most mystifying archaeological discovery in English history, and one of the most unscrupulous tricks of all time, revealing as they do the truth behind the history of mankind.
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*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*
If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.
*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*
Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.
Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com
_______
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Twelve months after the dramatic Women’s March on Versailles, the Revolution proper was well into its stride, and while Paris overflowed with a sense of unbridled political freedom, the King and Queen were little more than prisoners in their echoing palace. For the past year Louis XVI had feigned cooperation with the National Assembly, all the while torn by his profound Catholicism and frozen by indecision about how to overcome his predicament. Then at last, following a traumatic experience over the easter of 1791, something changed and the contingency plan formulated several months earlier, was put into action. With the help of a disguised Axen Von Fersen, the royal couple and their children would flee to Belgium in an enormously ostentatious carriage. The date for their escape was set for the 20th of June, but before leaving Louis poured his hatred of the revolution into a letter, which if found would surely spell his political doom…that night the royal family, replete with accomplices, deceptions and disguises, set their audacious plan into action. What ensued was a heart-racing cat-and-mouse thriller of near misses, foolhardy naivety and extraordinary encounters, with appalling consequences…
Join Dominic and Tom for the thrilling conclusion to their astounding series on the early years of the French Revolution. With the King and Queen of France on the run from the nightmare their lives have become, will they make it across the border to freedom? Or, will they get caught and devoured by the ravenous hoards of the Revolution?
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Looking for all of our episodes on the French Revolution? Check out The Rest Is History’s French Revolution playlist
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX6W9e1zgsgaG
_______
*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*
If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.
*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*
Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.
Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com
_______
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
By the summer of 1789 the different sections of the Revolution were at loggerheads, and the recently created National Assembly riven in two. Both factions, the radicals on the left and the more moderate revolutionaries on the right, upheld different interpretations of how the new system of governance, so firmly rooted in the idea of ‘la nation’, should be organised, particularly as concerned the authority of the King and the power of his veto. Tensions mounted, with many opposed to the idea of even a constitutional monarchy, and disgusted by the National Assembly’s willingness to treat with Louis XVI. None more so than the citizens of Paris, who progressively came to embody an amorphous but growing sense of ‘the people’. By July, there was a widespread feeling that some sort of violence would inevitably break out in the city against the royal family, thanks in part to the rising bread prices. The form it took in October of that year would prove more dramatic than any could have foreseen. After a lavish banquet in Versailles, an outcry began building in the marketplaces of Paris, with a swelling contingent of peasant women decrying the hunger of their children, and blaming it upon the Queen and the vampires of the court. Then, in a move that would change the fate of France and particularly Marie Antoinette forever, the army of women marched on and entered the palace…
Join Tom and Dominic as they describe one of the most terrifying and savage events of the entire French Revolution: the Women’s March on Versailles, which saw the queen - barefoot and sobbing - hostage to a head-hacking mob that clamoured for her entrails.
_______
Looking for all of our episodes on the French Revolution? Check out The Rest Is History’s French Revolution playlist
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX6W9e1zgsgaG
_______
*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*
If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.
*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*
Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.
Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com
_______
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
“Liberté, égalité, fraternité!”
Alongside violence, the French Revolution is a story of principles and values. It is the ultimate intersection of brutality and Enlightenment idealism, as epitomised by the Fall of the Bastille. So too the creation and implementation of the Declaration of the Rights of Man - a totemic manifesto for the French state, which seemingly embodied a shockingly overt rupture from the past. Not only one of the decisive moments of the French Revolution, the declaration would prove transformative for all world history, and galvanised France as the cradle of of modern nationalism. So, just as the walls of the Bastille were abolished, the words of the document tore down something just as old and once impenetrable: the taint of absolutism, handing sovereignty from the king to the nation. By the 4th of August 1789 this amorphous beast was gripped by a great hysterical, almost paranoid passion, and it was amidst this turmoil that the French Assemblée Constituante voted unanimously to abolish feudalism, in one fell swoop eliminating everything that had come before. What would this consciously manufactured new beginning hold in store for Revolutionary France, or was it merely a bombastic continuation of the past?
Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss the groundbreaking ideas behind the French Revolution, along with the deep history of the ideals its enshrined. So too the stories behind some of its most famous iconography, and the long-term repercussions of this transformative upheaval for the modern world.
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Looking for all of our episodes on the French Revolution? Check out The Rest Is History’s French Revolution playlist
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX6W9e1zgsgaG
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*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*
If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.
*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*
Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.
Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com
_______
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
“It was violence that made the revolution revolutionary”.
The storming of the Bastille is viewed by many across the world as a moment of celebration, when the French people were liberated from the shackles of tyranny and royal despotism. Yet, it was also a moment of horrific violence and chaos, culminating in countless acts of blunt, bloody murder. With a widespread sense of social unrest throughout France at the beginning of July 1789, things finally reached a peak following the King’s dismissal of his finance minister, Necker, a great favourite of the people. The arrival of 20,000 troops into Paris to maintain order triggered even greater panic in the streets, with the already febrile atmosphere being whipped into a frenzy by firebrand orators. Finally, with fighting breaking out between the soldiers and the mob in the Vendome, and then spilling over into the Tuileries Gardens, the Royal Commander of Paris gave the order to evacuate the city entirely, leaving it in the hands of the rioters. It was then that the mob, in a final desperate effort to procure gunpowder for its plundered weapons, turned its sites on the Bastille, the ultimate monument to repression …
Join Dominic and Tom as they discuss the apocalyptic Storming of the Bastille fortress, and the truth behind the prison's famously grotesque reputation. Given the gory events that unfolded on that momentous day, was violence innate to the French Revolution from the very beginning - its driving force - and its bloody denouement therefor inevitable?
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Looking for all of our episodes on the French Revolution? Check out The Rest Is History’s French Revolution playlist
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX6W9e1zgsgaG
_______
*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*
If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.
*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*
Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.
Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com
_______
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In the summer of 1788, a monstrous storm swept across France, wiping out the crucial wheat harvest. With the nation already in the throes of political and financial calamity, this meteorological disaster - followed by an apocalyptic drought, and latterly the cruellest winter France had ever known - exacerbated the growing sense of catastrophe. With bankruptcy declared that August and unemployment record high, all eyes turned to Jacques Necker, the newly appointed finance minister. However, the amalgamation of political and financial crisis, the cultural atmosphere of virtue and passion, and the rising social unrest had already contrived to destabilise the situation permanently. By March there was food rioting, law and order had broken down in the countryside, and in April the bloodiest day of the revolution so far erupted in Paris. At last, in June, the Estates General met for the first time since 1614-15, and the mounting pressure to replace the traditional Three Estates with a single assembly resolved itself into the formation of the National Assembly; a body determined to take the fate of the nation into its own hands. With the elements gathering against them, what will Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette do?
Join Dominic and Tom as they recount the dramatic series of calamities that unravelled the nation and spiralled into the infamous Tennis Court Oath of June 1789, and the Revolution itself. From natural disasters and bread riots, and financial ruin, to political instability, Dr Guillotin, and disreputable republican firebrands….
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Looking for all of our episodes on the French Revolution? Check out The Rest Is History’s French Revolution playlist
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX6W9e1zgsgaG
_______
*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*
If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.
*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*
Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.
Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com
_______
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
With seismic antecedents such as the Glorious Revolution in England and the American War of Independence, what was it about the French Revolution that saw it become arguably the most important episode in all early modern political history? And what unique combination of factors converged to unleash this colossal, world-shaking event; the paradigmatic example of a people trying to reshape their society? By the start of the 18th century, France was the largest kingdom in continental Europe, and a powerhouse of agriculture, trade, and military might. But it was also a multilayered and very complex machine, still heavily founded in its ancient hierarchies and the dominion of the ancien régime. The King, Louis XVI, though in no way despotic and in some ways an enlightened man, did not have the strength to fix the creaking system he had inherited. And while the 18th century was an age of enormous dynamism, energy and modernity into which a new discourse of the self had been born, it was also a time of terrible violence in France, long before the revolution. The nation had also been running up stratospheric debts ever since the 1720s, and the poverty of the monarchy - the plight of every 18th century monarch - was exacerbated by its efforts to fund the American War against the British. Finally, the unravelling situation came to a head when, in 1786, Louis XVI was confronted with the news that the looming financial abyss had finally engulfed France, triggering a series of events that, from 1787, would unleash the doom-spiral of the revolution, and lead to his eventual overthrow…
Join Dominic and Tom as they discuss the causes behind the French Revolution. From the innovative, enlightened culture of 18th century France, set beside its enduringly hierarchical and deeply violent society, the amiable but feeble Louis XVI with his clueless finance ministers, to the American Revolution, financial cataclysms, and angry mobs.
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Looking for all of our episodes on the French Revolution? Check out The Rest Is History’s French Revolution playlist
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX6W9e1zgsgaG
_______
*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*
If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.
*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*
Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.
Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com
_______
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In August 1785 a shocking affair came to light which would prove so detrimental to the reputation and standing of the French King Louis XVI, and more especially his already unpopular wife, Queen Marie Antoinette, that it would become a decisive moment in the rising tide of the French Revolution. It concerned a gaudy but incalculably expensive diamond necklace commissioned by Louis XV for his mistress, Madame du Barry. Embroiled in the affair was a young prostitute by the name of Nicole Le Guay d’Oiva with an uncanny resemblance to the Queen, a naive Cardinal named Louis-René de Rohan, desperate to return to Marie Antoinette’s good graces, an aristocratic confidence trickster, Jeanne de la Motte, and a Freemason occultist, Alessandro Cagliostro. The web of lies and deceptions that they wove - in many ways capitalising upon the simmering tensions of court life at Versailles - and the scandal that subsequently erupted, would inflame the entire nation.
Join Tom and Dominic as they divulge, gem by glittering, salacious gem, the twists and turns of the famous Affair of the Diamond Necklace. An intrigue of such devilish guile and duplicity, with so colourful a cast of characters, that it near bellies belief. But also, with repercussions for the French monarchy that would destabilise it forever….
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Looking for all of our episodes on the French Revolution? Check out The Rest Is History’s French Revolution playlist
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX6W9e1zgsgaG
_______
*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*
If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.
*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*
Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.
Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com
_______
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The French Revolution is one of the great seismic events of global history. A devouring conflagration of bloodshed, violence and utopianism, it changed France and then latterly the whole of Europe forever. Yet, amidst the panoply of colossal, colourful names that defined this cataclysmic event, few have endured as iconically as that of Marie Antoinette, the Queen of France, who has in many ways come to embody the revolution in the popular imagination. Yet, from the moment of her arrival from Austria at the tender age of fifteen, Marie Antoinette was a contentious figure in France, with rumours circulating throughout her life of her insatiable sexual appetite and frivolity, her sapphic proclivities, and even her vampirism. But who was the real Marie Antoinette - voraciously decadent 'it' girl and snob or a well-meaning but naive scapegoat? Under what circumstances did she come to marry the Dauphin, the future Louis XVI, and to what extent did she truly spark the French Revolution, with her calls to “let them eat cake!”?
Join Tom and Dominic for the first instalment of their magnificent sweep through the outbreak and first years of the French Revolution, as they discuss the early life and character of one of its most celebrated and lambasted figures - an icon of style, a beacon of whimsical, bucolic giddiness, a rapacious monster - Marie Antoinette.
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Looking for all of our episodes on the French Revolution? Check out The Rest Is History’s French Revolution playlist
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX6W9e1zgsgaG
_______
*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*
If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.
*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*
Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.
Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com
_______
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
“The lamps are going out all over Europe, we shall not see them lit again in our lifetime”
In the early days of August 1914, the British press has become increasingly vocal about the prospect of war breaking out amongst the great European powers. But the Kaiser still believes he can count on his ambassador in London, and his dear cousin, George V, to make sure Britain stays out of the war, giving the Germans an easy go at the French. And a telegram from the British capital apparently brings the best possible news: Britain declares itself neutral, and will make sure that France does the same…
Join Tom and Dominic in the final instalment of our series on the outbreak of the First World War, as the storm clouds of war finally reach Western Europe…
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LIVE SHOWS
*The Rest Is History BOOK TOUR*
To celebrate the launch of our second book, “The Rest Is History Returns”, Dominic and Tom will be appearing onstage in both Oxford and Cambridge in September!
*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*
Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.
*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*
If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.
Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com
_______
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
“We have been forced to draw the sword”.
Following the expiry of Austria’s Ultimatum on Saturday 25th July 1914, the Kaiser and the Tsar - friends and cousins, long desirous of peace between their two nations - found themselves in a new and highly precarious situation. Even so, there was still a widespread sense across Europe that war could be avoided, with Sir Edward Grey determined to mediate between Serbia, Russia, Austria and Germany. His efforts would be frustrated when, a month after the assassination, emperor Franz Joseph finally signed the declaration of war on Serbia. That same afternoon the power brokers of St. Petersburg were urging a reticent Tsar to declare war. Then, in the early hours of the following day, there was a mighty explosion outside Belgrade, where a contingent of Serbians, embroiled in the assassination of the Archduke, had blown up a major railway bridge connecting Belgrade to Austria. Following this, there emerged from the darkness three Austro-Hungarian warships, their sights set on revenge….
Join Dominic and Tom as they describe the most dramatic day in the lead up to the First World War so far. With the world hovering on the edge of a gaping precipice, the British cabinet subsequently met again to discuss Germany’s next course of action, their thoughts inevitably turning to “plucky little Belgium”…
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*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*
If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.
*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*
Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.
Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com
_______
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
On the 24th of July 1914, in London, the Liberal British Cabinet met to hear the Foreign Secretary, Sir Edward Grey, read them the Ultimatum handed to Serbia by the Austro-Hungarian Empire the day before. The world held its breath, awaiting Serbia’s response. With Germany determined to stand by Austria, and the French against them, focus now turned turned to Britain. Historically a German ally despite their naval race in 1913, it had recently adopted a policy of “splendid isolation”, its enormous empire having in some ways been something of a millstone, forcing them into protective alliances with other powers with which they may not otherwise have aligned. Regardless, the cabinet’s response to the Ultimatum was one of unanimous shock, with Sir Grey himself - a man of languid superiority - especially worried by the situation simmering in Europe. How, then, would Britain and the other great powers of Europe respond to the Ultimatum? And graver still, what would Serbia do?
Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss the entangled web of European diplomacy in 1914, the British reaction to Austria’s Ultimatum, and the fascinating, comical and often deeply impressive cast of characters operating matters behind the scenes, as the countdown to war begun.
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*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*
If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.
*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*
Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.
Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com
_______
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
On the 20th of July 1914 the heads of state of two great European powers - France and Russia - met in St Petersburg. Little did they know, though they may have suspected, that the Austrians were simultaneously writing up an Ultimatum, and waiting for the departure of the French to hand it to Serbia. Russia, at that time a vast continental empire under the leadership of the conservative, nervous Tsar Nicholas II, posed a major threat to the Austrians. It had modernised quickly and was in a far more confident position than it had been ten years earlier. Moreover, it had invested interests in the Balkans - the axis of their grain reserves - and little sympathy for the Austrians and their assassinated Archduke. Meanwhile, France felt itself to be a country in decline, long the whipping boy of Europe, and threatened by Germany - the growing, encroaching industrial shadow on its border. The time had come to recover French prestige in the world, and a war in the Balkans, guaranteeing the intervention of their most useful ally, Russia, may have seemed the answer…So it was that in the wake of their summit, both powers parted having cemented their alliance, eager to drive Britain into the conflict with them, and determined take a firm hand with whatever broke out in the Balkans. Three days later, Austria delivered its Ultimatum to Serbia...
Join Dominic and Tom as they discuss the intrigues and interests of the formidable Franco-Russian alliance, their historical relationship with the Austrians, and the part they played in bringing the apocalyptic First World War to fruition. Also, the moment that Austria-Hungary finally dealt Serbia its inflammatory Ultimatum, and their response to it. With time ticking, the thunder clouds of war were closing in.
_______
LIVE SHOWS
*The Rest Is History BOOK TOUR*
To celebrate the launch of our second book, “The Rest Is History Returns”, Dominic and Tom will be appearing onstage in both Oxford and Cambridge in September!
*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*
Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.
*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*
If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.
Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com
_______
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In the wake of the cataclysmic assassination of Franz Ferdinand on the 28th of June 1914, in Austria, the long percolating question of what to do about Serbia, reached a climax. At last, they had been handed an opportunity to take decisive action. On Sunday 5th of July an emissary of the the old and embattled emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria, arrived in a deserted Berlin with letters for Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany. Their contents would change the course of world history forever. Originally received with uncharacteristic sanguinity and caution, the Kaiser returned from a hearty lunch that afternoon with a response to the emperor’s call for war against Serbia: Germany would back Austria absolutely, on top of which Wilhelm urged his ally to act with haste. What, then, were his motives? Was the Kaiser driven by a hunger for world domination, was it his hostility towards the British or was he spurred on by his personal sense of loss over the brutal assassination of his friend, and his wife? Whatever the case, Germany then issued Austria with the notorious Blank Cheque that would definitively set Europe upon the road to war.
Join Dominic and Tom as they plot out the events that followed from the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, and the first momentous steps towards a world war that even after the Austrian Ultimatum was finally handed to Serbia; none of the major players in that ruinous game, had any sense would take place…
_______
*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*
If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.
*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*
Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.
Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com
_______
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
By the end of July 1914, the world hovered on the edge of a cataclysmic world war; Austria was at war with Serbia, Russia with Germany, and an ultimatum had been handed to Belgium. The July crisis had resolved itself in the most calamitous way possible. But how did this state of affairs erupt from the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie, in Sarajevo a month earlier? Even in the wake of their deaths war did not seem inevitable, with diplomats and politicians such as the British Foreign Secretary Sir Edward Grey manoeuvring to douse the flames kindled by the Serbian assassin Gavrilo Princip. The fires would, however, prove unquenchable, thanks to the implosion of of the Balkan powder keg beside a declining, desiccated Austro-Hungarian Empire, long fearful of Serbia, the rise of Germany under the eccentric Kaiser, as an industrious powerhouse to rival Britain, and the complex alliances and treaties that forbade the Great Powers any retreat from the coming inferno…
Join Dominic and Tom as they set out upon Europe’s road to the First World War - the War to End All Wars - and explain how that devouring conflagration, which would see the end of the world as people knew it before 1914, came to pass.
_______
LIVE SHOWS
*The Rest Is History BOOK TOUR*
To celebrate the launch of our second book, “The Rest Is History Returns”, Dominic and Tom will be appearing onstage in both Oxford and Cambridge in September!
*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*
Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.
*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*
If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.
Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com
_______
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Archduke Franz Ferdinand has arrived in Sarajevo for a military inspection, alongside his wife, Sophie, on the 28th of June 1914. Unbeknownst to them, six assassins, including Gavrilo Princip, line the route of the motorcade, from Sarajevo train station to the town hall. Having completed the inspection, the Archduke faces a first assassination attempt on the way to the town hall, as a bomb, thrown at his car by one of the conspirators, narrowly misses, wounding more than 15 people. Although clearly perturbed by the assassination attempt, Franz Ferdinand decides to continue with his day as planned, thus sealing his fate…
Join Tom and Dominic in the final instalment of our series on the murder of the Franz Ferdinand, as they delve into the finals hours of his life, and look at the series of poor decisions that would lead to Gavrilo Princip completing his mission, and going down in infamy…
_______
*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*
If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.
*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*
Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.
Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com
_______
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Archduke Franz Ferdinand, as heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, was one of the most important men in the world. But he was a lonely man, not helped by the fact that, in spite of custom and tradition, he had chosen for wife Sophie, an aristocrat who nonetheless was not noble enough to marry a Habsburg Archduke. Public humiliation, enforced by the Emperor himself, would plague them for the rest of their lives. In an attempt to show a Habsburg presence in the Balkans, Franz Ferdinand and Sophie had been convinced to undertake a military inspection in Sarajevo, amidst rising nationalist tensions in the area. And for once, they would be allowed to perform their public duties together, as a couple. But, after the electricity went down in his train on the way there, the Archduke could feel something sinister was in the making…
Join Tom and Dominic in the third part of our series on the assassination that sent millions of men to war, as they discuss how Archduke Franz Ferdinand became heir, his strained relationship with his uncle, the Emperor, shooting parties with Kaiser Wilhem II and George V, and why he went to Sarajevo with his wife, Sophie…
_______
*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*
If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.
*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*
Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.
Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com
_______
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Gavrilo Princip, having been sent to school in Sarajevo, has become mixed up with the wrong crowd, and is now entangled in a secret Serbian nationalist organisation, the Black Hand. Hoping to be more involved in the struggle for a greater Yugoslavia, he’s left for Belgrade, and after a few years, sets in motion a plot, supported by his underground network. The Austro-Hungarian emperor is on his deathbed, and now is the perfect time to eliminate his heir, Franz Ferdinand, and spread chaos across the Balkans…
Join Tom and Dominic in the second part of our series on the murder that sent shockwaves through the world, as they look at the simmering tensions in the Balkans and the wider Habsburg Empire, the various nefarious groups conspiring for power and revolution, and the young man at the heart of it all.
_______
*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*
If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.
*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*
Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.
Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com
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Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to one of the world’s greatest empires, in June 1914, set in motion a series of events that would culminate in the First World War, where more than 15 million people would lose their lives. Franz Ferdinand’s assassin, Gavrilo Princip, did not share the same illustrious lineage. A Bosnian serb of humble origins who dreamed of a greater Yugoslavia, he was prepared to do anything to help advance his cause, and free his country from the clutches of the Austro-Hungarian Empire…
Join Tom and Dominic in the first part of our series on history’s most consequential assassination, as they dive into rural Serbia, early 1900s Sarajevo, and the life of Gavrilo Princip, a boy who would join the Black Hand, a sinister, mysterious underground organisation, and sow the seeds of world war with two shots of his gun.
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*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*
If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.
*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*
Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.
Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com
_______
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
To coincide with the re-release of Dynasty in audiobook, now with Tom Holland himself narrating, we have the book’s introduction for you to enjoy.
Dynasty, the sequel to Rubicon, is a dazzling portrait of Rome's first imperial dynasty, tracing the full astonishing story of its rule of the world. Ranging from the great capital rebuilt in marble by Augustus to the dank and barbarian-haunted forests of Germany, it is populated by a spectacular cast: murderers and metrosexuals, adulterers and druids, scheming grandmothers and reluctant gladiators.
Dynasty’s re-released audiobook, narrated by our very own Tom Holland, is OUT NOW in the UK.
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Dynasty continues Rubicon's story, opening where that book ended: with the murder of Julius Caesar. This is the period of the first and perhaps greatest Roman Emperors and it's a colorful story of rule and ruination, running from the rise of Augustus through to the death of Nero. Holland's expansive history also has distinct shades of I Claudius, with five wonderfully vivid (and in three cases, thoroughly depraved) Emperors—Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero—featured, along with numerous fascinating secondary characters. Intrigue, murder, naked ambition and treachery, greed, gluttony, lust, incest, pageantry, decadence—the tale of these five Caesars continues to cast a mesmerizing spell across the millennia.
_______
*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*
If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.
*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*
Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.
Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com
_______
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
From the turn of the 20th century, election campaigns - though still replete with politicians behaving badly - have evolved. They have become less mass-participation events or festivals, and receded, with the majority of the population growing increasingly indifferent. Though, following Nixon and Kennedy’s presidential campaigns in the 1960’s, there seeped across the Atlantic a sense that elections were a “race”, which could actively alter the outcome of an election rather than merely acting as a summoning call to predetermined voters. However, the gaffs endured. For instance, Winston Churchill’s famously controversial speech in 1945, during the election that he later lost to the politically adept Clement Attlee; Harold Wilson’s large crowd of hecklers during his 1964 campaign, and John Major's infamous soap-box orations. Then, with the landmark election of 1983, Margaret Thatcher revolutionised campaigning strategy by capitalising on television. This trend has endured through the various campaigns of her successors, many in their way just as dysfunctional, derisory, and even comical as those of their early predecessors.
Join Dominic and Tom as, with a week to go until Britain enters the polls, they discuss the evolution of campaigning from the 20th century through to the present day. They reveal in glorious technicolour who have been the most effective campaigners of British politics; who the worst, and why. With a cast of characters including Clement Attlee and Winston Churchill, Margaret Thatcher and Harold Wilson, Tony Blair, Boris Johnson, Jeremy Corbyn and Ed Davey; they reveal some of the funniest, and most shocking election gaffs of all time....
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*The Rest Is History LIVE in 2024*
Tom and Dominic are back onstage this summer, at Hampton Court Palace in London!
Buy your tickets here: therestishistory.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
"Good God I am shot! I shall die!"
The colourful kaleidoscope of British elections from 1265 to their early 20th century incarnation, has seen some of the most critical, shocking, and downright farcical moments of western democracy. None more so than during the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, when, following the dawn of party politics in the 1690’s, violence and “treating” - a means of enticing voters with raucous, drunken, glutenous street parties - as tools of political persuasion, rose to the fore. Few episodes encapsulate this more admirably than the election of 1698, which saw Whig candidates driving down their Tory opponents with hordes of hired horsemen, cudgelling them as they went. In 1705 - a year that saw party politics truly take shape and the early shoots of the culture wars - the Tories had their revenge, marching on the Whigs of Coventry armed with halberd's…the madness continued into the Victorian era, despite the expanding franchise and a widespread sense of Gladstonian rectitude. In 1865, for example, a good humoured ruckus between a cheerful liberal and a keen conservative resulted in a fatal shot to the mouth. The murderer was partially pardoned on the basis that he had been suffering from “election fever”…these are but a few incidents in the colourful kaleidoscope of election madness.
Join Dominic and Tom as they discuss in titillating detail the highlights of history’s greatest, bawdiest and most bombastic pre-20th century elections. From murder, duelling MPs, hooliganism, and Hogarthian street carnivals, to cat throwing, pub invasions, mass kidnappings and charging grenadiers. Are there echoes of these episodes in the election antics of today?
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*The Rest Is History LIVE in 2024*
Tom and Dominic are back onstage this summer, at Hampton Court Palace in London!
Buy your tickets here: therestishistory.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The image of Saint George astride his horse, sword and spear in hand, slaying a dragon, is one of the most iconic iconographical spectacles of all time. But what was the historical truth of this deeply mythologised figure? The conventional take on his story is well known: once, long ago, there lived a pagan king who refused to honour the one God. As punishment, a terrible dragon was sent to ravage his lands, and his daughter sent to supplicate the beast. Until, the saintly George rode up to save the girl and the king’s soul…herein lies an important feature of the historical George: his piety, with the earliest sources casting him as a Christian martyr from Cappadocia, gruesomely tortured and killed in the 3rd century BC. Over time the legend has changed and evolved; from the courts of English monarchs such as Edward I and Henry VIII, who celebrated his chivalry to buttress their regimes, to his many religious and ideological detractors. Throughout it all, though, George stands apart from the ranks of Christian saints. But why?
Join Tom and Dominic as they trace the historical Saint George and his famous slaying of the dragon. From the earliest accounts of him in the Near East, to the cults of the medieval era, the reformation, Tudor pageantry, and the introduction of the St George’s flag. Fearsome 17th century dragons, mythical beasts, and miraculous resurrections all feature…
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*The Rest Is History LIVE in 2024*
Tom and Dominic are back onstage this summer, at Hampton Court Palace in London!
Buy your tickets here: therestishistory.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
"When dragons flew to war… everything burned. I do not wish to rule over a kingdom of ash and bone."
Dragons - the most compelling of mythical beasts - are one of the most vivid creations of all human imagination, and their enduring resonance is captivatingly displayed by their role in George R.R. Martin’s House of the Dragon and Game of Thrones. But how did the legend of the dragon, prominent across the world, evolve into the modern incarnation embodied by Rhaenyra Targaryen’s golden Syrax? And what is the difference between dragons, wyverns and wyrms, the traces of which persist in Damon’s reptilian Caraxes?
Canonical dragons are the realisation of four main traditions: the serpents of the Greco-Roman World, the fortune-bringers of the Chinese emperors, the demonic beasts of the Bible, and the greedy gold-hoarders of Norse mythology, as seen in the tale of Beowulf.
The most famous heir of this tradition is J.R.R. Tolkien’s avaricious Smaug, but as in Tolkien’s Middle Earth, the dragons in Martin’s Westeros represent the dangers of uncontrolled power and humans’ capacity to abuse it. Perhaps, then, they have long served as avatars for humanity’s deepest fears about the world, with their manifestation in every age and culture tellingly symbolic….
Join Tom and Dominic as they interweave the many myths and traditions surrounding that most spectacular of beasts: the dragon, and trace its fascinating progression from the wingless creatures of early antiquity, to the mighty, complex creatures who fight for mastery of Westeros alongside their Targaryen riders, in George R.R. Martin's House of the Dragon.
Watch House of the Dragon season 2 on Sky. Go to sky.com to find out more.
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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To coincide with the re-release of Rubicon in audiobook, now with Tom Holland himself narrating it, we have the book’s introduction for you to enjoy.
Rubicon is a story of incomparable drama. This was the century of Julius Caesar, the gambler whose addiction to glory led him to the banks of the Rubicon, and beyond; of Cicero, whose defence of freedom would make him a byword for eloquence; of Spartacus, the slave who dared to challenge a superpower; of Cleopatra, the queen who did the same.
Rubicon’s re-released audiobook, narrated by our very own Tom Holland, is OUT NOW in the UK.
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The Roman Republic was the most remarkable state in history. What began as a small community of peasants camped among marshes and hills ended up ruling the known world. Rubicon paints a vivid portrait of the Republic at the climax of its greatness – the same greatness which would herald the catastrophe of its fall.
It is a story of incomparable drama. This was the century of Julius Caesar, the gambler whose addiction to glory led him to the banks of the Rubicon, and beyond; of Cicero, whose defence of freedom would make him a byword for eloquence; of Spartacus, the slave who dared to challenge a superpower; of Cleopatra, the queen who did the same.
Tom Holland brings to life this strange and unsettling civilization, with its extremes of ambition and self-sacrifice, bloodshed and desire. Yet alien as it was, the Republic still holds up a mirror to us. Its citizens were obsessed by celebrity chefs, all-night dancing and exotic pets; they fought elections in law courts and were addicted to spin; they toppled foreign tyrants in the name of self-defence. Two thousand years may have passed, but we remain the Romans’ heirs.
*The Rest Is History LIVE in 2024*
Tom and Dominic are back onstage THIS SUNDAY, at Hampton Court Palace in London! Buy your tickets here: therestishistory.com
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In 972AD a princess of the Byzantine Empire was sent by her uncle, the Roman emperor in Constantinople, to marry the son of Otto the Great - Emperor of the Latin West. A tantalising and formidable figure, Theophanu became a major player in one of the most tumultuous and mysterious periods of history. At the end of the 10th century, the world was still reeling from the cataclysmic implosion of the Roman Empire. Into the vacuum it left, three great powers reared their heads: the Empire of Islam, the Byzantines, and a Latin West in which barbarian kingdoms tussled to build themselves up over the rubble of Rome. It was also a time in which women had never wielded greater power, from behind the throne and even, before it. Following the death of her father-in-law, therefore, Theophanu - as the anointed wife of an emperor - became an Imperatrix Augusta, and in this capacity carved out a mighty new role for herself. As Rome’s heir’s battled for supremacy, Theophanu, with her competence and sophistication, would fight to see her son named the final, and much mythologised Emperor of Rome. Would she succeed?
Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss Theophanu: empress of the apocalypse. From clashing empires, warring queens, and lascivious Popes, to court politics and the invention of the fork; all in a time of armageddon.
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*The Rest Is History LIVE in 2024*
Tom and Dominic are back onstage this summer, at Hampton Court Palace in London!
Buy your tickets here: therestishistory.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
"His clothes seemed to melt into each other with the perfection of their cut and the quiet harmony of their colour. Without a single point of emphasis, everything was distinguished"
The suit has long served as the official attire of men in Britain, Europe and the Western World. Traditionally the uniform of the elites and an indicator of class, its purpose and design has evolved over time. Notably, in the great sweep of clothing throughout human history - from the Roman toga to the ancient Egyptian shendyt - the suit is unusual for the way that it hugs the body, rather than hanging off it. What then is the origin of this most venerable of fashions? And why has it conventionally been so much more constrained and less flamboyant than women’s clothing? The genesis of the suit dates back to 14th century Latin Christendom, a period of rapid innovation and evolution in clothing, though in England its symbolic resonance emerged during the Civil War, when the style of one’s dress became emblematic of ideology. Remarkably, however, the exact moment of its invention is recorded when, in the wake of the Great Fire of London, fears for God’s wrath and the economy, saw Charles I announce the introduction of a new design for his nobles. From this moment onwards the suit has been woven into some of the great ideological movements, moments, and characters of history.
Join Tom and Dominic as they travel through the glamorous, colourful and often adventurous history of the suit. From Chaucer’s England and the Black Death, fashion feuds between Kings, through the Napoleonic Wars, into the Highwaymen and Pirates of the 18th century; Beau Brummell and the rise of the dandy, the macaronis and the fop, right into the illustrious origins of Savile Row, and some of the suit’s famous contemporary champions…
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*The Rest Is History LIVE in 2024*
Tom and Dominic are back onstage this summer, at Hampton Court Palace in London!
Buy your tickets here: therestishistory.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
In 1870 the German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann - a man of remarkable energy, desperately fascinated with Helen of Troy - discovered in Turkey the burnt remains of what he claimed to be the legendary city of Troy, and with it, a horde of gold and treasure which he attributed to Helen. Following this breakthrough, he went in search of another, more obscure prize: Mycenae, one of the most powerful city-states in ancient Greece, and the dominion of Agamemnon, husband of Helen’s sister, Clytemnestra. A man whose family was dogged by incest, dark curses, vengeance and cannibalism, Agamemnon mercilessly sacrificed his daughter on the eve of the Trojan Wars. But this would unleash a terrible vengeance from Clytemnestra, and set in motion one of the great stories of Greek tragedy…
Join Tom and Dominic as they unveil the life of Clytemnestra, one of the most potent and blood-soaked women in Greek mythology, and tell the story of an amateur archaeologist’s hunt for her and Helen.
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Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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The story of Helen of Troy, her remarkable birth and her infamous love affair with Paris, the Trojan prince, resounds across the centuries. A figure of condemnation, pity and tragedy, her beauty set in motion the most legendary literary conflict of all time: the Trojan Wars. Yet, Helen’s story reaches far beyond Homer and the Iliad. From her godly parentage and the egg from which she hatched, to her marriage to the king of Sparta and her abduction to Troy, Helen crossed paths with the greatest figures of Greek mythology. But in a story told almost entirely by men, what then is the truth of Helen? Was her fabled life one of abuse and oppression, or was she the mistress of her own fate? And could it be that she did in fact really exist?
Join Tom and Dominic as they journey through the life of Helen of Troy, into worlds of myth and legend, and explore the significance of this most iconic of women - both for the world of the Ancient Greeks, and our world today.
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Buy your tickets here: therestishistory.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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"I will bury my heart, at Wounded Knee"
With Native American culture in free fall in the years following their triumph at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, the rise of the Ghost Dance - a form of spiritual expression that promised liberty from the oppression of 19th century American politics, modernisation and mass entertainment - brought a new hope to the Sioux. Even so, the once great war chieftain Sitting Bull, unable to see visions int the dance, and having allowed himself to be seduced by Buffalo Bill and the mass entertainment industry, found his authority in the Reservation waning. Meanwhile, a plan was being concocted to do away for him once and for all…his fate would set in motion a tragic chain of events that would culminate in a terrible, barbaric massacre at Wounded Knee Creek, where, amidst the bathetic winter snows, it seems that the Lakota had finally met their end.
Join Dominic and Tom for the epic conclusion to their mighty saga on the Lakota Sioux and the American Indian Wars, as they discuss the fate of Sitting Bull, the Ghost Dancers, and their last stand at the terrible Wounded Knee massacre.
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Buy your tickets here: therestishistory.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Following the tragic death of Crazy Horse and the ruthless cessation of the Sioux way of life, the last of the great Native American leaders were gradually picked off or repressed by the U.S. Government. Few though had so pitiful a fate as the once mighty Lakota War Chieftain, Sitting Bull. Having fled to Canada in search of peace from the relentless harrowing of his people, Sitting Bull finally returned and arrived at the Standing Rock Reservation in 1883. He was unprepared, however, for the changes wrought upon his people. With the explosion of railroads and the decimation of the already flailing buffalo populations, the Great Plains had been transformed into a desolate, barbed wasteland. While, the Native Americans within the reservations were increasingly coerced into Christianity by missionaries, or controlled by Federal agents. Then, news reached Sitting Bull and his people of a messianic figure from beyond the Rocky Mountains, who would come to liberate them from their plight. With him he brought the answer to their troubles: the Ghost Dance. Would it see the drums of war sound once more?
Join Dominic and Tom as they discuss the life of Sitting Bull in the years following his victory at the Little Bighorn: the destruction of the Plains, his time with the infamous Buffalo Bill, and the birth of the mystical, incendiary Ghost Dance.
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Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
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@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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Though the Battle of the Little Bighorn seemed for the triumphant Lakota and their allies - the largest gathering of Plains Indians ever assembled - a miraculous victory, it was for them the beginning of the end. A great council was held near the battlefield in which they made the fateful decision to split up. Meanwhile, in Washington, Custer’s death and the military defeat of the army was being politicised, and the public rallied against the Lakota. Red Cloud, their political leader through so many of their struggles, was replaced with a puppet interloper. Then, during the winter of 1877, a contingent of ruthless and fiercely effective U.S. officers, including General Crook and General Miles, chased and harried the retreating Sioux contingents through the snows, leaving them starving, beleaguered and desperate. At last, in March 1877 the once formidable war chiefs Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull found themselves cornered, and their people left with little choice but to admit defeat. What then would be their fate?
Join Dominic and Tom as they discuss the annihilation of the Plains Indians and the dissolution of their extraordinary culture and nomadic way of life, along with the tragic death and downfall of one of the most mesmerising and mysterious characters of the entire story: Crazy Horse.
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Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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What happened between the moment that George A. Custer dispatched a trumpeter with his famous final plea for back-up, and the gruesome discovery of his forces at the Little Bighorn? Certainly, the morning of the 26th of June 1876 found the overwhelmed Major Reno and what remained of his men, along with Captain Benteen, gathered atop a hill, bloody, dehydrated, surrounding by putrefying corpses, and mystified as to the whereabouts of Custer. And the nightmarish ordeal of Reno's clash with the Lakota and their allies was not yet over. Gunfire, carbines and the whiz of arrows echoed in the distance, while below them fearsome Lakota warriors were unnervingly draped in the bloodied jackets and hats of Custer’s 7th Cavalry. Finally, at 3pm, the vast encampment of Lakota began moving off, and at dawn the next day they glimpsed a dust cloud in the distance: reinforcements at last. What they saw upon finally descending the hill, was a scene of such horror, that it would resound through the ages…
Join Dominic and Tom as they describe, moment by moment, the events of George Custer’s electrifying last stand at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, and its aftermath. What really happened, and what became of Custer, Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull? Above all, who was to blame for the events of that shocking day?
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Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
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@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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“You and I are going home today, and by a trail that is strange to us both…”
The Battle of The Little Bighorn is one of the totemic moments of American frontier history. However, it is also mysterious, with the exact events of that blood-soaked day difficult to trace. On the 22nd of June, George Custer marched out with vague orders to drive the vast gathering of the Lakota and their allies, under the leadership of Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull, towards General Terry’s force, advancing from the South. Custer, keen as ever for a charge, was hoping to score a considerable defeat over the Native Americans in time for the 4th of July centenary. Then, on the evening of the 24th of June, Crow scouts reported that the Lakota’s trail had been found, and Custer launched into action. Marching his men through the night, they arrived at the encampment the following morning, shocked to discover a camp of thousands. At 3pm, the first force attacked, and the Battle of the Little Bighorn, in all its horror and gore, had begun…
Join Dominic and Tom they explore one of America’s most mythologised battles, separating fact from fiction, as they build up to George Custer’s last stand.
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Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
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@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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The U.S. was cast into a spiralling panic following the economic depression of 1873, and waves of paramilitary violence swept through the south as the debates surrounding Reconstruction swirled on. Amidst this uncertainty, the government, under the leadership of Ulysses S. Grant and his chief advisors, began drawing up a cold blooded plan to strike into the heart of Montana and settle the issue of the Plains Indians once and for all. Meanwhile, the drumbeats of war were sounding amongst the newly united Lakota and Cheyenne themselves, spearheaded by their war chiefs Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull, as the pressures of white settlers and the railroads increased. Their numbers swelled in the wake of a failed winter campaign lead by General Crook, as swarms of refugees accumulated into Sitting Bull's village - the largest assembly of Lakota ever seen on the Plains. The stage seemed set for a mighty reckoning in the summer of 1876, as the Federal government geared up for another assault. Much to his delight George Custer, spared from the brink of disaster by his reckless impetuosity, was recruited to the 7th Cavalry marching on one of the armies closing in on the Lakota encampment near the Little Bighorn River…the Battle of the Rosebud that followed would see a six hour struggle of monumental violence.
Join Dominic and Tom as they discuss the events and battles that lead up to the Battle of the Little Bighorn; Grant’s eccentric generals, and Custer’s impulsive escapades in the build up to the final evening of his life…
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*The Rest Is History LIVE in 2024*
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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In the wake of the barbaric Washita River massacre, George Custer found himself drifting; addicted to gambling, at odds with his wife, and failing in his efforts to take advantage of the American gold rush in New York. Finally, Custer was sent to Kentucky to suppress the terrible post war fighting there, but again found himself alienated from many of his companions by his controversial views on Reconstruction. Restless and dissatisfied, the chance for danger and action finally came Custer’s way, thanks to the ambitions of the Northern Pacific Railway. With plans to build it right across Lakota territory, the venture was intended to and would fatally threaten their way of life, by spelling the death of the bison. With this threat on the horizon, the mighty Lakota war leaders, Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse lead violent raids against the survey party sent to prospect the land, hampering and halting their efforts. So it was that in 1873 another expedition was sent, and with it went George Custer, bringing him into contact for the first time with the two mighty warriors who would shape his destiny. A fearful, bloody game of cat and mouse would ensue, culminating in an epic confrontation…
Join Dominic and Tom as they discuss the evolution of Custer’s career leading up to his first legendary encounter with Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, the incremental creep of the Northern Pacific Railway, and the U.S. Government’s secret plan to defeat the Lakota Sioux, once and for all.
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Twitter:
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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"What would you do if your home was attacked? You would stand up like a brave man and defend it. That is our story."
Following the bloody Fetterman Fight, which saw the Lakota warlord Crazy Horse and his warriors ambush and massacre American troops, the American public was left stunned, its government and civilian population hungry for revenge. In the wake of this a new treaty was signed, further restricting the Lakota Sioux’s freedoms, but nevertheless signed by their political leader, Red Cloud. Still, many would not be constrained to reservations, and instead sought war. Chief amongst them was Sitting Bull, a legendary, mythologised figure of the Great American Plains and the Wild West - the embodiment of a vanished age. Born into the Lakota Sioux, and a world of shifting allegiances, violent initiation rituals, and intransigent spiritualities, as a young man Sitting Bull’s herculean destiny was sung to him by an eagle. The career that followed in his war against the U.S. government would exceed even the greatest of epics. By 1860 he was paramount leader of the Sioux Nation, when news reached him of the imminent arrival of a survey party, lead by none other than George Armstrong Custer…
Join Dominic and Tom as they discuss Sitting Bull’s rise, his extraordinary upbringing, and his stand against the increasing encroachment of railroads into his homelands.
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Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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Of all the great characters entangled in the story of George A. Custer and the American Indian Wars, few are as captivating as Crazy Horse. A mighty warrior of the Lakota Sioux, and a tremendous military tactician, he was a charismatic but enigmatic figure. The Sioux, of which the Lakota are a subculture, are groups of Native American tribes and First Nations people from the Great Plains. Their way of life was transformed by the introduction of horses to North America, but their nomadic lifestyle and dependence upon buffalo hunting was severely threatened by the imposition of telegraph lines, forts and then railroads upon their lands. So it was that, reluctant to be confined to the reservations outlined for them by the U.S. Government, they decided to fight back, under the joint leadership of the politically savvy Red Cloud, and the fated, fearless, tactically brilliant, Crazy Horse…
Join Dominic and Tom as they plunge into the world of the Lakota Sioux, looking at the history of their people in the American plains, their rich, complex culture and often gory rituals, and the fascinating characters who would challenge George Custer and the U.S. Government.
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Tom and Dominic are back onstage this summer, at Hampton Court Palace in London!
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Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
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@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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With the American Civil War coming to a close in April 1865, George Custer, cavalry commander in the Union army, and a man of dubious political leanings for a unionist officer, was sent to Texas. Reckless, daring and bloodthirsty, the conclusion of the war came as a disappointment to him. Then, having allied himself with the new, anti-Reconstruction American president, Andrew Johnson, Custer alienated himself from one of the most important men in the country: Ulysses S. Grant. As such he found himself exiled to the murderous but dull post of Kansas. There, he and the 7th Cavalry were charged with handling the looming conflict with the Cheyenne; an indigenous people of the Great Plains, whose lives and culture had been radically jeopardised by modernisation, and the encroachment of the railroads into their lands. While some Cheyenne were inclined to negotiate with Washington, their more zealous warriors, the ‘Dog Soldiers’, were determined to fight and destroy the settlers, sending bloodthirsty raids into federal forts. The campaigns that followed saw acts of terrific violence, culminating in a terrible, brutal massacre…
Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss Custer’s first forays into the gruesome and tragic American Indian Wars: his political missteps, southern adventures, romantic rollercoasters, and battles with the remarkable horse-riding, buffalo hunting Cheyenne.
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Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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“Come on, you Wolverines!”
The story of the American Indian Wars of 1862-68 is an enthralling tale of hubris, politics, recklessness, and the merciless assault of industrialisation and modernity on an old world, nearly extinguished. An immense tragedy, it is also a story of great adventure, with formidable heroes and villains on both sides. No two figures encapsulate this better than the enigmatic, strategically brilliant Lakota war leader, Crazy Horse, and his foil on the side of the Unites States government, cavalry commander George A. Custer, whose daring, panache and egotism has immortalised him in the annals of American history. From the bloody battles of the American Civil War and the snake-pit of Reconstruction politics, to his ruthless campaigns against the Native American and First Nation peoples of the Great Plains, and his ensuing, mysterious demise, Custer’s life is a thrilling mix of heroics, brutality, madness and gore.
Join Dominic and Tom as they delve into the thrilling American Indian Wars, and the life of George A. Custer. From his flamboyant and salacious youth, to his daredevil performance fighting for the Union army, and his entry into the fascinating world of nineteenth century American politics.
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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The Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, the Habsburg dynasty's mightiest ruler, was at once King of Spain, Archduke of Austria, Lord of the Netherlands and Duke of Burgundy. With a lineage supposedly stretching back to Noah’s Ark, and a name born in Ancient Rome, the Habsburgs are one of the most influential dynasties in all of European history, shaping and changing the course of nations and empires. The first great Habsburg, Rudolph, was made King of the Romans in 1273, though it was from 1500, through a series of tactical marriages, that their ascendancy truly began. Key among these was the marriage of Maximilian I, Charles V’s grandfather, to the powerful heiress Mary of Burgundy. The resulting gigantic Habsburg dominion would eventually split into two dynastic branches, located in Spain and Vienna, forging remarkable, multinational empires, that dominated central Europe until the twentieth century. But is there any truth to the claim that the Habsburg’s notorious proclivity for inbreeding resulted in genetic deformities that would see the downfall of the family?
In this week’s episode, Dominic and Tom are joined by none other than Eduard Habsburg-Lothringen, to discuss his illustrious family’s tumultuous history, its most famous members, strange death rituals, romantic legends, and the seven rules he’s derived from the stories of the House of Habsburg.
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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"The First Emperor will die and his land will be divided….”
The First Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang, left behind him a monumental legacy: an Empire which would last millennia, the foundations of the Great Wall of China, and an eerie Terracotta Army - 8000 warriors who would protect the Emperor in the afterlife. His deeply autocratic reign, and the brutal tactics he used to conquer rival states and establish the Chinese Empire, have seen him cast as the archetype of the “bad emperor”. And when compared with Qin Shi Huang, Mao boasted that “when you berate us for imitating his despotism, we are happy to agree!”. But was Chinese unification under one empire inevitable, or did it need a ruthless figure to centralise power? And to what terrifying lengths did the first Emperor go to secure immortality…?
Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss the fantastical First Emperor of China - one of the world’s most powerful and formidable rulers. From warring kingdoms and ruthless suppressions, to necromancy, mythical beasts, doom-ridden prophecies, and even 20th century Chinese Communism.
*The Rest Is History LIVE in 2024*
Tom and Dominic are back onstage this summer, at Hampton Court Palace in London!
Buy your tickets here: therestishistory.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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Rumours surrounding Lord Byron’s scandalous divorce rippled throughout the world. Finally, he had no choice but to abandon England in disgrace and flee to Italy, an exile but still the most famous man in Europe. Then, in the summer of 1816 in Geneva, he met a young poet named Percy Bysshe Shelley, and one of the most iconic literary friendships of all time was sparked. A handsome republican with an enthusiasm for free-love, Shelley immediately attracted Byron’s admiration. With him, however, was his sister-in-law Claire, a former lover of Byron’s, pregnant with his child whom he detested. Also, Shelley’s wife, Mary. So it was that on a stormy night of ghost stories, another great masterpiece was born…However, as time passed and in the wake of a series of tragedies, the aging Byron grew increasingly isolated and restive, his thoughts turning once more to Greece, that ancient land of myth and legend. Approached by the London Greek Committee to help support the cause of Greek independence, Byron set off once more for Kefalonia. Was it doom or destiny that beckoned?
Join Tom and Dominic for the grand finale of their gripping journey through the life of one of history’s most darkly intriguing figures, Lord Byron. From his English exile, Italian sojourn and final love affair, to the greatest adventure of them all...
*The Rest Is History LIVE in 2024*
Tom and Dominic are back onstage this summer, at Hampton Court Palace in London!
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Twitter:
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
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Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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Good God I am surely in hell!
Upon Lord Byron’s return to England and the publication of Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, he became one of the most notorious men in Europe and the world's first celebrity. The next period of his life would be rocked by shocking scandal, moral depravity and sexual outrage. Pale and sickly but devastatingly romantic, he attracted a dedicated fan base, the likes of which had never been seen. Chief amongst these was the eccentric and androgynous Lady Caroline Lamb, whose affair with Byron would inflame London society and push both to the brink of insanity. So extreme was Caroline’s obsession that upon the advice of her mother-in-law, the cunning and cruel Lady Melbourne known as "the Spider", Byron set out to find himself a wife. The woman he chose was an unlikely candidate: a mathematician, Annabella Milbanke, who Byron hoped would redeem his devilish disposition. Their marriage would be blighted by cruelty, immorality and a particularly pernicious breed of infidelity. For, one other woman now played a central role in Byron’s life: Augusta Leigh, his lover, and sister…
Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss Lord Byron’s tumultuous romantic love affairs and marriage; culminating in a scandal so shocking and sexually licentious that it would drive him from England.
*The Rest Is History LIVE in 2024*
Tom and Dominic are back onstage this summer, at Hampton Court Palace in London!
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Twitter:
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
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Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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By 1809, Lord Byron found himself untethered and debt-ridden. Disenchanted with politics, frustrated by his literary career and haunted by his illicit homosexuality, he abandoned an oppressive England and set out upon his legendary Eastern adventure. First plunging into a Europe torn asunder by the exploits of his hero, Napoleon Bonaparte, Byron decried the imperialist militarism of the raging Napoleonic Wars. Nevertheless, he delighted in the danger and excitement of his travels, absorbing and subsuming the cultures he encountered, and exploring a predilection for transvestism. From Portugal and the Peninsula War, Byron travelled to Albania where he fascinated the infamous Ali Pasha, and then later charmed the Sultan of Constantinople. In Greece, he found a land of exotic romanticism where his growing sense of destiny took root in the Greek’s fight for liberty. At last, in 1811 Byron returned to England and published his poem, Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage. Almost overnight he became the most famous man in London. Byromania had engulfed the nation…
Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss Lord Byron’s remarkable travels abroad - his encounters with some of the most famous men of the age, his confrontations with danger and destiny, and his untethered eroticism…
*The Rest Is History LIVE in 2024*
Tom and Dominic are back onstage this summer, at Hampton Court Palace in London!
Buy your tickets here: therestishistory.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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Few lives from history can have contained as many strange and exciting strands as that of Lord Byron's, whose story reflects the great dramas of the Napoleonic era. A vampiric hero of devilish charisma; a martyr for liberty, a licentious lothario; Byron’s cultural and literary impact cannot be underestimated. The remarkable course of his life, and his mercurial nature can in part be explained by the dark events of his childhood, and the outlandish history of his own family. Born with a club foot - his “satanic mark” - to “Mad Jack” Byron, a former gigolo dogged by incest and financial ruin, and an unpredictable mother, a strange curse seemed to lie over the family. Impoverished before the inheritance of his title and a romantic ruin in Nottinghamshire, the plump and provincial boy would finally find solace at school and university, where he transformed into the glamorous rake he would become. There too would he discover the dubious sexual passions that would haunt his life…
Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss the diabolic history of the Byron family, and the young Byron’s birth, troubled upbringing, and controversial adolescence.
*The Rest Is History LIVE in 2024*
Tom and Dominic are back onstage this summer, at Hampton Court Palace in London!
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Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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Music for sex, dancing, and watching the straight world go by…
The explosion of Disco provides an extraordinary window into the tumultuous world of the 1970s, with its themes of sex, drugs, race and sexuality. By the start of the 1970s, America was a nation of dystopian gloom. The radical dream of the 1960’s had dissipated, with economic decline, Vietnam and Watergate polarising and disenchanting the public. Then, at a party in New York held by the DJ David Mancuso, something new was born: Disco. An intoxicating kaleidoscope of dancing and colour with an orgasmic new sound, it united disparate groups under the banner of music. An escape from the concerns of the day, it captivated the mainstream imagination with its idealism, open drug use, self-consciously flamboyant clothes, and acceptance of race and homosexuality at a time when the Civil Rights Movement was raging and gay rights still contentious. But, with its rising orthodoxy, Disco was also attracting a dedicated base of critics and detractors. They decried its hedonism, its debasement of traditional masculinity, and, with the Aids crisis swirling, its immorality.
Join Dominic and Tom as they discuss the rise and fall of Disco, culminating in the shocking night of Disco Demolition at a White Sox game on the 12th of July 1979. Could it survive this ultimate reckoning?
*The Rest Is History LIVE in 2024*
Tom and Dominic are back onstage this summer, at Hampton Court Palace in London!
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Twitter:
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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“We choose to go to the Moon. We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard…”
In his speech at Rice University, Texas, in September 1962, President John F. Kennedy reaffirmed America's commitment to an extraordinary, startling project: landing a man on the Moon by the end of the decade. Facing fierce competition from the U.S.S.R., it would take 11 missions of unimaginable danger to reach this goal, with Neil Armstrong first setting foot on the Moon’s rocky surface on July 21st, 1969.
"That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."
650 million people watched in awe that day, as Apollo 11 unfolded on live TV. In today’s episode, Tom and Dominic are joined by one of those people, very special guest TOM HANKS, actor, filmmaker and expert on all things Apollo-related, to discuss the epic saga of how humankind made it to the Moon and back. From the tragedy of Apollo 1 and the disaster of Apollo 13, to Buzz Aldrin's "religious moment" after the Eagle had landed, driving foldable cars on the Moon, and the arguments over who would get to take the first lunar steps, Tom Hanks, Dominic Sandbrook and Tom Holland look at the dangerous, daring, and incredible stories of the Apollo missions.
The Moonwalkers: A Journey with Tom Hanks is on at Lightroom, in King’s Cross, London, until the 13th of October 2024.
Find out more here: https://lightroom.uk/whats-on/the-moonwalkers/
*The Rest Is History LIVE in 2024*
Tom and Dominic are back onstage this summer, at Hampton Court Palace in London!
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Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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“I think there is not a devil left in hell, they have all gone into the peasants… smite, stab and slay all”.
Following on from Martin Luther’s dramatic abduction by his powerful protector, Frederick III, he had been secretly kept safe at Wartburg. There, he abandoned his priestly garments for good, and violently wrestled against the devil, in unorthodox ways…Meanwhile, the religious revolution that he had ignited was sweeping through Europe, and setting everything aflame. A sense of apocalyptic flux saw waves of destructive violence unleashed upon all the old customs and idols, as rebellions erupted throughout Christendom. Luther’s reformation had taken on a terrifying new form of zealotry, which saw him transformed from radical to reactionary. His determination to destroy the new reformers enraged and infuriated many of his old followers. None more so than Andreas Karlstadt - the former chancellor of Wittenberg university against whom Luther unleashed a savage smear campaign - and Thomas Müntzer; an apocalyptic prophet who sought to discredit Luther’s reputation. Then, in May 1524, there exploded an uprising in Germany that would change everything, as militant evangelical peasants came up against their Catholic overlords. A religious war had broken out at last…
Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss the radical turn of Luther’s religious revolution and his efforts to quash it, the groundbreaking Peasants’ War, his unexpected marriage, and the colossal legacy of Luther's ideas, and the Reformation.
*The Rest Is History LIVE in 2024*
Tom and Dominic are back onstage this summer, at Hampton Court Palace in London!
Buy your tickets here: therestishistory.com
Twitter:
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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"I cannot and will not recant anything for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe.…Here I stand, I can do no other”
The Diet of Worms in April 1521 was one of history’s most dramatic confrontations, a clash of the old world and the new. It saw the celebrity professor Martin Luther summoned to the imperial free city of Worms by the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, to defend his radical beliefs. And though his life was guaranteed by the Emperor, Luther had never been in greater danger. He arrived in the city to huge, ecstatic crowds, like Jesus returning to Jerusalem from the desert. But would his rhetorical brilliance and passionate defence save him and the future of protestantism, or would he doom himself to a fiery fate?
Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss one of the most groundbreaking moments of western history: Martin Luther at the Diet of Worms in 1521, and the extraordinary twist of fate which saw the most famous man in Europe inexplicably vanish from the face of the earth. Defenestrated dogs, malevolent poltergeists and scatological furores abound...
*The Rest Is History LIVE in 2024*
Tom and Dominic are back onstage this summer, at Hampton Court Palace in London!
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Twitter:
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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Three years on from Martin Luther’s publication of the Ninety-Five Theses - a shocking attack on the corruption of the Catholic Church and the selling of indulgences - his radical new ideas and brilliant use of the printing press had unleashed chaos in Christendom. Still in Wittenberg under the Protection of Frederick III, Luther’s increasingly radical beliefs founded in his readings of Christian scripture, now sought to undermine the entire fabric of the Catholic Church and the theology that has shaped the Latin West for centuries. This culminated in his famous Reformation Moment, which saw his love affair with God raised to new heights of exultation. All the while, support for his outrageous ideas was swelling and Luther’s own celebrity growing. With it, the very real danger in which he placed himself, and the looming threat of excommunication. At last, in August 1518 Luther was summoned to Augsburg to meet with Cardinal Thomas Cajetan and have his beliefs examined…would he survive the reckoning to come?
Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss the raging fires of Luther’s radical revolution, his seminal Reformation Moment, and the great debate in Augsburg which would see his fervour put to the test.
*The Rest Is History LIVE in 2024*
Tom and Dominic are back onstage this summer, at Hampton Court Palace in London!
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Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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Martin Luther is one of the few people to have genuinely changed the world, igniting a religious revolution that tore Christendom in two, and undermined European tradition in ways that still reverberate today. But along with Luther’s uniquely tortured psyche, three events contributed to his extreme transformation from young lawyer to fervent monk: the loss of a dear friend, a near fatal accident, and a cataclysmic thunderstorm. It was at the University of Wittenberg that Luther’s truly revolutionary understanding of God, theology and scripture began to evolve. His scorn for the state of the Church bubbled underneath the surface, until one day, a friar called Johann Tetzel rolled into Saxony, claiming to sell awesome indulgences, which would allow sinful locals to shorten their stay in purgatory. Such staggering corruption drove Luther to take drastic action, and, marching to Wittenberg Castle’s Church, he legendarily nailed his Ninety-Five Theses to the door. Or did he?
Join Tom and Dominic as they describe Luther’s tormented journey to priesthood, the events that lead up to the apocryphal nailing of the Ninety-Five Theses, and the truly radical nature of his newfound relationship with God and Christianity.
*The Rest Is History LIVE in 2024*
Tom and Dominic are back onstage this summer, at Hampton Court Palace in London!
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Twitter:
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
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Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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The Reformation, launched in 1517, stands as one of the most convulsive and transformative events of all time, shattering Christendom and dividing Europe for centuries. Its outcome determined the fates of Kings and Emperors, and saw the souls of millions consigned to the fiery pit of heresy. The man behind it all was Martin Luther, a humble monk of obscure origins. Bold, intellectually arrogant, and a master of spin, the assault he unleashed on the medieval Church had him excommunicated by the Pope. But what was it about Luther’s humble upbringing in Saxony and his strained relationship with his intimidating father that led him down a path of insolence? And was the religious revolution that he sparked inevitable?
Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss the early life of Martin Luther, the apocalyptic environment from which he and his radical ideas emerged, and the Catholic Church he would come to take on…
*The Rest Is History LIVE in 2024*
Tom and Dominic are back onstage this summer, at Hampton Court Palace in London!
Buy your tickets here: therestishistory.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
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@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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"Then it is I drown again, with all those dim lost faces I never understood… Include me in your lamentations.”
The aftermath of the Titanic’s sinking saw different reactions erupt across the Atlantic, and the responses of both mourners and onlookers were visceral. Guilt-ridden survivors were both ostracised and lauded. Heroes became legends - the unsinkable Molly Brown and the band that played on till the frozen end - while villains were condemned forever more. Reputations were splintered and characters blackened as the investigation went on. None more so than J. Bruce Ismay, the head of White Star, whose survival was viewed as a weakness of character. But the key question needed answering: was anyone really to blame, and if yes, who?
Join Dominic and Tom, as they discuss the terrible aftershocks of the sinking of the Titanic, as they unpick truth from legend, and analyse James Cameron’s 1995 film, which famously immortalised this extraordinary story.
*The Rest Is History LIVE in 2024*
Tom and Dominic are back onstage this summer, at Hampton Court Palace in London!
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Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
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@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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“A story of horror unparalleled in the annals of the Sea.”
On the 14th of April 1912, Titanic, a floating palace sailing through the North Atlantic, found itself hurtling towards a formidable iceberg. Contrary to the panicked reactions of her crew who, fatefully, pulled the hulking vessel to starboard, the ship's passengers slept, laughed and played on, unaware of the danger ahead. Then came a terrible grinding sound, as the side of the ship grated against the iceberg, followed by a long, dead silence. At 12.15am a distress call went out, and the order went out to begin filling the lifeboats, women and children first. But, with far fewer lifeboats than passengers, who would be allowed to board them, and who would be left behind? What leverage did gender, class, and age provide when so many lives hung in the balance? By 1.55am, the lifeboats were scarce, and the panic of those still aboard the ship spiralled out of control, as the Titanic entered her death throes…
Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss Titanic’s collision with the iceberg, the reactions of her doomed passengers and crew, and the stories of courage, incompetence, and tragedy.
*The Rest Is History LIVE in 2024*
Tom and Dominic are back onstage this summer, at Hampton Court Palace in London!
Buy your tickets here: therestishistory.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
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@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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It is Sunday the 14th of April 1912, and the passengers of the Titanic, from the tycoons in first class to the migrants in third class, have been enjoying a journey incomparable in its modernity. The weather, up until that point exceptionally clement, suddenly grew colder, stiller, calmer, and the ice warnings that had been coming through the ship’s sophisticated communications machine since Friday were growing evermore urgent. Ominously, they were left beneath piles of competing letters, unread. Then, at 11.40pm that night, a night of dancing and laughter, a cry came from the crow’s nest: “Iceberg ahead!”
Join Dominic and Tom as they unpack the captivating lives and stories of the Titanic’s third class passengers, and recount the days and moments building up to the ship’s final hours.
*The Rest Is History LIVE in 2024*
Tom and Dominic are back onstage this summer, at Hampton Court Palace in London!
Buy your tickets here: therestishistory.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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The drama and tragedy of the Titanic’s sinking has spawned all manner of myths about those who left Southampton on the 10th of April 1912, and for four days luxuriated in the ship’s modern facilities, extravagant interiors, and plush cabins. Among them were many magnates and tycoons, such as J.J. Astor, the richest man onboard, and the American businessman Ben Guggenheim. Conspicuously absent, however, was J. P. Morgan, who cancelled his booking at the last minute, and five days later would find his greatest business competitors eliminated… Just as intriguing though, and often overlooked, were the Titanic’s second class passengers: middle-aged men with their teenage mistresses, a father who had his kidnapped his children, excited migrant families, and Joseph Laroche, a brilliant engineer and the only black man on board, for whom the Titanic provided the chance to start a new life- the same was true for many others.
Join Tom and Dominic as they explore the dazzling, eccentric and endlessly fascinating First and Second Class passengers of the Titanic, whose extraordinary lives shine all the brighter for the terrible danger and tragedy waiting for them on the icy horizon…
*The Rest Is History LIVE in 2024*
Tom and Dominic are back onstage this summer, at Hampton Court Palace in London!
Buy your tickets here: therestishistory.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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The Titanic was a product of the furious competition of the late Gilded Age, and no expenses were spared to make her the most extraordinary and luxurious ship ever built. The height of an eleven-story building, fully electric, and with first class suites designed for the world’s wealthiest, the Titanic embodied the Edwardian obsessions with grandeur and greatness. But the ship was also designed to accommodate immigrants, who made up the majority of its passengers, in third class, or “steerage”. But is their any truth behind the myths surrounding class-based mistreatment of the poorer passengers, in contrast to the over-pampered rich? Was safety sacrificed in favour of a hubristic lust for luxury and grandeur?
Join Dominic and Tom as they discuss the Titanic’s sumptuous, modern interiors, her gargantuan proportions, and the stories of builders who brought her to life. They dive into a world of butlers, stewards, maids and crewmen, and look into the man whose name would later become synonymous with disaster: the Titanic’s captain, Edward Smith.
*The Rest Is History LIVE in 2024*
Tom and Dominic are back onstage this summer, at Hampton Court Palace in London!
Buy your tickets here: therestishistory.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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"There is no danger that Titanic will sink. The boat is unsinkable and nothing but inconvenience will be suffered by the passengers."
The sinking of the Titanic, on a freezing Sunday night in April 1912, claimed more than 1500 lives. But how this state-of-the-art ocean liner came to be is also a story full of drama, encapsulating the turn of the century’s spirit of competition and drive for modernity. The booming financial world of the 1900s, rising immigration, the excitement of speed and steam, and an ever-growing transatlantic rivalry between Britain and the U.S. all played a part in the liner’s inception. And from this era emerged three men who would shape the Titanic’s journey: J.P. Morgan, an American titan of business; Thomas Ismay, the English magnate who owned the ship’s parent company; and William Pirrie, a leading British shipbuilder. Between these three men and two pivotal cities - New York and Belfast - the origins of the disaster that defined a generation can be traced…
Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss the context behind the building of RMS Titanic. From the rivalries of the transatlantic liner industry, to the tensions surrounding the Irish Home Rule movement, the story of the “unsinkable” began in a tumultuous age.
*The Rest Is History LIVE in 2024*
Tom and Dominic are back onstage this summer, at Hampton Court Palace in London!
Buy your tickets here: therestishistory.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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Man in his arrogance thinks himself a great work, worthy the interposition of a deity. More humble, and I believe truer, to consider him created from animals.
A military grave from the 5th century BC was found to contain something extraordinary; a macaque monkey dressed as a roman legionary. Did he fight alongside his human fellows, or merely serve as their mascot? Whatever the case, it demonstrates the role of monkeys and chimps throughout human history. From antiquity, when to possess a monkey signified status, to the the east where they symbolised corruption and vice, to the fighting pits of regency London where the ape Jacco Macacco had fortunes lost and won on his violent exploits. So too the monkey accused of treason during the Napoleonic Wars, the noble Corporal Jackie, a South African baboon who nursed injured human soldiers during WWII, and Jenny; the orangutan who in her commonality with man influenced Darwin's theory of evolution. Less earnest but just as dazzling was the role of monkeys and chips in art and culture. From starring roles on television amidst the glitz and glamor of Hollywood, to the diva-like personalities of Elvis’ erratic Scatter and Michael Jackson’s infamous Bubbles.
Join Dominic and Tom as they reveal history’s greatest apes, orangutans and monkeys, and the extraordinary lives they lead. From Roman legionaries, war veterans and train conductors, to superstars, football mascots and artists, these remarkable creatures have featured in every corner of human life, imitating us, befriending us and even influencing us.
*The Rest Is History LIVE in 2024*
Tom and Dominic are back onstage this summer, at Hampton Court Palace in London!
Buy your tickets here: therestishistory.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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‘For if a person fatigued with long and hard labour, or with a violent agitation of the mind, takes a good dish of chocolate, he shall perceive almost instantly that his faintness shall cease, and his strength shall be recovered’
The Cacao tree was first domesticated by the Olmecs in Mesoamerica, possibly as early as 1500 BC, and was then first encountered by Europeans in the 16th century, when it is said that the Aztec Emperor Montezuma welcomed Hernan Cortes into his dominion with a mysterious dark drink. Indeed, Chocolate was originally consumed as a drink, and was a cornerstone of Aztec life, whether used as currency or as part of religious rituals. Brought back by the conquistadors to Europe, Chocolate slowly spread through the continent, particularly among the ruling classes, up until the industrial revolution of the 19th century, when technical advancements allowed for chocolate to be made into a food, at a far lower cost. This paved the way for Quaker families, such as the Cadburys or the Frys, keen to find an alternative to alcohol, to make the snack available to the masses…
Tom and Dominic have partnered with Cadbury, in celebration of their 200th year anniversary, to explore the story of how chocolate, from its Mesoamerican origins, became a British favourite.
Over the coming months, Cadbury will be announcing more plans for its 200th anniversary year, including ways that fans nationwide can get involved in the celebrations. For more information, visit: https://www.cadbury.co.uk/about/anniversary/200-years-of-cadbury/
*The Rest Is History LIVE in 2024*
Tom and Dominic are back onstage this summer, at Hampton Court Palace in London!
Buy your tickets here: therestishistory.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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In the third century BC, a clash which had been brewing for centuries finally erupted: Rome, the ruthless imperialist upstart dominating Italy, against Carthage, the ancient but sinister apex predator of the Mediterranean. The conflict sparked in Messina in 263 BC, and went on for over two decades, as the fortunes of both powers rose and fell. Rome’s superior, land-based army proved the perfect match to the Carthaginians’ maritime might, though both forces rapidly adapted to the expertise of their foe. By 250 BC, Carthage was embattled and flailing, and in need of a hero, to restore the fate of Carthage, and ensure her survival…
Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss the outbreak of the First Punic War, in which history’s greatest rivalry, Rome vs Carthage, finally came to blows. As the established power of Carthage was challenged by the rise of a new contender in Rome, but could either live in a world where the other survived?
*The Rest Is History LIVE in 2024*
Tom and Dominic are back onstage this summer, at Hampton Court Palace in London!
Buy your tickets here: therestishistory.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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“Every man is the architect of his own destiny”
Long before Rome reigned over the Mediterranean, there was Carthage: the supreme predator of Antiquity. But how did Rome rise to become one of the most ruthless powers of all time, united in cold, disciplined violence? And what was it about the Roman people that made them the greatest threat Carthage would ever face? Whilst the Carthaginians depended upon foreign mercenaries, Rome’s legions were formed of Romans, all committed to protecting and furthering the interests of Rome. And unlike anyone before, the Roman people shared a collective sense of destiny, with Roman citizenship generously offered to all conquered peoples. But following the Sack of Rome by Gauls in 390 BC, the Romans would become even more ruthless, disciplined and bent on total victory…
Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss the rise of Rome, history’s most famous superpower. By 285 BC her dominion of Italy was almost complete. Only one thing stood in her way: the formidable military leader Pyrrhus. He alone foresaw the destruction to come, and the “beautiful killing ground” that would emerge when, ten years later, Rome and Carthage would finally go to war…
*The Rest Is History LIVE in 2024*
Tom and Dominic are back onstage this summer, at Hampton Court Palace in London!
Buy your tickets here: therestishistory.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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“An aristocratic republic, secret and well-ordered, where individuals are subject to the harsh laws of the austere and disciplined rich…”
The mysterious, wealthy and glamorous city of Carthage flourished between the ninth and second centuries BC, becoming one of the greatest naval and mercantile powers in the world. By the sixth century BC the Carthaginians were a force to be reckoned with, holding off assaults from various Greek rivals, and starting to colonise larger parts of the Mediterranean. Where once there had been a barren wasteland, now stood glittering villas and temples, bustling marketplaces, and vast walls stretching down to the sea. Yet Carthage also had a reputation for violence and cruelty. Bloody human offerings were made to the gods, with hundreds of Carthaginian children cast into the flames, whilst crucifixion was often inflicted on generals who fell short of Carthage’s exacting standards…
Join Tom and Dominic as they explore the extraordinary rise of Carthage, a city of blazing innovation and sinister mystique. By the third century BC it seemed that no power could ever rival it. But little did the Carthaginians know that another city, a minnow from an Italian backwater, was on the rise. A city that may even one day challenge her supremacy: Rome.
*The Rest Is History LIVE in 2024*
Tom and Dominic are back onstage this summer, at Hampton Court Palace in London!
Buy your tickets here: therestishistory.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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“Carthago delenda est.”
Carthage must be destroyed: this was the rallying cry of Cato the Elder, the senator endlessly pushing for war against Rome’s sworn enemy, Carthage. But what are the origins of this supposedly decadent and sinister city, and did the Carthaginians really sacrifice their children? Starting as a crafty, seafaring people called the Phoenicians, a mighty mercantile civilisation emerged, who would eventually come to be known as the Carthaginians. But who were the Phoenicians, and why are they so mysterious? From the Bible, the Iliad and the Odyssey, to Herodotus’ account of the Persian Wars, and the conquests of Alexander the Great, their shadow haunts Antiquity…
Join Tom and Dominic as they investigate the Phoenicians, the first masters of the Mediterranean. Pioneers of seafaring, craftsmanship and writing, these were the people who gave birth to Rome’s most feared enemy, Carthage. Myths, legends, child-sacrifice, and the rise and fall of civilisations abound.
*The Rest Is History LIVE in 2024*
Tom and Dominic are back onstage this summer, at Hampton Court Palace in London!
Buy your tickets here: therestishistory.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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The horrific Guildford Pub Bombings of Saturday 5th October 1974 sent shockwaves through Britain, worsening the sense of crisis sweeping through the nation. It cast a dark shadow over the election campaign due to take place five days later. The future had rarely seemed grimmer, with a general sense of moral and economic panic, weariness and depression. For the fourth time, Labour’s Harold Wilson and the Conservative’s Edward Heath faced off, with Wilson able to scrape a three-seat majority. But could Wilson really revive the nation? Or would it be up to the new figure emerging from the Conservative Party, a certain Margaret Thatcher…
Join Dominic and Tom for the conclusion to their series on one of the maddest years in British history, 1974. With dysfunctional governments, dark conspiracies, economic meltdown and ongoing terrorist attacks, can Britain survive the year?
*The Rest Is History LIVE in 2024*
Tom and Dominic are back onstage this summer, at Hampton Court Palace in London!
Buy your tickets here: therestishistory.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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Following a tumultuous election in February 1974, Labour’s Harold Wilson has been re-elected Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Wilson, an unpretentious, kind man, has inherited a nation in crisis: train strikes in Norfolk, students fighting in Oxford, inflation, an ongoing oil crisis, a terrible cost of living crisis, striking miners, and weekly IRA terrorist attacks. He’s further hindered by his divided minority government, and the dysfunctional environment in Downing Street, in part due to his strange relationship with his private secretary and “political wife”, the frenzied Marcia Williams. What’s more, Wilson is suspected of being a KGB agent by the security services, and increasingly succumbs to paranoia. Is a right wing coup brewing, to put an end to industrial action? Will Wilson really be the man to drag Britain out of these trying circumstances?
Join Dominic and Tom as they discuss the first Wilson government of 1974, featuring imploding economies, psycho-sexual dramas, communist conspiracies, madness-inspired nudity, baying unions, and attempted murder…
*The Rest Is History LIVE in 2024*
Tom and Dominic are back onstage this summer, at Hampton Court Palace in London!
Buy your tickets here: therestishistory.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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Three days after one of the most devastating IRA attacks launched upon British soil, the Conservative Prime Minister Edward Heath called an election, in circumstances that had never been more dire. Running against him was the veteran Labour leader, Harold Wilson, now as tired and beleaguered as his rival, and whose party was increasingly divided by internal conflict. Jeremy Thorpe, the charming but reckless leader of the liberal party, had also thrown his hat into the ring. As the election drew closer, the parties were neck and neck, and with the sense of national hysteria and economic chaos rising, escalated by a baying press and the likes of Enoch Powell, the stakes had never been higher. Could the longstanding Labour and Conservative duopoly finally be broken?
Join Dominic and Tom for the second part of their series on 1974, one of the most disastrous years in British history, as they discuss the terrible circumstances surrounding the seismic February election, and its momentous outcome.
*The Rest Is History LIVE in 2024*
Tom and Dominic are back onstage this summer, at Hampton Court Palace in London!
Buy your tickets here: therestishistory.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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“Who governs Britain?”
Britain in the early 1970’s was a state in crisis, and by 1974, things had never seemed bleaker. Held hostage by the Trade Unions, British industry was flailing. England’s sporting record was atrocious, the economy was tanking and the prospect of a miners’ strike loomed large. Violence was surging in Northern Ireland, as the IRA escalated its bombing campaigns, and the outbreak of the Yom Kippur War would send oil prices soaring, with the miners on the verge on plunging Britain into darkness. By the end of the year, the British people had voted in two general elections, had a three-day week enforced on them, and the Conservative party were on the cusp of electing their first female leader…
Join Dominic and Tom for the first episode of their four-part epic on 1974, undoubtedly one of the darkest and most dramatic years in British political history…
*The Rest Is History LIVE in 2024*
Tom and Dominic are back onstage this summer, at Hampton Court Palace in London!
Buy your tickets here: therestishistory.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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Geoffrey Chaucer stands as a founding father of English literature, and ‘The Canterbury Tales’ is an enthralling account of his age, holding a mirror up to the traditional hierarchies of 14th century England. Chaucer’s own life was spent navigating the rapids of a particularly tumultuous period, from fighting in the Hundred Years’ War alongside Edward III, to working for the infamous John of Gaunt, becoming embroiled in London politics, and surviving the gruesome Black Death. Chaucer even lived through the explosive Peasants’ Revolt, during which his own life hung in the balance…
Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss the turbulent life and seminal work of Geoffrey Chaucer, a titan of English history and trailblazer of social change.
*The Rest Is History LIVE in 2024*
Tom and Dominic are back onstage this summer, at Hampton Court Palace in London!
Buy your tickets here: therestishistory.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
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@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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“For within the hollow crown that rounds the hollow temple of a king...”
Richard II, son of the dashing Black Prince and grandson of Edward III, became King of England at only ten years old. By the age of fifteen he had overcome one of the most terrifying threats to the English Crown up to that point: the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381. In the ensuing years, Richard’s rule became increasingly autocratic. This, coupled with the threat of foreign invasion and his dangerous proclivity for favourites, increasingly alienated Richard’s subjects, with rebel lords eventually taking up arms against the king. As the storm-clouds of civil war loomed large, King Richard II clung to his hollow crown….
Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss the events that resulted in Richard’s deposition and mysterious death, and what his reign tells us the English monarchy in the 15th century.
*The Rest Is History LIVE in 2024*
Tom and Dominic are back onstage this summer, at Hampton Court Palace in London!
Buy your tickets here: therestishistory.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
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@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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On the 13th of June 1381, the rebel army of English peasants, led by Wat Tyler, entered London and brought chaos, death and destruction upon some of the city’s most important buildings and figures, among them the Archbishop of Canterbury and his home at Lambeth Palace. Within the Tower of London, the 14 year-old Richard II and his government still cowered, with the rebels demanding that Richard’s treacherous advisors be handed over. Desperate, the charismatic young King was convinced by his advisors to ride out and meet the rebels. A meeting ensued, upon which the whole course of English history depended, as the radicals demanded terms that would mean the abolition of serfdom, and the transformation of the English social order forever.
Join Tom and Dominic as they describe the gory and unprecedented events of the Peasants' Revolt, and discuss the stories of mob violence, murder and vandalism…
*The Rest Is History LIVE in 2024*
Tom and Dominic are back onstage this summer, at Hampton Court Palace in London!
Buy your tickets here: therestishistory.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
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@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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By the late 14th century, England was in decline. Already weakened by the Hundred Years’ War, both Edward III and his son, the Black Prince, had died, leaving the country in a perilous state. Richard II, the new king, was only a child. With the poor facing increasingly harsh poll taxes, and distrust of the nobility growing among them, an uprising broke out in southern England in 1381. It was led for the first time by peasants, a class of person invisible on the historical stage up to this point. The Peasants’ Revolt would prove to be one of the most iconic events of English history, altering not only England’s society and the fate of her monarchy, but also generating a new kind of grassroots radicalism.
Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss the outbreak of this landmark moment in the history of English socialism, building up to the climactic moment when Richard II and his men find themselves besieged in London by the rebel army surrounding her walls, under the leadership of the elusive Wat Tyler…
*The Rest Is History LIVE in 2024*
Tom and Dominic are back onstage this summer, at Hampton Court Palace in London!
Buy your tickets here: therestishistory.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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Extolling his love for democracy, the Senator took on autocratic powers, during a time of emergency, to save the Republic. The Republic was then abolished, and in its place rose an Empire… This is not the story of Julius Caesar or Augustus, but of ‘Star Wars’, the blockbuster movie series telling the story of a struggle between good and evil, a battle for the revival of the old Republic.
But is the world of ‘Star Wars’ really inspired by Roman history? How does ‘Dune’ reflect the birth and growth of Islam? Why does ‘The Hunger Games’ use Roman iconography and names? Does Isaac Asimov’s ‘Foundation’ reflect the fall of the Roman Empire?
Join Tom and Dominic in today’s episode, as they look at how the Roman myth has seeped into popular culture, inspiring quests, stories and entire worlds, from ‘Star Wars’ to ‘Dune’, ‘Star Trek’, ‘The Hunger Games’, and many more sci-fi bestsellers.
*The Rest Is History LIVE in 2024*
Tom and Dominic are back onstage this summer, at Hampton Court Palace in London!
Buy your tickets here: therestishistory.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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In the late 17th century, during the glorious reign of Louis XIV, the Sun King, France was at its apogee, with royal absolutism at its zenith. But, beneath the gold and glamour of Louis’ reign, there lay a terrifying darkness: a prison system into which people could be disappeared without a trace. And at the very heart of this darkness there lurked an excruciating secret…a prisoner, his terrible crime unknown, moved from prison to prison, forbidden to speak, and whose face was encased at all times in a mask of steel. Who was he, if he even existed at all? An English spy? Louis’ long-lost father, driven into obscurity? Or, even more threateningly, his twin brother?
Join Tom and Dominic as they explore one of the greatest mysteries of all time: the Man in the Iron Mask. Following in the footsteps of Voltaire and Alexandre Dumas, they definitively solve the case and reveal, once and for all, the identity of this enigmatic figure…
*The Rest Is History LIVE in 2024*
Tom and Dominic are back onstage this summer, at Hampton Court Palace in London!
Buy your tickets here: therestishistory.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
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@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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By November 1938 the scene in Germany was at its darkest yet, as the full scale of Hitler’s intentions for the Jewish population of the German Reich was becoming evermore apparent. As the threat of another world war increased, so the Nazi anti-semitism machine went up a gear. Synagogues were destroyed, Jewish businessmen, bureaucrats, lawyers and doctors disbarred, plans were made for a mass expulsion of Jews from Europe. But the worst was yet to come, as the assassination of a German official in Paris in late 1938 instigated the most savage wave of Jewish persecution in Germany so far…
Join Dominic and Tom as they discuss the build up to Krystallnacht - the Night of Broken Glass - and the diabolical destruction, brutality and violence that ensued. By the end of 1938, Hitler’s two dearest ambitions, an apocalyptic victory over the Jewish people and the conquest of Europe itself, seemed terrifyingly within reach.
*The Rest Is History LIVE in 2024*
Tom and Dominic are back onstage this summer, at Hampton Court Palace in London!
Buy your tickets here: therestishistory.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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As Hitler ramps up the German war machine, he remains obsessed with one idea: uprooting Jews from the Reich. The Nazis embark on a campaign of totalitarian oppression against them, persecuting Jewish people in every aspect of life. They are excluded from most professions, forbidden from intermarrying, Jewish children are bullied and excluded from schools, all Jews have a “J” stamped in their passport, to name but a few measures. Worst of all, the brainwashing of the German people has become apparent, and many are willing participants in the various forms of persecution; plenty of German towns have put up signs by this point saying “Jews not wanted here”. Hitler may tone down the oppression to whitewash the 1936 Berlin Olympics, but this does not last. One terrifying truth is clear: he is fully set on the destruction of European Jewry.
Join Tom and Dominic in the fifth part of our series on the Nazis in power, as they look at how the persecution of Jewish people in the Reich increased in the lead-up to the Second World War.
*The Rest Is History LIVE in 2024*
Tom and Dominic are back onstage this summer, at Hampton Court Palace in London!
Buy your tickets here: therestishistory.com
Twitter:
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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“We must have a healthy people to dominate in the world”.
In July 1933, Hitler’s Nazi party passed a new law for the compulsory sterilisation of anyone with a physical disability, or “congenital feeble-mindedness”. They claimed this was scientifically sound, and for the moral and biological good of the Aryan race. The measure darkly foreshadowed the tragedies to come, as Nazi Germany ratcheted up its horrific program of racial sterilisation, euthanasia and extermination. But why did the Nazis see their horrific crimes as beneficial to the fatherland, and consider themselves on the right side of History? What motivated Hitler, the figurehead behind these terrifying ideologies, to act on them? And how many of these ideas, propagated by Hitler and his generals, were shared and accepted by the German people?
Join Tom and Dominic as they delve into the roots of the Nazis’ pseudo-science: from the glorification of ancient Greece, Rome, and the “Nordic” race, to the intellectual ideals of the 19th century, in which Darwinism and the survival of the fittest flourished. They attempt to unravel one of the darkest ideologies in all world history, and their uniquely hideous brand of anti-semitism.
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By 1937, Hitler’s ever-growing ambitions were driving Europe to the brink of war. Ever restless, he knew that Germany must conquer the world, or be destroyed. His first target was Austria, his homeland, whose annexation to Germany would unite German blood under one indomitable Reich. However, in an effort to avoid Nazi rule, the Austrian Chancellor, Kurt Schuschnigg, called a referendum on annexation, to show the Austrian people’s will against it. Hitler’s reaction was one of rage, and on the morning of Friday, the 11th of March, 1938, he sent an ultimatum to Vienna. At 5.30am the next day, the German army crossed into Austria. It was met by great cheering crowds, and Hitler’s arrival in Vienna was one of true apotheosis… Yet the darkness at the heart of Hitler’s European dream was also emerging, as the Nazis began to detain and repress Austrian minorities, particularly the Jewish population, on an unprecedented scale.
Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss the annexation of Austria, and the post-war myth of Austria’s victimisation at the hands of Hitler and the Nazis. They also look at the Nazis’ first acts of violence, discrimination and deportation against Vienna’s Jewish population, prefiguring the horrors to follow.
Twitter:
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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“No one can doubt that this world will one day be the scene of dreadful struggles for existence on the part of mankind. In the end, the instinct of self-preservation alone will triumph.”
Hitler has been planning for war since 1928. However, the Treaty of Versailles has placed immense limitations on his ability to rearm Germany, and he must first overcome internal enemies, whether the SA or the communists. He will then need to build-up the Nazi war machine, to allow him to expand the Third Reich and gain his much-desired lebensraum, “living space”. But with Germany facing economic decline, will Hitler’s push for rearmament provide a solution to the economy’s manifold problems? Or will the Führer simply use foreign policy coups as a smokescreen, to hide the dire straits facing the German people? Hitler can be certain of one thing - Britain and France do not want another war…
Join Tom and Dominic in the third part of our series on the Nazis in Power, as they look at how Hitler, both materially and ideologically, prepared the country for war, and, as a brilliant opportunist, preyed on the Allies’ weaknesses in order to complete his rearmament of Germany.
Twitter:
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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“We did not lose the war because our artillery gave out, but because the weapons of our mind didn’t fire”
In September 1934, the Nazis held their sixth annual party conference in the Bavarian city of Nuremberg. The location held a symbolic resonance for the party, being not only the embodiment of an uncorrupted medieval Germany, and the centre of the First Reich, but also a bedrock of anti-Semitism. It was therefore here that Hitler would lay out his terrifying vision for the mighty new empire’s future, promulging the superiority and purity of the Aryan bloodline. The rally was a pageant of ritualised fanaticism, recalling the majesty of Germany’s mythic past and all the heroism of classical antiquity. It was the first of many such extravagant displays, replete with parades of marching workers, bonfires, and swastikas, as the Nazi propaganda machine, under the leadership of the grotesque Joseph Goebbels, tightened its stranglehold over Germany. Through the popularisation of the radio, Nazi youth organisations, cinema, and even the Olympic Games, German minds were being steadily remoulded…
Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss the Nazis' gradual indoctrination of the German people in the build up to the Second World War, and the beginnings of Hitler’s plans for not only the Third Reich, but the entire world.
Twitter:
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@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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“Hitler had entered Röhm’s bedroom alone with a whip in his hand. Behind him had stood two detectives holding pistols, with the safety catch removed, at the ready…”
The 30th of June 1934 saw a seismic moment unfold in the early years of the Third Reich. With the Führer and his party firmly in power, a bloody faction fight takes place within the Party. The Nazis have gained control of both the streets and the democratic institutions of Germany, with Hitler made Chancellor in 1933. But the SA, the largest Nazi military faction, led by the unmistakable Ernst Röhm, have shown signs of challenging Hitler, and rumours have reached the Führer that he is facing a coup… After a bloody night of murderous terror led by Hitler and his personal guard, the SS, they are left as the strongest military wing in the Party, with the SA facing extinction.
Join Tom and Dominic in the first episode of our series on the Nazis in Power, as they delve into how Hitler solidified his and his party’s control of Germany, the different right wing groups at play, the signs of uprising against Hitler’s rule, and the eventual quelling of all opposition.
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
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@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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A Pope of great renown once reigned during chaotic years for the medieval Church: she was an extraordinary figure, from a time when women were forbidden from even becoming priests - indeed she is History’s only female Pope. But did this “Popess" really exist, and if so, who was this mysterious, awesome woman? What does her story reveal about the murky politics of the medieval Vatican? The original account described an English woman named Joan, who through her brilliance rose to become none other than Pope John VIII. Then, in a shocking turn of events, she fell pregnant and gave birth to a son during a procession, before meeting a sinister end…
Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss this most remarkable of legends and discover the truth behind the story of the pregnant Pope - a tale of teenage Popes, female persecution, blinding, castration, and Europe’s greatest revolution.
Twitter:
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@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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“The Church was anxious to draw the attention of its members away from the old pagan feast days, and the December date did this very well, for it coincided with the birthday of the invincible son of Mithraism…”
Is Christmas as we know it merely an invention, created by plagiarising from rival cults, such as the worship of Mithra, the Iranian sun god, during the days of the Roman Empire? Is Christmas in fact based on a pagan festival, that Christians have made their own? Or has Christmas always been an authentically Christian celebration, born of its tradition and rituals? Join Tom and Dominic as they delve into the roots of Christmas, the importance of the Roman festival of Saturnalia, the cult of Sol Invictus, and much more.
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Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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On the 8th of June 1948, the HMT Windrush sailed from Kingston with almost 500 migrants on board, destined for England. The ship docked at Tilbury on the 22nd of June, and history was made. Since that day the legend of Windrush has gradually come to characterise an increasingly broad and more diverse group of British citizens, and the event stands as a sacred moment in the history of British multiculturalism, race relations and immigration, laden though it is with moral and political baggage.
In today’s episode Tom and Dominic are joined by acclaimed journalist and author Trevor Phillips, to discuss this seminal moment in the history of Black Britain. During the course of the episode they dismantle some of the myths that have since developed, explore the people who came over, and the emergence of the communities that settled in Britain in the wake of 1948. They also consider the complicated wider context of the Windrush story, and the long term significance of this foundational moment.
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Twitter:
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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In 1854, the twenty-five year old aristocrat Roger Tichborne, heir to an impressive fortune, died in a shipwreck ....Or did he? His mother, certain of her son’s survival, advertised extensively with a tantalising reward for her son’s return. Twenty years later a rough, corpulent butcher from Australia named Arthur Orton arrived in Europe and declared himself to be the long lost heir. The trial that ensued captivated the public imagination, becoming the greatest and most dramatic case of Victorian England and arguably, all of British history.
Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss The Tichborne Case with best-selling author Zadie Smith, which forms the centrepiece of her new novel The Fraud. It is a darkly comic story of intrigue and mystery, that crosses continents and encompasses the issues of race, empire and class that smouldered at the very heart of 19th century British society.
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Twitter:
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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The Battle for Italy in 1943 proved to be one of the bloodiest and most brutal episodes of the Second World War. Following hot on the heels of their recent victory in Sicily, the Allies crossed the Straits of Messina and entered Italy in September, to fight their way up the Italian peninsula, what Churchill termed “the soft underbelly of Europe”. Intended to draw Axis troops away from the Eastern Front, and with Churchill’s enthusiastic backing, the campaign was expected to be an easy one, with Allied troops in Rome by Christmas. But this wasn't to be the case. What unfolded was an attritional meat-grinder, in which every mile the Allies covered was a hard-fought struggle against fierce German resistance.
Join Tom, Dominic and renowned historian of war James Holland to discuss this dark and dramatic campaign, fought amidst the precarious ruins of a vanished Roman empire, as they describe in unflinching detail its horrors, hardships, and tragedies. Buy your copy of James' new book here: https://coles-books.co.uk/the-savage-storm-by-james-holland-hardback
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Twitter:
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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In this landmark edition of The Rest is History, Dominic and Tom reveal the astonishing solution to the mystery that has fascinated so many people for the last sixty years. In thrillingly definitive detail, they explain just who killed President Kennedy and why he did it.
Step by step, they trace his journey to the killing ground, and delve into the psychology of a murderer. They unmask his fellow conspirators, and explain just how his crime reflects the chilling political secrets of American life in the 1950s and 1960s. And they discuss how the conspiracy echoes through the pages of American history, and continues to influence American politics to this day.
Join Dominic and Tom for this unforgettable journey into the dark heart of American history - an episode that will make you rethink everything you thought you knew about the Kennedy assassination.
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Twitter:
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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“We can’t accept very comfortably that two nobodies, two nothings - Lee Harvey Oswald and Jack Ruby - were able to change the course of world history.”
The murder of Lee Harvey Oswald, JFK’s apparent assassin, by the night club owner Jack Ruby on 24th November 1963 changed everything. Right from the start, rumours had circulated that Oswald had not been acting alone, building on the deep anxieties of American society in the 1950s and 1960s. Some blamed Communist states such as Cuba or the Soviet Union; others anti-Castro exiles, or the Ku Klux Klan. As the years passed, the CIA and FBI came under suspicion. Did Lyndon Johnson know more about the conspiracy than he pretended? Just what was Richard Nixon doing on that fateful day? And how did Frank Sinatra’s drummer fit in?
Join Tom and Dominic as they explore the background to the Kennedy conspiracy theories, from umbrella men to grassy knolls, discussing the wider context and investigating every last clue in their tireless search for the truth.
*Dominic’s book The Fall of the Aztecs is available now from bookshops across the UK - the perfect Christmas present!*
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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“Jack, you son of a bitch, don’t do it!”
Just hours after President Kennedy’s assassination, in the full glare of the world’s media, the Dallas police are confident they have solved the case. They have found the murder weapon, and are poised to charge their chief suspect, a strange loner called Lee Harvey Oswald. But as they prepare to move him to the county jail, one local businessman has other ideas. As they are leading Oswald into the station garage, an eccentric nightclub owner Jack Ruby steps forward. And as he aims his pistol at Oswald’s chest, the course of American history is about to take another dizzying turn …
Join Dominic and Tom as they trace the footsteps of two erratic nobodies, Lee Harvey Oswald and Jack Ruby, in the days before Kennedy’s assassination, leading up to the critical moment on 24th November when the two men finally came face to face, changing both of their lives and the course of the investigation forever…
*Dominic’s book The Fall of the Aztecs is available now from bookshops across the UK - the perfect Christmas present!*
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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It’s 12:31pm on Friday 22nd November 1963, and in Dallas, Texas, President John F. Kennedy lies slumped against his screaming wife, half of his head cradled in her hands and his blood spattered across her elegant pink suit and the seats of their car.
Just moments earlier, three shots had rung out from the direction of the Texas Book Depository. Or had they? Who had fired the shots? A single gunman - or more? Just who was the oddly detached, vacant-looking man whom left the building minutes later? Why did he murder a Dallas policeman shortly after the shooting? Was he really Kennedy’s killer, or a red herring, planted by a wider conspiracy? And was he working for the Cubans, the Communists - or the CIA?
Join Tom and Dominic as they plunge into the extraordinary drama of 22 November 1963, from the national shock after the president’s assassination to the thrilling hunt to track down his assassin.
*Dominic’s book The Fall of the Aztecs is available now from bookshops across the UK - the perfect Christmas present!*
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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“It wouldn't be very difficult to kill the president of the United States, you just have to be in a high building with a high powered rifle, telescopic sight and there's nothing anyone could do about it….”
On the morning of Friday, 22nd November 1963, John F. Kennedy awoke with just hours to live. Ahead was a flight to Love Field, Dallas; then a motorcade into the heart of the city’s business district. But as the president and his glamorous wife, Jacqueline, settled back in their limousine for the journey towards destiny, they had no idea of the horror to come …
By 12:22pm the motorcade had reached Dealey Plaza in downtown Dallas, passing the nondescript Texas Book Depository and slowing for the unexpectedly large and enthusiastic crowds gathered to greet the President. At 12:25 bystanders spotted the figure of a man on the sixth floor of the Book Depository, staring strangely away from the motorcade. Then, at exactly 12.30 pm, the first shot rang out around the square….
Join Dominic and Tom as they break down the events of the day of the assassination of President Kennedy moment by moment, from the night before the murder to its traumatic aftermath, poring over the evidence in order to solve this supremely fascinating historical mystery.
*Dominic’s book The Fall of the Aztecs is available now from bookshops across the UK - the perfect Christmas present!*
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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By the late 1950s, John F. Kennedy was a rich and handsome Democratic senator with a beautiful wife and young family, heading for the White House despite his Catholicism, his affairs and his secret illnesses. In January 1961 he became the youngest ever President of the United States, during a period of heightened political and social tensions at home and abroad, with the Cold War raging, communism on the rise and the Civil Rights Movement dominating the headlines. What role, then, did Kennedy’s domestic and foreign policies play in these monumental moments of world history? And does the backlash against him offer us the crucial clues to the motives behind his assassination, and the identity of his killer?
Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss Kennedy’s early political career, the successes and failings of his presidency, and world-shaking events such as the Bay of Pigs disaster, the Cuban missile crisis, the Space Race and the Vietnam War. All the while, Kennedy’s days are numbered as that fateful day in Dallas comes ever closer…
*Dominic’s book The Fall of the Aztecs is available now from bookshops across the UK - the perfect Christmas present!*
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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“There were a lot of people who wanted Kennedy dead, a lot of powerful people. There are secrets still being held and I never bought for a minute that Oswald operated alone.”
The assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas on 22nd November 1963 is one of history’s most iconic stories, a moment of terrible innocence lost and a foundational myth for modern America. The tragedy of the murder, coupled with the mystery surrounding it and the glamour of Kennedy himself, have only heightened the enduring fascination with the event. But what really happened in the days before, during and after the assassination? Did Lee Harvey Oswald really act alone? Or was he just a tool for darker forces at play in American politics - or for an international conspiracy at the terrifying height of the Cold War?
Join Dominic and Tom as they launch their epic investigation into the life and death of JFK, beginning with the controversial Kennedy clan, the young ‘Jack’s’ upbringing and the personality of the victim himself. Along the way they discuss his battle with crippling illness, his sexual escapades and his romance with the woman who became his wife, Jacqueline Bouvier.
*Dominic’s book The Fall of the Aztecs is available now from bookshops across the UK - the perfect Christmas present!*
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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Tenochtitlan, once the glittering jewel at the heart of the mighty Aztec Empire, has fallen. Hernán Cortés stands triumphant, the master of this New Spain. Or so it seems. For the last Aztec emperor, Cuauhtemoc, is still alive and well. And in the jungles of Mexico and Honduras, a dark and bloody story is only just beginning …
In the final episode of this astonishing journey, Dominic and Tom discuss the aftermath of the fall of Tenochtitlan, the fates of Cuauhtemoc, Cortés and Malinche, the experiences of the local population and the story of Mexico in the decades after the Spanish conquest. As this mighty epic draws to a close, they also explore the Black Legend of Spanish imperialism, and discuss the long-term repercussions of the conquest and its status in the context of world history and politics today.
*Dominic’s book The Fall of the Aztecs is available now from bookshops across the UK - the perfect Christmas present!*
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in New Zealand and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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"Conquer or die indeed, Cortes thought… The hour of decision was at hand…"
It is the spring of 1521 and the fate of Mexico hangs by a thread. Smallpox has ripped through the local population, while the ruthless Spanish commander, Hernán Cortés, has cut off the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan, from its surrounding provinces.
So begins one of the bloodiest and most dramatic struggles in all history - an extraordinary clash between the Old World and the New, as the Spanish tighten their grip on the island city of the Mexica. But can the new Aztec emperor, Cuauhtemoc, save his people? For he has a secret weapon - the terrifying Quetzal-Owl …
In today’s episode, Dominic and Tom tell the story of the Siege of Tenochtitlan - the last stand of the Aztec warriors, as the Spanish and their allies close in for the kill.
*Dominic’s book The Fall of the Aztecs is available now from bookshops across the UK - the perfect Christmas present!*
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in New Zealand and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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Things have never looked bleaker for Hernán Cortés and his band of Spaniards. They are trapped, starving and terrified in the heart of the Aztec city of Tenochtitlan, surrounded by an enraged people bent on revenge. And with their imperial hostage Montezuma dead, they only have one option left - a desperate escape in the dead of night.
Can they make it across the lake with their gold? Or will the Aztecs intercept them before it’s too late?
In today’s episode of this epic series, Tom and Dominic tell the story of one of the most dramatic moments in all history - the night of 30th June 1520, La Noche Triste, when the Spanish tried to break out of Tenochtitlan. They also explore the aftermath of this hellish episode, and the arrival of another, even greater threat to the survival of the Aztecs - disease …
*Dominic’s book The Fall of the Aztecs is available now from bookshops across the UK - the perfect Christmas present!*
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in New Zealand and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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“The blood flowed like water…”
It is 1520 and word has reached Hernán Cortés in Tenochtitlan that another group of Spaniards led by the ferocious Pánfilo de Narváez, have landed on the coast to hunt him down. Taking drastic action, he decides to leave the city with his wily mistress Malinche to pursue the newcomers, but not before taking the Emperor of the Aztecs, Montezuma, as his hostage.
But can Cortés really overcome a much larger force commanded by such a formidable rival? And can his lieutenant, the dashing, violent and reckless Pedro de Alvarado, keep his cool in the heart of the capital? For one of the most hallowed Aztec festivals is fast approaching. The tension is mounting, and the Spaniards’ swords are thirsty for blood …
In today’s episode in this unmissable series, Dominic and Tom lead us deeper into the heart of darkness, as the story of the Fall of the Aztecs takes a shocking and nightmarish turn …
*Dominic’s book The Fall of the Aztecs is available now from bookshops across the UK - the perfect Christmas present!*
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in New Zealand and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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The year is 1519. Hernán Cortés and his Spanish comrades have arrived in Tenochtitlan, the capital city of the Aztecs, and have been welcomed by their Emperor Montezuma. But what is Montezuma planning? Are the Spaniards his guests - or his prisoners? Has he really acknowledged them as his overlords? Or are they destined for a rather darker fate, as the latest inmates in his mysterious zoo?
In today’s episode, Tom and Dominic follow the Spaniards as they explore the magnificent city of Tenochtitlan, from the crowds in the markets to the blood-drenched shrines atop the temple pyramids.
The days pass, the smiles fade and the tension rises. And then Cortés hears news from the coast that changes everything, and must roll the dice one more time in the greatest gamble of all …
*Dominic’s book The Fall of the Aztecs is available now from bookshops across the UK - the perfect Christmas present!*
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in New Zealand and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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“Conquer or die! Conquer or die! Conquer or die!”
Making a decision that will change the course of history, Hernán Cortés chooses to disobey his orders and head inland in search of the gold-rich empire of the mysterious Montezuma. Ahead lie the mountain passes that will lead him down into the Valley of Mexico, a vast lake shimmering at its heart.
In the middle of the lake lies the island city of Tenochtitlan, a vision of bustling marketplaces and soaring pyramids. But are the Spaniards advancing as conquerors - or are they walking into a trap? And just what is Montezuma planning?
Join Dominic and Tom to explore perhaps the most astonishing encounter in all human history - not just the meeting of two extraordinary characters, but a collision of cultures that will have dark and bloody consequences …
*Dominic’s book The Fall of the Aztecs is available now from bookshops across the UK - the perfect Christmas present!*
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in New Zealand and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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Hernán Cortés has set sail from Cuba, eager to find the truth behind the rumours of gold on the coast of Mexico. Ahead lies a world he can barely imagine - a land of pyramid temples, terrifying gods and unknown peoples - the empire of the Aztecs. But Cortés has a secret weapon: a woman whose very name has become a byword for treachery …
In today’s episode, Dominic and Tom explore the extraordinary story of Malinche, the slave-girl given by the Mayans to the Spanish, who becomes Cortés’s translator, guide, lover and adviser. As the expedition moves north along the Mexican coast, is she really doing the Spaniards’ bidding? Or has she secretly taken control, leading them ever closer to a tumultuous and bloody showdown? For all the time, Montezuma is waiting …
Don’t miss the second episode in this thrilling account of the Fall of the Aztecs!
*Dominic’s book The Fall of the Aztecs is available now from bookshops across the UK - the perfect Christmas present!*
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in New Zealand and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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The meeting of the controversial Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés and the formidable Emperor Montezuma in 1519 was one of the great hinge moments of world history, and the beginning of the end for the mightiest of the New World empires: the realm of the Aztecs.
The build-up to this extraordinary encounter is at once a thrilling adventure story and a tragic tale of violence, brutality and loss. It’s a story of temples and sacrifices, exploration and imperialism, with cataclysmic consequences for human history.
Join Tom and Dominic in the first episode of this sensational saga, as they follow the young Cortés across the Atlantic to the Caribbean islands of Hispaniola and Cuba, where the search for gold comes at a terrible price …
*Dominic’s book The Fall of the Aztecs is available now from bookshops across the UK - the perfect Christmas present!*
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in New Zealand and Australia!
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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Within the turmoil of the French Revolution, Napoleon Bonaparte stands out to his military superiors, first by defeating the British at Toulon, then by putting down a royalist mob in Paris when outnumbered four to one, with a “whiff of grapeshot”. Having finally shaken off the humiliation of the failed invasion of Sardinia which began his career, he is made Commander of the Interior, and rewarded with command of the Army of Italy. Has the Corsican rebel finally given up on his roots, and embraced French ideals of brotherhood? Join Tom and Dominic in the second part of our deep dive on young Napoleon, as they delve into his rise within the French military, his disillusionment with Corsican politics, his precocious strategic savoir-faire, and the story of how he met the future Empress of the French, Josephine de Beauharnais…
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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“I would plunge the avenging dagger, up to the hilt, in the breast of the tyrant!”
Born in Corsica a year after the island was given to France by the Genoese, Napoleon Bonaparte grew up in a world of political and civil unrest. His father had close ties with the leader of the Corsican resistance movement, Pasquale Paoli, who would leave a lasting impression on young Napoleon. However, sent to study at a military academy in France, the future Emperor would begin to shed his Corsican roots, and start to embrace more revolutionary, universalist ideals... Join Tom and Dominic in the first part of our series on Young Napoleon, as they discuss the tumultuous island he grew up on, his enthusiasm for the French Revolution, the effect on him of his military schooling, and his complicated relationship with France.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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Cook has been sent by the Royal Navy to the Pacific to track the transit of Venus from Tahiti, but also with a second, secret mission: once he’s reached Tahiti, he will go on to search for the great southern continent, Terra Australis. Encountering Tahitians, Maori and Aboriginal Australians, Cook and his crew develop relations with them which will often turn sour. Join Tom and Dominic in the second part of our series on Captain Cook, as they delve into his exploring of the Pacific, his relationships with indigenous peoples, the behaviour of Joseph Banks and the Endeavour’s crew, stories of goats and kangaroos, and much more.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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The greatest sea explorer of all time, James Cook was born to a humble Yorkshire family, and first stood out for his talents as a cartographer for the Royal Navy in Newfoundland. He would go on to lead three epic voyages to the Pacific during the 18th century, as part of history’s first ever scientific research team, accompanied by Joseph Banks, two cats, a dog and a goat. First sent to track the transit of Venus, he would go on to encounter a new continent, Terra Australis… Join Tom and Dominic in the first part of our series on Captain Cook, as they explore the life of a man who embodied the tensions and complexity of the Enlightenment, and its relationship with the wider world.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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The setting for so many of the Arabian Nights, like the stories of Sinbad the Sailor, Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, or Aladdin, Baghdad during the Islamic Golden Age had a shimmering image, a dimension of mystery and wonder… Join Tom and Dominic in the final part of our series on the history of Baghdad, as they explore the tales of One Thousand and One Nights, and the city of Caliphs, Hadiths, thieves, and of course, pigeon racing!
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
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Baghdad was a place of fabulous sophistication and teeming multitudes, where terrible things could happen, but great wonders could also be found… During the Islamic Golden Age, it was the most global city the world had ever seen, a truly diverse cosmopolis, with silks and porcelains from China, spices from India, slaves from the frozen shores of the distant “North”, and ships coming and going from Vietnam, Indonesia, and the southern-most reaches of Africa. Arabic was the universal language, with Islam providing a framework for trade. In the third part of our series on Baghdad, Tom and Dominic take a deep dive into the life of the Caliph Harun al-Rashid, and the golden age of Baghdad: exemplary viziers, succession battles, pigeon racing, canals, exotic cuisine, gentrification, polo pitches and much more!
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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“No city in the world will ever rival it for prosperity...“ Baghdad, originally a Christian village in Iraq, was chosen by the Abbasid Caliph Al-Mansur as the site for the new capital of his empire, and it would become a cosmopolis to rival Rome or Babylon. Its foundations were built in a perfect circle, with walls 90 feet tall, and at its heart, the monumental Palace of the Golden Gate. Rejecting the Umayyad Caliphate's desire to conquer Constantinople, Al-Mansur founded his own “centre of the universe”. In the second part of our series on Baghdad, Tom and Dominic look at how the Abbasids solidified their rule after overthrowing the Umayyads, and the beginnings of Baghdad as their new capital.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
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Twitter:
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
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A story of great myth and of huge historical significance, the foundation of Baghdad is a fundamental episode in the development of Islam. The Umayyad Caliphate, the first great Islamic empire, stretched from the Atlantic Ocean to the borders of China; no dynasty had ever presided over a greater array of conquests. But amongst growing sectarian and internal divisions, discontent on the fringes of the caliphate, and the emergence of influential religious scholars, the Umayyads are challenged by a new power, which pretends to restore Muhammad’s bloodline to rule over Islam. In the first part of our series on the history of Baghdad, Tom and Dominic tell the story of the founders of the city, the Abbasids, and delve into the roots of the revolution that saw them overthrow the Umayyad Caliphate…
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
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The Mitfords were the most glamorous aristocrats on the London scene in the 1920s, with at their head Diana, the most beautiful woman in London, who would eventually marry Oswald Mosley. However, her younger sister Unity would strike up a relationship with her own fascist leader: Adolf Hitler. Having first moved to Berlin in 1934, Unity would eventually become part of the Führer’s inner-circle: having described them both as “perfect example of aryan womanhood”, her and Diana were his guests at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, sat next to Eva Braun. Unity would introduce her parents to Hitler, and he even visited her when she was in hospital during the opening weeks of WWII. Join Tom and Dominic in the final episode of our series on British fascism, as they delve into the life of Unity Mitford, her family, and her relationship with Hitler. Was she trying to seduce Hitler and form an Anglo-German dynasty? Did the violence of the SS not unsettle her? And was she carrying Hitler’s child upon her return to Britain? Listen to find out…
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
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“You will never catch Sir Oswald admitting to anti-semitism - all he does is embody it!”
Following the violent scenes at Kensington Olympia, the British fascist movement is in decline. Britain is swirling with unemployment, having just come out of a decade of general strikes, and as the country suffers, changes and becomes more urbanised, the fascists seek a scapegoat to pin Britain’s downfall on. On the 6th of October 1936, Mosley gathers with 3000 of his blackshirts to march through Cable Street, in London’s East End, an area with a large Jewish population; they are met by 100,000 anti-fascist demonstrators blocking the streets… Join Tom and Dominic in the third episode of our series on British fascism, as they look at the Battle of Cable Street, fascism in the pre-war years, Oswald’s role in the anti-war movement, his eventual arrest and detainment, and much more.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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The fascists in Britain have found a leader known across the country: the sinister yet complex Oswald Mosley. Following stints as an MP for both the Tories and Labour, Mosley, a veteran of the First World War, forms the British Union of Fascists in 1932, making a big effort to appeal to women and the working class. Although his rhetoric is surprisingly anti-militarist, the violence that occurs at his fascist meeting in Kensington Olympia in 1934, the same month as the Night of the Long Knives, will have irreversible effects on the development of his new party. Join Tom and Dominic in the second episode of our series on British Fascism, as they look at Oswald Mosley, his influences, his role within British society, and the rise of the British Union of Fascists…
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
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The cultural roots of fascism swirled around Britain at the turn of the 20th century, as medieval nostalgia, an obsession with hygiene, anti-semitism, and concern for the environment grew in the wake of modern development. In the 1920s, Britain faced similarly tough conditions to the European countries where fascism did take hold; major economic difficulties, unpopular governments, and intense fears of Bolshevism. But did fascism ever really find an audience in Britain? Listen to the first episode of our series on British fascism, as Tom and Dominic discuss fascism in Britain before the emergence of Oswald Mosley…
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
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The U.S. have given up on ousting the socialist President Allende through democratic means, and shift to a more militaristic approach, in the form of General Pinochet. Once known as the ‘dull dog’, a man who had a reputation for procuring Jeeps for his fellow troops, the son of a customs official, he would overthrow Allende and become a bloodthirsty tyrant, killing thousands and torturing far, far more. In our second episode on the 1973 Chilean coup, Tom and Dominic look at how the coup itself unfolded, Salvador Allende’s ensuing fate, and what life was like in Chile under the ruthless Pinochet.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
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In the midst of the Cold War, the 1973 coup against the socialist Chilean president Salvador Allende, led by General Pinochet with the support of Richard Nixon, remains a seismic episode in Latin American history. A story imbued in American Imperialism, Allende sees off waves of attempts by the U.S. to oust and undermine him, until they exhaust all legal and parliamentary means, and seek new ways to derail Chilean socialism. In today’s episode, Tom and Dominic delve into Salvador Allende’s rise to power, his radical new vision for Chile, and why and how the U.S. sought to undermine him…
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
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In anticipation of the U.S. release of PAX, here’s the book’s introduction for you to enjoy, read by its author, our very own Tom Holland…
Available in the United States and Canada from 26th September; PAX is already in bookstores across the UK.
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“Are you not entertained?!”
The emblem of Rome, the Colosseum was the unsettling but glamorous home of Roman violence, used for gladiatorial bouts, naval reenactments, and by the emperors to re-stage popular myths. Built by the Flavian dynasty in the first century AD, it is both an awe-inspiring monument to the grandeur of antiquity, and a blood-spattered arena of death. But why was it built? What was the deeper meaning of the cruelty it celebrated? In today’s episode Tom and Dominic delve into the gory roots of the Colosseum, and the stories of the gladiators who fought and died there.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
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Twitter:
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
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“To be a boy at one of these schools was to be alternately tyrant and slave.”
More gruesome even than the Battle of Hogwarts, 18th century British Public schools were hotbeds for violence and uproar, despite their deeply Christian origins. From raucous rebellions featuring students fighting militias and building barricades, hostage-taking and pistol-firing, to animal assassinations, abysmal teaching and gruesome hazing rituals, their organised brutality was mis-sold as “character-building”. Join Tom and Dominic in the second part of our series, as they explore the schools which inspired Hogwarts, their pupils, stories and legacies.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
Research: William Finlator
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Eclectic traditions, obscure codes and cryptic ancient languages: the world of Harry Potter has captivated the imagination of children from all backgrounds for decades. A fantasy series inspired by a long lineage of stories, from Tolkien to Narnia, all committed to the importance of the building of moral character. Join Tom and Dominic in the first part of our series on Harry Potter, as they trace the roots of J.K. Rowling’s novels, and demystify the world of eminent headmasters, weird sports, prefects and houses.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
Research: William Finlator
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“Let us advance courageously, to change the backward condition of our country, and turn it into a modern and powerful socialist state!” Deng Xiaoping, a man purged by Mao and his followers twice before becoming leader of China, paved the way for a modern Chinese state and economy, opening the country up to foreign investment and technology, whilst maintaining firm control of the Chinese Communist Party. In today’s episode, Tom and Dominic are joined by Friend of the Show Professor Rana Mitter, as they look at how China transitioned into the global economic and political powerhouse it is today, Deng Xiaoping’s role in transforming the country, and, of course, Wham! and their 1985 visit…
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
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The father of sadism and a prophet of totalitarianism, the Marquis de Sade was a French aristocrat and writer, an uncompromising and unashamed libertine with the eerie ability to corrupt those around him. Arrested first by the French monarchy and then by the revolutionaries, he spent much of his life in jail, narrowly avoiding the death penalty thanks to Robespierre’s deposition on the day of his proposed execution. Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss the Marquis, his turbulent life, his time in prison, and his unsettling legacy…
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
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In a swirling world dominated by miniskirts, feather boas, posh photographers, youth culture, Jimi Hendrix and the Beatles, London has been transformed, and avant-garde “boutiques” have taken over areas left empty in the wake of the demise of local manufacturing. Join Tom and Dominic in the second part of our series on Sixties Fashion, as they explore the birth of the miniskirt, Sergeant Pepper’s, hippies, the legacy of the 60s, and much more - all you need is love!
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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The Sixties is one of the only moments in history when Britain could claim to be the epicentre of world fashion, and in this episode Tom and Dominic delve into this cultural boom, from the boxy, militaristic styles of the 1940s, when fabrics, designs and even the Queen’s wedding dress were limited by post-war restrictions, to the greasy-haired Edwardian Teddy Boys of the early 1950’s, and the warring Mods and Rockers that followed. Then came the 60’s, full of child-like designs, colour supplements, rockstar photographers, and their “groovy” models. Join Tom and Dominic as they explore why the trends of the Sixties were so androgynous, who really invented the mini-skirt, and why Jean Shrimpton was paid £4,000 to go to Australia…
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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“The mutual affection and harmony between the two had reached a degree never seen between a husband and wife…” The Taj Mahal, built by the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan as a mausoleum for his wife Mumtaz Mahal, tells the story of the imperial power and strength of the Mughal Empire, and remains to this day a symbol of perfection, refinement and romance. Tom and Dominic are joined by art historian Dr Mehreen Chida-Razvi, as they delve into the origins of the Taj Mahal, the empire behind it, and its cultural and political significance throughout the centuries.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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One of the greatest institutions of the ancient world, the Library of Alexandria was the embodiment of ultimate learning, and a “repository of everything”. Built within the same complex as the tomb of Alexander the Great, it stood as a beacon of knowledge, boasting an unparalleled collection of scrolls and manuscripts from across the world. Join Tom and Dominic as they explore the story of the Library, its role in the ancient world, and who eventually destroyed it…
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
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“A cloud of black, acrid smoke hung over the area. It was a scene from a warzone, a battlefield - it was a scene from the end of the world…” New York in the 1970s was a city decimated by economic stagnation, unemployment and ever-rising crime rates, haemorrhaging its population to the suburbs and to the more business-friendly South. Join Tom and Dominic as they look at the 1977 power blackout, the looting of New York, and life in the real Gotham City.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
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Twitter:
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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"Out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope.” Arguably the most celebrated speech of the 20th century, Martin Luther King Jr.’s address in front of the Lincoln Memorial in August 1963 was a defining moment in the American Civil Rights movement, and to this day remains a symbol of hope, equality, and social change. Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss Martin Luther King Jr., how he became involved in the Civil Rights movement, and the unfolding of the March on Washington.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
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Warning! This one isn’t for the faint-hearted... A naked, torch-carrying man, who would walk backwards around a funeral pyre, with his fingers covering his anus. The armed woman who worked a loom made from human body parts. 6-legged reindeers. Slaves buried alive with their owners, tapestries woven of human flesh, and rituals with horse penises. Tom and Dominic, in one of the most eagerly-awaited The Rest Is History episodes of all time, are joined by archaeologist Neil Price, as they delve into the strange and gruesome world of Viking Sorcery.
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
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“There’s a lot of severed heads at this villa!” The great TV sensation of the summer returns on The Rest Is History, as Tom and Dominic are once again joined by Tom’s daughter Katy, to navigate an incredibly competitive field of islanders, and crown the successors to last year’s winners, Empress Theodora and Stanley Baldwin. Can Catherine Howard remain more loyal to Sir William Hamilton than she was to Henry VIII? Will Charles II and another byzantine Empress, Zoe, win it all? Or can the frightful, bloodthirsty duo of Peter the Great and Poppaea Sabina claim the throne for themselves? Will Admiral Horatio Nelson or Labour grandee Tony Benn make it to the final? Listen and find out now!
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
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A woman of immense influence on medieval Christendom, Catherine of Siena was one of the first female Doctors of the Church, who married Christ in her own bedroom. Living through a time of great anxiety due to the onset of the Black Death, she healed the sick, convinced the Pope to return from exile in France, appeased riotous crowds, and even brought her own mother back from the dead. Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss Catherine of Siena, her life, her impact on the Middle Ages, and her relationship with Christ.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
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Mount Vesuvius' eruption in the autumn of AD79 remains one of the deadliest and best-known in history. The plume of super-heated volcanic gases spewed skyward formed a cloud 21 miles high, with the volcano ultimately releasing 100,000 times the thermal energy of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Join Tom and Dominic as they piece together the disaster, destruction and death caused by the Vesuvius’s eruption.
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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Charles de Gaulle was a war hero in the First World War, and, having refused to accept his government’s armistice with Nazi Germany, became the voice of the French Resistance during the Second World War. But how did France’s largest uprising since the Paris Commune come to happen during his presidency? Join Tom and Dominic in the second part of our tour of Paris, as they look at de Gaulle’s role in the events of May 1968, and how he eventually overcame the protests.
Read more about Tom and Dominic's trip to Paris, in partnership with Wise: https://wise.com/campaign/restishistory
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
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Twitter:
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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May 1968 saw underlying tensions reach a climax in France, resulting in a period of civil unrest coloured by rioting, general strikes, and the occupation of universities and factories. Join Tom and Dominic in the first part of our tour through the streets of Paris, as they tell the story of how France’s economy came to a halt at the hands of cobblestone-wielding students.
Read more about Tom and Dominic's trip to Paris, in partnership with Wise: https://wise.com/campaign/restishistory
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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A city which played a fundamental role in the Dutch Golden Age and in the birth of the Dutch monarchy, Amsterdam has also stood in the avant-garde of European liberalism since the Second World War. Join Tom and Dominic on the second part of our walking tour through Amsterdam, as they look at the importance of its canals, the changing role of the Amsterdam Royal Palace, the Portuguese Synagogue and its relationship with the city’s jewish population, and more.
Read more about Tom and Dominic's trip to Amsterdam, in partnership with Wise: https://wise.com/campaign/restishistory
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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A city built on water, Amsterdam has often set the tone of European modernity. It first gained prominence as a miraculous centre for pilgrimage, and then stood out for its relationship with the Reformation, and for its role in the birth of modern capitalism. Join Tom and Dominic on part one of our tour of Amsterdam, as they take you on a journey through Dam Square, the birthplace of the Dutch East India Company, the Begijnhof, and the Amsterdam Dungeon…
Read more about Tom and Dominic's trip to Amsterdam, in partnership with Wise: https://wise.com/campaign/restishistory
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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With the French and Spanish siding with George Washington’s revolutionaries, the game is up for the British, and it seems time for them to cut their losses. Following the surrender of General Cornwallis at Yorktown, the war is effectively over, but what are the short and long term consequences of this? In our final episode on the American revolution, Tom, Dominic and Professor Adam Smith look at the end of the war, the subsequent Treaty of Paris, and the broader question of how the revolution shaped the United States and the future of its people.
The Rest Is History Club members can listen to the full series now.
Join The Rest Is History Club on Apple podcasts or at www.restishistorypod.com for ad-free listening to the full archive, weekly bonus episodes, live streamed shows, and access to an exclusive chatroom community.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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“O ye that love mankind! Ye that dare oppose, not only the tyranny, but the tyrant, stand forth!” The U.S. Congress votes for independence on the 2nd of July 1776, and George Washington reads the Declaration of Independence to his troops a few days later, after which they pull down the statue of George III in New York, melting it down to make bullets. The king is now the target of the revolutionaries’ grievances, it is no longer the British Parliament. In Episode 3 of our series on the American Revolution, Tom, Dominic and Professor Adam Smith explore the importance and impact of the Declaration of Independence, the role of King George III, and the effect of France’s involvement.
The Rest Is History Club members can listen to the full series now.
Join The Rest Is History Club on Apple podcasts or at www.restishistorypod.com for ad-free listening to the full archive, weekly bonus episodes, live streamed shows, and access to an exclusive chatroom community.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
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“Last night three cargos of tea were emptied into the sea. This morning a man of war sails. This is the most magnificent movement of all. There is a dignity, a majesty, a sublimity, in this last effort of the patriots, that I greatly admire.”
The Boston Tea Party occurs amid the growing disagreements between the British parliament and the people of colonial America, as New Englanders, and Bostonians in particular, fight British attempts to regulate imperial trade. In the second episode of this series, Tom, Dominic and Professor Adam Smith examine the Tea Act and how it accelerated the American Revolution. They also chart George Washington’s rise to commander-in-chief of the American patriot forces, and ask to what extent slavery was an issue in the war.
The Rest Is History Club members can listen to the full series now.
Join The Rest Is History Club on Apple podcasts or at www.restishistorypod.com for ad-free listening to the full archive, weekly bonus episodes, live streamed shows, and access to an exclusive chatroom community.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
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“America, late the strength, now the foe to Britain, dismembered, torn, I fear forever lost to England, whence she sprung.”
The American Revolution came about due to growing tensions between the American colonies and Great Britain, primarily over issues of taxation and representation. It led to the birth of the United States of America, established upon Enlightenment principles of liberal democracy and constitutionalism. In the first episode of our four part series, Tom and Dominic are joined by Professor Adam Smith for a detailed look at the beginnings of the American Revolution, as they examine the background to the war, and how both religious fervour and the implementation of colonial taxes fuelled the conflict.
The Rest Is History Club members can listen to the full series now.
Join The Rest Is History Club on Apple podcasts or at www.restishistorypod.com for ad-free listening to the full archive, weekly bonus episodes, live streamed shows, and access to an exclusive chatroom community.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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“Who drinks the water I shall give him, will have a spring inside him welling up for eternal life.” A deeply mysterious object which doesn’t appear in the Bible, was the Holy Grail really the chalice used by Jesus during the Last Supper, and the very cup that caught his blood at the crucifixion? Or is it merely a symbol representing Christ’s bloodline? Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss the Holy Grail, the origin of the tradition, and the role it played within medieval Christendom.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
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Twitter:
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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The most important object in the universe, but also a somewhat invisible presence in the Bible, the Ark of the Covenant has fuelled stories for millennia, whether as a weapon of mass destruction, an elaborate filling cabinet for sacred laws, or as the very location where God and man meet. Join Tom and Dominic as they delve into the mysteries surrounding the Ark of the Covenant, its creation, its importance and its eventual disappearance…
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
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Following the use of the atomic bomb in Japan and the end of the Second World War, Oppenheimer pushes for an international approach to nuclear power. This attitude towards nuclear secrets, alongside his history of close relationships with known communists, results in all his security clearances being revoked in 1954 after a public hearing. Join Tom and Dominic as they explore McCarthyism, American anti-communist hysteria, and Oppenheimer’s fall from grace.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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“Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.” This was J. Robert Oppenheimer’s reaction to the first atomic bomb test in July 1945, marking the beginning of the nuclear age. Oppenheimer, an American theoretical physicist of Jewish-German descent, was in charge of the American nuclear project, leading the Los Alamos laboratory and tasked with developing “the bomb” in 1943, following his involvement in the Manhattan Project. Join Tom and Dominic as they delve into the life of the man behind “the weapon to end all wars”.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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It’s 1895, and with the libel case brought against the Marquess of Queensbury having collapsed, Oscar Wilde is now arrested and charged with committing acts of “gross indecency”. With former lovers, hotel servants and chambermaids lining up to give evidence, and the evening papers, night after night full of scandalous allegations, turning the general public against him, Wilde must now face a trial brought about through his own poor judgement. In this second episode on the trials of Oscar Wilde, Tom and Dominic explore Wilde’s downfall, his time in jail, and his final years.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
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“The truth is rarely pure and never simple.” As his most popular work, "The Importance of Being Earnest", hints at, Oscar Wilde’s life was a complicated one. Perhaps the most famous gay martyr in history, Wilde is often presented as a sacrificial victim destroyed by a bigoted and puritanical establishment. But the story of how Wilde came to prominence, and eventually sued his lover’s father for libel, is one as surprising as it is complex. Join Tom and Dominic as they explore Oscar Wilde’s journey from the heights of brilliant success to the depths of notoriety and suffering.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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A mysterious death on the Nile, an unconventional love affair, a Roman-Greek hero turned God - the story of Hadrian and Antinous is full of intrigue. Join Tom and Dominic as they delve into the world of Roman romance, where gender binaries and modern moral arguments do not feature, and look into the possible theories of how Antinous' body ended up in the Nile...
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
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The Easter Rising began in Dublin's General Post Office on Easter Monday, 24th April 1916, with Patrick Pearse’s dramatic proclamation of the Irish Republic. Led by republicans opposed to British rule in Ireland, this was the most significant uprising in more than a century - and changed the entire course of Irish and British history, with effects that still reverberate today.
In today’s episode, Tom and Dominic return to the GPO in Dublin, as the brilliant Professor Paul Rouse tells the bloody story - at once inspiring, terrifying and heartbreaking - of the Easter Rising and its extraordinary aftermath.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
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The year is 1912. The bitter arguments about Home Rule for Ireland are reaching boiling point. But with Ulster in uproar, the Tories encouraging mutiny and thousands of rifles pouring into Ireland, is the United Kingdom really heading for a bloody civil war? And was Sarajevo really the turning point that saved Britain from a sectarian inferno?
In today's episode, Tom and Dominic are joined by friend of the show Dan Jackson to discuss the thrilling climax to the Home Rule saga, with appearances from characters such as H. H. Asquith, Andrew Bonar Law and Sir Edward Carson. We end with Britain and Ireland plunging into the abyss of the Great War - and the Easter Rising fast approaching...
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
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At the start of the 19th century, the kingdoms of Britain and Ireland were officially 'united' with the Acts of Union. Historian Paul Rouse continues our sweep through the Anglo-Irish relationship, including the Great Famine and the political battles both for and against Home Rule.
Tom, Dominic and Paul recorded this episode in the iconic General Post Office on O’Connell Street in Dublin.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
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“In every generation the Irish people have asserted their right to national freedom and sovereignty; six times during the past three hundred years they have asserted it in arms.”
The proclamation of the Irish Republic, delivered by Patrick Pearse in Dublin, marked the beginning of the Easter Rising in 1916.
Looking at the Anglo-Irish relationship leading up to the Easter Rising, Tom and Dominic are joined by historian Paul Rouse, to explore the deep history between Britain and Ireland, from the Norman conquest to the rebellion of 1798.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
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A grubby, secretive cabal of devil worshippers that run the world, or a fraternity of like-minded individuals who enjoy eccentric rituals? Freemasonry, originating in the Middle Ages, played a significant role in the formation of the new American nation under George Washington, held the British empire together, and later served as a tool for authoritarianism and revolutionary conspiracy.
Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook are joined by historian John Dickie on a journey to uncover the true history of the Freemasons, a society which has counted among its ranks Mozart, Benjamin Franklin, the Duke of Wellington, Shaquille O'Neale, and many more…
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
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What did "demos" really mean to the Athenians? Why were women such a crucial part of Athenian democracy? And who was the Tom Wamsgams of Athens? Join Tom and Dominic as they explore whether Athenian democracy really was the precursor to modern day democracy, or whether it was something entirely different.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
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It's 1649 and a new republic has been declared, the Commonwealth of England. It's an age of 17th century republicanism, difficult policies in Ireland, and a serious PR problem... writer and historian Anna Keay joins Tom and Dominic to discuss life under Cromwell.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
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In 1885, H. Rider Haggard’s brother offered him a wager: five shillings if he could write a book half as good as Robert Louis Stevenson’s “Treasure Island”.
By the end of the year, Haggard had penned a novel that would become the foundational text of the lost world literary genre. “King Solomon’s Mines” was one of the first English adventure novels set in Africa, a story brimming with treasure, bravery and romance, featuring all-action hero Allan Quartermain and his gang. Haggard’s work would inspire the likes of Conan Doyle, H.P Lovecraft, and many more.
Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss H. Rider Haggard and his literary legacy.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
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It’s 1647, and in New England, where puritan settlers live in fear of God’s wrath and a hostile indigenous population, there are rumours coming from Boston, and up the Connecticut valley, that witches are to blame for the death of local children…
In today’s episode, Tom and Dominic are joined by historian Malcolm Gaskill, as they discuss witch crazes, hunts and trials in the 17th century, with a particular focus on the town of Springfield, Massachusetts.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
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Born on the Western edge of an empire that stretched all the way to India, Herodotus was a Greek historian of the 5th century BC. His major work The Histories, a long and detailed account of the Greco-Persian Wars and the cultures of the ancient world, is considered the founding work of History in Western literature. Herodotus was known for his thorough research, his use of eyewitness accounts, and his engaging storytelling style, and was not impervious to feuding with other historians… Join Tom and Dominic as they look into the life of the "father of History".
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What was the most calamitous coronation of all time? Which ceremony does Tom think is the most boring topic he's ever discussed on the podcast? How will Charles III's big day compare to that of his ancestors?
In the third and final episode, Tom and Dominic answer all these questions as they explore the most recent coronations in British history.
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
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Whether it’s London descending into a riot, a bad hangover with Samuel Pepys, or a royal lacking discretion… Charles III will certainly be hoping that History does not repeat itself this weekend.
In the second of our episodes on coronations, Tom and Dominic take a look at some of the bad behaviour that occurred at coronations in the past, and whether that serves as an omen for the monarch’s reign to come…
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The roots of the coronation ritual are fabulously ancient: certain elements of the ceremony are vestiges from the later Roman Empire, others have their origins in the Old Testament and ancient Egypt. The liturgy used can be traced back to the 10th century, and the very idea of kings taking part in rituals comes from Charlemagne.
In light of the first British coronation in more than half a century taking place this weekend, Tom and Dominic explore the historical and sacral roots of the coronation ritual.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
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Few years in European History saw as much change and turmoil as 1848: across the continent, from Vienna to Paris to Palermo, mass protests took place, catching the old elites by surprise. The political order that stood strong since the defeat of Napoleon fell aside, making way for a newer, modern Europe, influenced by the rise both of socialism and nationalism. In today's episode, Tom and Dominic are joined by the Regius Professor of History at Cambridge, Christopher Clark, to discuss 1848, and the lasting impact of the revolutions that came about that year.
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“It is 105 degrees in Saigon, and rising.” This announcement, made through U.S. Armed Forces radio on a spring morning in 1975, is the cue for all Americans remaining in Saigon to head to the US embassy, in order to be evacuated. With up to a million South Vietnamese also expecting to be flown to safety, the city erupts into panic and unrest. The last U.S. troops barricade themselves on the roof of the embassy, waiting for the final helicopter to pick them up. Join Tom and Dominic as they dissect the final hours of American presence in Saigon, and the legacy of the war in Vietnam and abroad.
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It's 1975, and in the final act of the Vietnam War, the U.S. have ordered all remaining civilian and military personnel to be withdrawn from South Vietnam. The communist Viet Cong are closing in on the city of Saigon, the hub of America’s presence, as choppers evacuate the 6000 Americans left in the city. Thousands of Vietnamese storm the U.S. embassy, as Saigon descends into chaos. Join Tom and Dominic as they explore the horror and devastation left in the wake of America’s intervention in Vietnam.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
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Rin Tin Tin, born on the Western Front in 1918, became one of the biggest movie stars of the silent film era. Greyfriars Bobby gained his fame for guarding his masters' grave for 14 years, until the day he died.
Bounce, Admiral Collingwood’s loyal companion, would hide below deck during the Napoleonic Wars, and Collingwood would sing to him after battle, to calm his nerves. Nixon's dog Checkers saved his political career, but never lived to see the White House.
The wolfhound Gelert, who died protecting his master's infant son, and Blondi, Hitler's German Shepherd, were both put to death by their owners.
Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss history's most famous dogs.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
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The German Democratic Republic was born in the ashes of the Second World War, and described itself as a socialist “workers’ and peasants’ state”. The country struggled for much of the latter half of the 20th century, relying on economic support and political backing from the USSR, until its dissolution in 1990. But what was life like for the average East German? In today's episode, Tom and Dominic are joined by historian Katja Hoyer as they discuss living standards, police surveillance, access to luxury goods, elections and political unrest in the now defunct East Germany.
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
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The Black Prince has gained lands in Aquitaine and Gascony through his brutal and thorough attacks. But faced with financial difficulties, sickness, and a notable family death, can he retain his territories? Listen to Tom and Dominic as they conclude this epic four-part series on The 100 Years War.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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As the spectre of the Black Death haunts Europe, a more tangible foe terrorises the French king and his subjects: the Black Prince, Edward of Woodstock. After his great victory leading the vanguard at Crécy, he continues with his regular incursions into France, before eventually being cornered by John II and his vast army at Poitiers in 1356: has the Black Prince’s luck finally run out?
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
State of the art military technology. Blind battle commanders. Iconic kingly lines. Tom and Dominic continue to delve into the 100 Years' War, as they patriotically explore the mighty battles of Sluys and Crécy.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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Dynastic turmoil, inconvenient treaties with Scotland, tales of knights, longbows and the golden age of chivalry. In a time of chaos across Europe, England, a minor power of the time, takes on the mighty kingdom of France. Join Tom and Dominic to learn how the Hundred Years' War began.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
A story spanning modern-day Ghana, Angola, and Benin, historian Luke Pepera joins Tom and Dominic to discuss the tradition of African queens, female warriors, and military commanders. Through the lives of Queen Nzinga of Ndongo, the Dahomey warriors, and the Ashanti Queen mothers, our hosts look at how these figures interacted with their male counterparts, their subjects, and European colonisers.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
It's 1718, an English Quaker lands in Barbados. He is soon horrified to discover the treatment of people working the plantations there. Treatment the Marquis de Sade saw as the only cruelty that could rival that of the ancients. Listen to discover how Benjamin Lay became the first abolitionist, performing many stunts to shock and convince his fellow Quakers and humans that slavery was abhorrent and wrong.
This episode contains graphic details of the torture of enslaved people, including mentions of suicide. This content is not intended for younger audiences, and listener discretion is advised.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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From claims that the alphabet was originated by Atlantians, Francis Bacon using the story as a model of utopia, to the Nazis co-opting Atlantis as the birthplace of the Aryan race, everyone seems to have wanted a slice of the Atlantian pie. Join Tom and Dominic as they explore the academics and the amateurs who lay claim to discovering the real Atlantis.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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Majestic palaces, untold riches, and indeterminable power... the story of Atlantis is a tale as old as time. But is there really any truth behind the ancient tome, or was Plato simply trying his hand at political satire? Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss the origins of the legend of Atlantis.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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Have humans always been haunted by fears of a climate apocalypse? Or is that a modern phenomenon? Is there a continuity from the Curse of Akkad to the Industrial Revolution? Listen as Tom and Dominic are joined by Peter Frankopan to discuss the history of the climate.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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Warmonger or nuclear disarmer? Ronald Reagan’s presidency survived an assassination attempt, the AIDS epidemic and the Iranian hostage crisis. He powered through the 1980s, creating his own truth and narrative, in a series of events that read like a Hollywood screenplay.
Tom and Dominic take a look at the impact of Reagan's presidency, the enduring effects of his politics, and why none of the scandals that scarred his time in office led to his downfall. They reflect on Reagan's legacy, and whether he can truly take credit for ending the Cold War, as the curtain falls on his blockbuster presidency.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
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@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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His Hollywood career drying up, Ronald Reagan works both for the Screen Actors Guild and General Electric in the 1950s. Building connections with the Californian elite, and having gained national attention with a speech for the Republican presidential candidate in 1964, he becomes Governor of California in 1966. A pragmatic, anti-hippie, centre-right governor, he goes on to win the Republican presidential nomination at his second attempt, and the American presidency at his first.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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Ronald "Dutch" Reagan was born in 1911 to a humble family of Illinois, his father an FDR-loving democrat, his mother a notable member of the local Christian community. A high school football star, "Dutch" would grow up to become one of America's favourite sports broadcasters, a Hollywood actor and a union leader, before finally entering American political life in 1964.
The first episode of our three-part series on Ronald Reagan sees Tom and Dominic look at his childhood, his early career, his romantic life pre-Nancy, and the beginning of his journey towards Republican politics.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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Christopher Columbus caused debate in his own time, and remains a controversial figure today: some argue he initiated both the Atlantic slave trade and the genocide of the Native Americans, others laud him as one of the great men of History. Join Tom and Dominic as they explore these issues, their roots, and the truth behind the man Columbus really was...
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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Columbus returns to the remnants of his first voyage to the "Indies", having convinced Isabella and Ferdinand to fund a larger second trip. Desperate to make his mission financially fruitful, his search for wealth and capital unleashes horror on the land that he has “discovered”. Columbus makes enemies, causes destruction and starts to lose his grip on reality, whilst he attempts to cling to his newly-found power and status.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
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@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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Having convinced the Catholic Monarchs to fund his journey across the Atlantic, Columbus sets sail with three ships, a crew with dubious loyalties, and a mission to find China or Japan by heading west.
A voyage spanning the Canary Islands, Cuba and Hispaniola, he will encounter and enslave indigenous peoples, mislead and fall out with his crew, then eventually be arrested in Portugal on his return to Europe. If freed by the Portuguese, how will he be received by the Catholic Monarchs?
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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A controversial figure both now and in his time, Tom and Dominic discuss Columbus and his drive for discovery, power and status. They look at Columbus’ early life in Genoa, his journey to becoming an accomplished sailor, his obsession with crossing the Atlantic to reach what he thought was Asia, and how he convinced the Catholic Monarchs of Spain to fund his voyage.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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In this second episode on perhaps the most notorious assasination in world history, Tom and Dominic look at the bloody and chaotic aftermath of the death of Julius Caesar. They discuss the fate of the senators turned assassins, their failure to restore the institutions of the republic, and the ensuing civil war that brought about the first emperor of Rome.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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“He was trapped - he couldn’t get up. There was blood everywhere. The faces were coming closer, the knives rose and fell. And then, to his relief, he saw Brutus.”
One of the most iconic deaths in history, Caesar’s assassination is the brutal climax to an impressive series of victories: from triumphing during the First Triumvirate, to outlasting Pompey and Cato, gaining Imperator status and becoming dictator for life. How did it all come to such a gory end?
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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Thought by some as the first genocide in Europe, the Albigensian Crusade was the bloodiest crusade in history. Following the Mystery of the Cathars and the Real Da Vinci Code, Tom and Dominic come to the conclusion of their series on the Cathars with an extraordinary and bloody tale of ideological tyranny.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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Was the Catholic Church Europe’s first revolutionary group? How are the Cathars linked to the genesis of genocide? Where does the term crusade come from? Listen as Tom and Dominic discuss the real history around the mysterious group known as the Cathars.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
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Twitter:
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
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Secret societies, Jesus' ancient bloodline, Catholic conspirators; all backed up by documents in the Bibliothèque Nationale. It must be true, mustn’t it? Join Tom and Dominic in the first of three episodes on the Cathars, starting off with a deep dive into the Da Vinci code and the story surrounding it.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
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Edwardian Britain: Domestic service is at its peak. However, as Britain modernises, things were about to change.
Tom and Dominic are joined by Lucy Lethbridge to discuss conservatism, universal aunts, and the relationship between master and servant.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor
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"One of the greatest rulers to have ever lived" - Tom Holland. But how much do you know about Hatshepsut? And how did she propel herself from regent to become one of the most revered rulers of all time?
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
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Twitter:
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
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Hitler is chancellor, but he is not yet all-powerful. How does he go from becoming the leader of the Reichstag, to an unshackled dictator with nothing to check his power?
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
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Wall Street crashes. The German economy capitulates and governments start to fall. Backroom deals and political scheming come to the fore. Join Tom and Dominic as they tell the story of the shadowy deals that allowed Hitler to gain power.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
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German hyperinflation. The Beer Hall Putsch. Hitler’s trial. Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss the Nazis in the early 1920s as the Weimar Republic is in crisis and Hitler tries to grow the party beyond Bavaria.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
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Where do the origins of Nazism lie? The Second Reich? Hitler’s time in Vienna? The First World War? Join Tom and Dominic in the first of their four-part series on the Rise of the Nazis as they discuss its origins.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
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‘It had the alchemy of a bitter Tory leadership race’.
Reigning for the shortest period of any British monarch, can Lady Jane even be considered an official queen of England and Ireland?
In the second of two episodes, tune in to hear Tom and Dominic drill down into the story of her turbulent nine days on the throne, plus her deposition, trial, and execution.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
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Twitter:
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
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Edward VI is dead - but who will succeed him on the throne?
In the first of two episodes, Tom and Dominic discuss the succession question that surrounded the reign of Edward VI, the sole male heir of Henry VIII - and how a 15-year-old Lady Jane Grey ended up Queen of England and Ireland.
Tune in to hear about svengalis, the deeply embedded memory of Henry VIII, and why the people of Guildford are the true victims in this incredible story.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
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Twitter:
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
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In our second episode exploring the story of Rudolf Vrba, Jonathan Freedland joins Tom and Dominic again, to discuss the global reaction to the Vrba–Wetzler report: did anti-Semitism shape the Allied response?
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
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Tom and Dominic are joined by Jonathan Freedland to discuss the incredible story of Rudolf Vrba and Alfréd Wetzler, who escaped from Auschwitz in April 1944.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
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Join Tom and Dominic for the final episode of 2022 in which they discuss the historical importance of this year. What will historians of the future remember about this year? The invasion of Ukraine? The end of the post-Cold War era?
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
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Twitter:
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Producer: Theo Young-Smith
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For a festive special, Tom and Dominic are joined by author and alcohol historian Henry Jeffreys to discuss some Christmassy tipples, from sherry to port, champagne to clairet. Plus, a discussion on why certain drinks revealed your political leanings, and how one Shropshire gentleman set his furniture on fire trying to cure his hiccups after one too many bottles of wine...
Read Henry Jeffreys book Empire of Booze now, available here.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
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Join Tom and Dominic for the second of two episodes on 'Historical Jesus'. They discuss scepticism around his existence, the theories about resurrection and crucifixion, and the role of his disciples.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
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Twitter:
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*The Rest Is History Live Tour April 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are going on tour in April 2023 and performing in London, Edinburgh, and Salford! Buy your tickets here:
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Jesus Christ: The Mystery
In today's episode, Tom and Dominic discuss the most mysterious historical figure of all, Jesus Christ.
They take a deep look at who he was, his teachings, and whether he actually existed.
To get the second episode in this mini-series right now, join The Rest Is History Club (www.restishistorypod.com). You'll also get ad-free listening to the full archive, weekly bonus episodes, live streamed shows and access to an exclusive chatroom community.
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England: Roast Beef and Liberty
While it has now been dethroned by the mighty Tikka Masala and the moreish fish and chips, Britain's most iconic dish was once - indisputably - Roast Beef.
In the final episode of this World Cup marathon, Tom and Dominic chart the dish’s prominence over the years and how, as an affront to the French, it became a rallying point for British patriotism and conservatism.
Join The Rest Is History Club (www.restishistorypod.com) for ad-free listening to the full archive, weekly bonus episodes, live streamed shows and access to an exclusive chatroom community.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
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Canada: Beaver Wars
Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss the illustrious history of the beaver. This story intertwines these small bundles of fur with tribal wars, the monopoly of the Hudson's Bay Company, and Grey Owl - the original beaver conservationist.
Join The Rest Is History Club (www.restishistorypod.com) for ad-free listening to the full archive, weekly bonus episodes, live streamed shows and access to an exclusive chatroom community.
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Denmark: The Great Escape
In today's episode, Tom and Dominic look at the story of how the vast majority of Denmark's Jewish population survived the Second World War, with help from Swedish royalty, fishermen, and many more...
Join The Rest Is History Club (www.restishistorypod.com) for ad-free listening to the full archive, weekly bonus episodes, live streamed shows and access to an exclusive chatroom community.
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Ecuador: Darwin's Adventure to the Galapagos
Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss Charles Darwin's time in Ecuador, where his observation of Finches, Mockingbirds, Iguanas, and many other animals native to the Galapagos, sowed the seed of his theory of evolution...
Join The Rest Is History Club (www.restishistorypod.com) for ad-free listening to the full archive, weekly bonus episodes, live streamed shows and access to an exclusive chatroom community.
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Morocco: The Rif War
In today's episode, Tom and Dominic discuss the Rif War, predecessor to the Spanish Civil War, set in 1920s Morocco, featuring Franco, Petain, Islamic tribesmen, American airmen and much more...
Join The Rest Is History Club (www.restishistorypod.com) for ad-free listening to the full archive, weekly bonus episodes, live streamed shows and access to an exclusive chatroom community.
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Today, Tom and Dominic are in Islamic Spain discussing Roman conquests, melancholy Emirs and vibrant harems... Don't miss the extraordinary story of the rise and fall of the Caliphate of Córdoba.
Join The Rest Is History Club (www.restishistorypod.com) for ad-free listening to the full archive, weekly bonus episodes, live streamed shows and access to an exclusive chatroom community.
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A little known story. Serbia, the home to one of the first great civilisations. They had the first written scripts, they smelted copper before anyone else, lived in urban settlements. But is it true? Join Tom and Dominic as they dive into this mysterious story.
Join The Rest Is History Club (www.restishistorypod.com) for ad-free listening to the full archive, weekly bonus episodes, live streamed shows and access to an exclusive chatroom community.
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In today’s World Cup special on Cameroon, Tom and Dominic tell the fascinating story of “probably the most famous Cameroonian to become a Russian General”. Learn about the extraordinary life of Major-General Abram Petrovich Gannibal, the great-grandfather of Russia’s most famous poet, Alexander Pushkin.
Join The Rest Is History Club (www.restishistorypod.com) for ad-free listening to the full archive, weekly bonus episodes, live streamed shows and access to an exclusive chatroom community.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
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In today's episode, Tom and Dominic explore the origins of the motion-picture camera, a device invented by "gentle giant" Louis Le Prince, who's œuvre spanned from working with pots and pans to photographing Queen Victoria or Gladstone. This history features mysterious disappearances, a jealous American competitor, Lancashire accents, and much more...
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In today's episode, Tom and Dominic discuss the history of Japan through six characters, with leading cultural historian of Japan, Chris Harding, as they cover feuding lords and buddhist monks, both world wars, Japanese medieval poetry, Manga culture, and much, much more.
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Join Tom and Dominic as, for the first time ever, they dip their toes into the Dutch republic. They discuss the Maid of Holland, who as both a warrior and a house maker, was emblematic of the golden age of the Dutch republic.
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Why are there Welsh speakers born in Argentina? Join Tom and Dominic to understand the fascinating and unlikely story of a Welsh colony in the Southern Hemisphere - and whether they remain there today.
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Today, Tom and Dominic are in 16th century Calvinist Geneva, where Michael Servetus is being condemned for heresy. Execution, imprisonment, treachery and public burnings all feature in this story which bears unusual similarities to the times we live in today…
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In today's World Cup episode, Tom and Dominic return to the history of Portugal to discuss military coups, defence of dictatorship, Castro in Cuba, and the creation of a post-Salazar state.
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In today's episode, Tom and Dominic discuss the Senegalese island of Gorée, and its complex relationship with the transatlantic slave trade. They look at both the history and mythology of the "House of Slaves", which still stands today as a vestige to human exploitation.
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Who is the greatest artist of all time? Join Tom and Dominic as Belgian historian Bart van Loo puts forward the case for the hyper-realistic and highly influential art of early Northern Renaissance painter Jan van Eyck.
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Join Tom and Dominic as they explore the seven wonders of Poland. Hear all about Krakus the dragon-slayer, the Wieliczka Salt Mine, "Kaiser soup", the influence of Oriental fashion, and much more...
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On today's World Cup episode, Tom and Dominic discuss the Ashanti Empire.
Tune in to hear about the Anglo-Ashanti wars, the Golden Stool, the role of Robert Baden-Powell and much, much more.
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As promised during the Portugal mini-series, Tom and Dominic are returning to Brazil to discuss its history post-independence. This episode will focus upon the Brazilian Empire, in particular the Emperor Pedro II. How did this boy who acceded to the throne at six years old, come to receive a French state funeral in front of 300,000 Parisians in the pouring rain?
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What are the origins of Wales? And how do the Welsh define themselves against Englishness? As England play Wales in the World Cup today, Tom and Dominic are joined by Martin Johnes, Professor of History at the University of Swansea, to explore the age old rivalry between the two nations.
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Join Tom and Dominic on their journey to the 16th century Korean peninsula, as they discuss Hwang Jini - a gisaeng, poet, and entertainer - and her everlasting impact on Korean culture. Dubbed by Tom the 'poetic Emma Hamilton', the story of Hwang Jini takes us through Diamond Mountains, Buddhism and Confucianism, 16th century Korean social class, and much more...
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Join Tom and Dominic for their World Cup episode on Saudi Arabia, where they discuss 'the most famous structure in global Islam' - the Kaaba in Mecca.
Tune in to hear about the Prophet Mohammed, Abdul Malik, and the origins of the most sacred site in Islam.
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On the Day of the Dead you eat pan de muerto and exchange calaveras with your friends. This celebration is often claimed to have its roots in ancient Aztec traditions of human sacrifice. But is any of this true? Join Tom and Dominic to find out.
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In today's World Cup special, Anglo-American relations are at their most tense, as the USA and England take to the football/soccer pitch.
Join Tom and Dominic as they take a retrospective look at this 200-year love-hate relationship. From the War of 1812, to Charles Dickens, all the way up to Beatlemania and James Bond - buckle up to discover the historical drama underpinning today's battle in Al Bayt Stadium.
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Join Tom and Dominic as they tell the story of the tragic heroine of Virgil’s Aeneid - Dido of Carthage. Listen as they discuss the origins of Carthage, recite top Latin phrases, and are joined by Juliette Pochin for a beautiful rendition of Dido’s Lament.
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In 1963, with the influence of the Cuban Revolution strong in South America, the left wing guerrilla group the Tupamaros emerged. Listen to tales of kidnappings, shootings, imprisonment and torture in the Tupamaros' quest for political power.
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"In conditions of chaos, people from outside the Roman social elite can rise to the top."
Join Tom and Dominic for their World Cup episode on Croatia, where they discuss the extraordinary life of the Emperor Diocletian. They talk about the Crisis of the Third Century, the Roman 'sidebar of shame', crisis in Gaul, Roman Brexit, foundations of the Byzantine Empire, and the best fact Dominic has heard in the World Cup series so far...
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On the day of England vs. Iran, Tom and Dominic are joined by friend of the show, Ali Ansari, to discuss Anglo-Iranian relations.
Tune in to hear stories of freemasons, early Iranian analysis of Tories and Whigs, the Anglo-Persian War, Salman Rushdie's fatwa, the ancestor of British Petroleum, and why Iran still sees England as a fox-like, 'little Satan'.
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Join Tom and Dominic as they continue the World Cup series by discussing the Costa Rican Civil War. This event is filled with tremendous characters, including the historian-cum-president Teodoro Picado Michalski, José Figueres Ferrer who abolished the army, and the infamous Dr Valverde.
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In today’s Australian-themed World Cup episode, Tom leads us through the incredible true story of the Somerton Man, a murder mystery that involves an Adelaide Beach, Persian poetry, and unexpected marriage. All will be revealed…
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“Since the conquest of Poland, 300,000 Jews have been murdered in this country in the most bestial way ... The German people slumber on in dull, stupid sleep and encourage the fascist criminals. Each wants to be exonerated of guilt, each one continues on his way with the most placid, calm conscience. But he cannot be exonerated; he is guilty, guilty, guilty!” - Leaflet from the White Rose resistance movement, 1942.
In today’s episode on Germany, Dominic tells us the heroic story of five German students who founded a non-violent protest group during the most oppressive days of Nazi control.
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It is finally here. Tom and Dominic are embarking upon their mighty World Cup themed extravaganza. Every day they will be releasing a new episode, each one based upon a different country that is competing in the tournament. 32 days, 32 countries, 32 episodes, fasten your seatbelts and enjoy the ride.
First up is Qatar. How did this tiny country in the Middle-East come to play such a prominent role in world affairs? Oil money, controlling the narrative, and western security are all part of the story.
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In their last episode on the World Cup, Tom and Dominic are joined by the face of football, Gary Lineker. They discuss England playing Argentina in the 1986 World Cup in the wake of the Falklands War, the globalisation of the competition that began with USA 1994, and the corruption that surrounds the upcoming tournament in Qatar.
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Welcome to the second episode of The Rest Is History's definitive guide to the history of the FIFA World Cup. In this episode, Tom and Dominic discuss the 1953 Match of the Century, post-war reconciliation, Dutch naked pool parties, medicals at NASA, Pickles the dog, and more.
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Welcome to The Rest Is History's definitive guide to the history of the FIFA World Cup, which looks past the football and uncovers the personalities, geopolitics, and drama behind the tournament.
In the first of three episodes, Tom and Dominic debate whether the global game is a product of British Imperialism, vicious South American rivalries, Bolivians playing in berets, the looming shadow of the Second World War, Mussolini, Hitler, and more.
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Forget the football, the next month's entertainment is coming from The Rest is History!
Join Tom and Dominic over the coming weeks as they embark on their colossal festival of world history. To mark the Fifa World Cup they are bringing you an episode on every single country taking part in the competition. From the Costa Rican Civil War, to courtesans in South Korea, via the White Rose movement in Nazi Germany, there is a historical tale for everyone.
To set this all up, on Monday Tom and Dominic begin their an epic three-parter on the history of the World Cup, in which they use the tournament as a vehicle for understanding global political and social history.
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Battling with the expanding power of the Vikings, listen to Tom and Dominic discover how King Alfred the Great earned his name in the second instalment of our two part series on England's Founding Father.
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Dominic's book, 'Adventures in Time: Fury of the Vikings', is available to buy now in all good bookshops.
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Alfred the Great is under invasion from the Vikings.
Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss Alfred's anointment by the Pope in Rome, his duality as both a fearsome warrior and a man of poetry, plus his unbelievable escape from a Christmas ambush from Viking invaders.
The second episode in this two part series, Alfred the Great: Return of the King, will be available on Thursday. If you want to hear it right now, just head to restishistorypod.com and sign up to The Rest Is History Club.
Dominic's book, 'Adventures in Time: Fury of the Vikings', is available to buy now in all good bookshops.
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Join Tom and Dominic for the second part of their exploration of the history of treason. How has the 1351 treason act impacted Britain and the world since the 17th century? This will be answered as they discuss seismic events such as the trial of Charles I, American independence, and the Easter Rising.
Treason: People, Power and Plot opens at The National Archives on 5th November and runs until 6th April. It is free to all. For all information and to delve deeper please visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/treason.
This episode is sponsored by the National Archives.
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Join Tom and Dominic at the National Archives as they explore the history of treason in Britain, going right back to the 1351 treason act. How has treason changed since its inception? Why are traitors hanged, drawn, and quartered? What impact did the reformation have upon treason? As these questions are answered, the story will interlink with some of the biggest characters in British history: Richard III, Henry VIII, James I, and more!
Treason: People, Power and Plot opens at The National Archives on 5th November and runs until 6th April. It is free to all. For all information and to delve deeper please visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/treason.
This episode is sponsored by the National Archives.
Join The Rest Is History Club (www.restishistorypod.com) for ad-free listening to the full archive, weekly bonus episodes, live streamed shows and access to an exclusive chatroom community.
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Do commanders matter? Were the British generals effective or "foppish"? How did the Allies rebound from huge losses such as the Battle of Dunkirk to victories like Alamein and D-Day? Tom and Dominic are joined by Al Murray to discuss all this and more, following the release of Al’s new book Command: How the Allies Learned to Win the Second World War.
If you want to buy Al's book, it is available at all good book stores or online.
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After just 45 days, Liz Truss has resigned.
Join Tom and Dominic for this special episode to discuss her place in history. Is she Britain's worst ever Prime Minister? Is this the worst crisis in post-war British history? How does she compare to Gordian I? Is Tom Holland getting a peerage? All will be answered.
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In this final episode Tom and Dominic discuss the legendary Battle of Trafalgar. Despite being outnumbered and facing the biggest ship in the world, Nelson took the battle to the French and Spanish forces. With the swell on his side, Nelson’s brave leadership from the deck of the Victory gave the British one of their most famous military successes. Join Tom and Dominic as they take you through the battle, Nelson’s death, and its legacy.
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In the second episode of Tom and Dominic's Trafalgar trilogy, the stakes could not be higher. They discuss: Napoleon's plan to invade Britain (and the possible repercussions if he did); what developments in naval technology meant for the British and Spanish/French allies; and Nelson's own life, legacy, and strategy to "annihilate the enemy".
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Was the Battle of Trafalgar the most decisive battle of the 19th century? Join Tom and Dominic as they embark on a three part series discussing this incredible conflict between the British Royal Navy and combined fleets of the French and Spanish navies, focusing in this episode on the distrust of standing armies vs the Royal Navy, advanced technology used for the first time during Trafalgar, and the martyr-like status of Horatio Nelson, who led the British to victory.
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Tom and Dominic welcome film critic Muriel Zagha to discuss the home of cinema, France, and its history through ten films, spanning from Vercingétorix to Vichy. Featuring Jean Renoir, Isabelle Adjani, Louis de Funès and many more. Full list:
Jeanne la Pucelle (Jacques Rivette, 1994)
La reine Margot (Patrice Chéreau, 1994)
Ridicule (Patrice Leconte, 1996)
Napoleon (Abel Gance, 1927)
Les enfants du paradis (Marcel Carné, 1943-45)
J’accuse (Roman Polanski, 2019)
La grande illusion (Jean Renoir, 1937)
Le corbeau (Henri-Georges Clouzot, 1943)
La grande vadrouille (Gérard Oury, 1966)
La chinoise (Jean-Luc Godard, 1967)
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In the final instalment of our series on Young Churchill, learn how Churchill escaped a prisoner of war camp in the Boer War, becoming an imperialist hero. Discover how Churchill sought shelter in rat infested hideaways, escaped in the tight consignment of a train, plus how the simple activity of a hair appointment almost blew his cover...
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Join Tom and Dominic in the second episode of our mini-series on Young Churchill as they dive into his imperial exploits. From Cuba to Sudan, they explore his obsession with adventure, the ambiguities that existed within his own moral universe, and his swashbuckling prose.
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‘The child is the father of the man.’
In the first episode of this mini-series on Young Churchill, Tom and Dominic explore the early life of Winston Churchill. They discuss the cruelty of his parents, his deeply imbued sense of destiny, and the razor sharp wit of the future Prime Minister.
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How were the bonnets, corsets, and empire line dresses of the Regency period expressive of a revolutionary era?
In this episode, Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook are joined by Hilary Davidson to discuss fashion in early 19th century Britain. Diving into the world of Jane Austen, they look to understand how the unprecedented changes in style were driven by the social, cultural, and political changes of the time.
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Actress, singer, model and sex symbol Marilyn Monroe has long been associated with old school Hollywood glamour and American pop culture. But why is she worth studying historically? Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss Marilyn's relationship to the Mafia, JFK, the Korean War and her persisting relevance today.
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Tom and Dominic welcome back special guest Rana Mitter to discuss China's position during World War Two.
This episode covers the Rape of Nanjing by Japanese forces, the military tactic of flooding the Yellow River, the deal between Chinese Nationalist Wang Jin Wei and Japan, and the unlikely pairing of 'Vinegar Joe' Stilwell and Chiang Kai-shek.
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Friend of the show Rana Mitter joins Tom and Dominic this week to discuss the role of China in the Second World War.
In the first of two episodes, Rana, Tom and Dominic cover the fall of the last Emperor and the establishment of a Chinese Republic in 1912, the Opium Wars, warlords, and the Kuomintang uniting China.
Plus, tune in to find out why Rana argues that the Second World War actually began in 1937...
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Why is modern society so self-obsessed?
The answer may be found in a group of late 18th century German rebels, including the writer Goethe and playwright Friedrich Schiller. Andrea Wulf joins Dominic and Tom in today's episode to discuss the rebels' progressive (and often scandalous) lives and her new book, 'Magnificent Rebels: The First Romantics and the Invention of the Self'.
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Does the Loch Ness Monster exist? When was the first mention of it recorded in history? And who are the people who have claimed to have seen it?
Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss how a few 'sightings' of a mysterious creature took the world by storm...
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In February 1952, on the death of her father King George VI, the 25-year-old Elizabeth became Queen. During her long reign she was served by 15 Prime Ministers and met an extraordinary array of people. Dominic Sandbrook and Tom Holland here examine her 70 years as Queen of the United Kingdom & 14 other countries, and head of the Commonwealth.
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The death of the Queen at the age of 96 brings to an end seven decades of her reign over Britain and the Commonwealth. In the first of a two-part series, Dominic Sandbrook and Tom Holland look back at the early years of Elizabeth’s life, leading up to her coronation.
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In the final chapter of this series on the history of Portugal, Tom and Dominic explore Portugal in the 20th century, the two World Wars, the Miracle of Fatima and dictator Antonio Salazar.
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Earthquakes, gold rush, and Brazil.
Join Tom and Dominic for the third episode in this history of Portugal series.
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In the second episode of this Portugal mini-series, Tom and Dominic discuss the Portuguese setting sail for far flung reaches of the world, their relationship with Philip II of Spain, and the impact of Vasco da Gama.
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Welcome to The Rest Is History's Portugal mini-series!
In the first of four episodes on Portugal, Tom and Dominic chart the nation's early history: Romans, Visigoths, the Reconquista, alliances with England, and much, much more...
This episode is kindly sponsored by Wine52 - to claim your free case of Portuguese wine, follow this link: wine52.com/history
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Written in stages between 1937 and 1949, The Lord of the Rings is one of the best-selling books ever written, with over 150 million copies sold.
Join Tom and Dominic in the second of two episodes on the life and work of J.R.R. Tolkien, where they discuss the themes of encroaching industrialisation, the air defences of Mordor, and whether the Scouring of the Shire was an allegory for post-war Attlee Britain...
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John Ronald Reuel Tolkien is one of the most prestigious authors in modern history, best known for writingThe Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.
In the first of two episodes, Tom and Dominic explore Tolkien's childhood, his relationship with religion, and the impact that the rapidly changing English countryside had on the creation of Middle Earth.
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Grand villas on the Bay of Naples, engraving names on Egyptian singing statues, and sightseeing tours of Biblical sights in the Levant.
The fourth and final episode of this series explores Roman holidays - join Tom and Dominic as they discuss the destinations and activities of the ancient holidaying world.
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The rise and fall of Butlin's, Benidorm and Franco, class, package holidays, bikinis, mass tourism and sunbathing. The third episode in our holiday series has it all - join Tom and Dominic as they discuss the history of modern holidays in the post First World War era.
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The birth of guide books, resorts, and the package holiday.
In the second episode in our holidays series Tom and Dominic drill down into the story of Thomas Cook, package tours, and nightmarish German spa treatments.
The third holidays episode, 'Sun, Sea and Sex', will be out on Monday, followed on Thursday by the final episode in the series, 'Roman Holidays'.
Show notes:
Tourists: How the British Went Abroad to Find Themselves - Lucy Lethbridge
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Welcome to the first of four episodes on the history of holidays: Byron's Grand Tour; The Invention of Mass Tourism; Sun, Sea and Sex; and Roman Holidays.
In the first episode, Tom and Dominic explore the adventures of Byron, Boswell and their peers contemporaries to foreign lands, where they pursued romance, sought to improve their health, and 'acquire' authentic souvenirs.
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Wars, disease, and legacy.
In the final episode of the trilogy, Tom and Dominic discuss the Byzantine reconquest of Italy, the arrival of the Justinianic plague, and the legacy of Justinian and Theodora.
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The Riot that destroyed a city and almost brought down an Emperor...
In the second part of our trilogy, Tom and Dominic discuss the Nika riots in the early part of Justinian's reign, and how he set himself out as the defender of Christendom against the Persian Empire in the East.
The third and final episode, 'Justinian & Theodora: The Secret History', will be released on Thursday. Can't wait until then? Head to restishistorypod.com to get it right now!
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In the first episode of a three part series, Tom and Dominic dive into the incredible story of Justinian and Theodora.
Tune in for an incredible (and racy) introduction to the powerful Byzantine empress, the collapse of the Western half of the Roman Empire, and a deep-dive into the great city of Constantinople.
Justinian and Theodora episode release schedule:
Monday 8th August - THEODORA: EMPRESS OF BYZANTIUM
Tuesday 9th August - JUSTINIAN: MAKING ROME GREAT AGAIN
Thursday 11th August - JUSTINIAN & THEODORA: THE SECRET HISTORY
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Tom and Dominic are joined by friend of the show Kyle Harper to discuss how pandemics and disease played a far greater role in the decline of the Roman Empire than previously understood.
On the show Kyle, Dominic, and Tom discuss life expectancy, how the Roman Empire was ‘bad for people’s health', the Antonine Plague, and more.
Listen to our previous episodes with Kyle:
146. Disease vs. the rise of civilisation
147. Disease, the New World and modern pandemics
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‘If it became necessary immediately to discard every line and method of communications used on the front, except one, and it were left to me to select that one method, I should unhesitatingly choose the pigeons’, wrote Major General Fowler, Chief of Signals and Communications of the British Army, after the First World War.
On today's podcast Tom and Dominic are joined by Gordon Corera, the BBC's Security Correspondent and author of 'Operation Columba: The Secret Pigeon Service', to discuss the often under-appreciated role of pigeons throughout the course of history.
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Tom and Dominic are again joined by Iain MacGregor to discuss the climax of the Battle of Stalingrad, Pavlov's House, and the Red Army's counter offensive that ultimately defeated the Axis forces.
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Stalingrad: the bloodiest battle of the Second World War.
Tom and Dominic are joined by Iain MacGregor to discuss the build up, context and outbreak of the Battle of Stalingrad.
A second Stalingrad episode will be released on Thursday to your podcast feed. However, if you are part of The Rest Is History Club, you get the second episode right NOW!
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Welcome to the fifth and final episode in our London Week.
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London: Moments
A drunk elephant, a polar bear swimming in the Thames, and Metroland are discussed by Tom and Dominic in the final London Week episode, as they explore the Royal Menagerie at the Tower of London and the expansion of the metropolitan railway.
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Welcome to the fourth episode in our London Week mini-series.
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London: Haunted London
Join Tom and Dominic for a special live, on location episode as they walk around central London exploring the haunted remnants of the past.
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Welcome to the third episode in our new mini-series: LONDON WEEK.
From Monday to Friday we're releasing an episode daily. Monday's 'Londinium' and Thursday's 'Haunted London' are live episodes we recorded on location earlier this year. On Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday we're releasing episodes on 'Places', 'People', and 'Moments' from London's past.
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London: People
Henry Fielding and C.L.R. James - two figures who are part of the furniture in London's history. Tom and Dominic debate and discuss their lives and legacy in the latest episode of London Week.
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Welcome to the second episode in our new mini-series: LONDON WEEK.
From Monday to Friday we'll release an episode daily. Monday's 'Londinium' and Thursday's 'Haunted London' are live episodes we recorded on location earlier this year. On Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday we're releasing episodes on 'Places', 'People', and 'Moments' from London's past.
To get ALL episodes right now, become a member of The Rest Is History Club - you'll also get ad-free listening to the full archive, weekly bonus episodes, live streamed shows and access to an exclusive chatroom community.
London: Places
In the second episode of London Week, Tom and Dominic focus on two very different historical places in London's past, discussing Barking Abbey and the 2i's Coffee Bar.
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Welcome to the first episode in our new mini-series: LONDON WEEK.
From Monday to Friday we'll release an episode daily. Today's 'Londinium' and Thursday's 'Haunted London' are live episodes we recorded on location earlier this year. On Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday we'll be releasing episodes on 'Places', 'People', and 'Moments' from London's past.
To get ALL FIVE episodes right now, become a member of The Rest Is History Club - you'll also get ad-free listening to the full archive, weekly bonus episodes, live streamed shows and access to an exclusive chatroom community.
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George Orwell is one of the most celebrated novelists, essayists, and journalists in modern British history.
Tom and Dominic are joined by Robert Colls, Professor Emeritus of History at De Montfort University, to discuss the life and legacy of the man who wrote Nineteen Eighty-Four, Animal Farm, and Homage to Catalonia.
Join the waiting list for live show tickets: bit.ly/3ynxD56
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Historical Love Island has swept the nation and the podcasting world since Monday, when four couples made it to the final: General Custer & Lola Montez, Lord Byron & Sporus, Stanley Baldwin & Theodora, and Jimmy Carter & Olympias.
Fans flocked to Twitter to vote for their favourite historical pair - but which couple did Rest Is History listeners crown victorious? Listen to this special episode as Tom and Dominic announce the winner.
Join the waiting list for live show tickets: bit.ly/3ynxD56
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The Love Island phenomenon is sweeping the nation, so Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook are joined by Tom's daughter, Katy Holland, to play their part in creating a ‘villa’ made up of historical figures. Who will loveable nice-boy Jimmy Carter ‘couple up’ with? Will Judas Iscariot and Stanley Baldwin get along?
Head to Twitter after listening on Monday morning to vote on The Rest Is History's Love Island poll for your FAVOURITE historical couple. A special bonus episode will be released on Wednesday 13th July to announce and assess the winners and losers.
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Boris Johnson has resigned.
In a special episode of The Rest Is History Tom and Dominic dissect the tumultuous last few days in British politics, with references and comparisons to Roman emperors, Margaret Thatcher, and other characters from modern and ancient history.
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"There was a land of cavaliers and cotton fields called the Old South".
Tom and Dominic are joined by Sarah Churchwell to discuss the 'Lost Cause' myth that has pervaded American culture for 150 years, its embodiment in both the novel and film version of Gone with the Wind, and what insight it gives into post-Civil War America.
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In the final episode of this 'American Civil War' series, Tom, Dominic and historian Adam Smith look at the end of the conflict, the subsequent assassination of Abraham Lincoln and how the war is viewed in modern day America.
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Tom, Dominic and historian Adam Smith look at the most famous battle of the war and Abraham Lincoln’s 272 word address that became one of the best known speeches of all time. They also discuss the conditions of the black population during the conflict.
The release date of the last episode, 'Aftermath & Legacy', is Monday 4th July.
However, members of The Rest Is History Club get all episodes RIGHT NOW, so head to restishistorypod.com to sign up.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
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Welcome to the second episode in The Rest Is History's 'American Civil War' series.
The release schedule of the remaining two episodes is as follows:
Gettysburg (Thursday 30th June)
Aftermath & Legacy (Monday 4th July)
However, members of The Rest Is History Club get all episodes RIGHT NOW, so head to restishistorypod.com to sign up.
In today's pod, Dominic, Tom and historian Adam Smith discuss the opening exchanges of the war and the tactics both sides used. They also look at some of the big characters including Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson, and ask whether there was ever any realistic chance of the European nations joining the conflict.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
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Welcome to The Rest Is History 'American Civil War' series.
The release schedule of the four episodes is as follows:
The Causes (Monday 27th June)
Outbreak (Tuesday 28th June)
Gettysburg (Thursday 30th June)
Aftermath & Legacy (Monday 4th July)
However, members of The Rest Is History Club get all four episodes RIGHT NOW, so head to restishistorypod.com to sign up.
In the first of a four part series, Tom and Dominic are joined by historian Adam Smith for an in-depth look at the origins of the war. They ask whether the moral, political and economic problems of slavery made conflict inevitable and discuss the character of Abraham Lincoln.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
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On today's pod Tom and Dominic are joined by Stonehenge expert Mike Pitts to discuss all the big questions that surround Stonehenge:
Who built it? How did they build it? What was it built for?
Join The Rest Is History Club for ad-free listening to the full archive, weekly bonus episodes, live streamed shows and access to an exclusive chatroom community.
Editor: James Hodgson
Producer: Dom Johnson
Exec Producer: Jack Davenport
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
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Join Tom and Dominic for the fourth and final instalment in their Cleopatra mini-series, as they discuss Octavian's propaganda, the war he waged against Antony and Cleopatra, and their ultimate demise.
Join The Rest Is History Club for ad-free listening to the full archive, weekly bonus episodes, live streamed shows and access to an exclusive chatroom community.
Editor: James Hodgson
Producer: Dom Johnson
Exec Producer: Jack Davenport
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Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
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After centuries of Cleopatra and Mark Antony’s relationship being told and fictionalised by Plutarch and Shakespeare alike, Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook uncover what history tells us about this power couple. They reveal how the rise of Octavian as a threat caused Mark Antony to turn to Cleopatra for support. It was a relationship that had less to do with romance and love, and more to do with monetary and territory gains.
The release date of the final episode in this series (Cleopatra's Downfall) is Monday 20th June. However, members of The Rest Is History Club get all episodes RIGHT NOW, so head to restishistorypod.com to sign up.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
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Join Tom and Dominic for the second episode of this four part mini-series on Cleopatra, where they discuss her relationship with Julius Caesar and the role this relationship played in the politics of Rome.
The release schedule of the remaining two episodes of the series is 'Antony & Cleopatra' (Thursday 16th June) and 'Cleopatra's Downfall' (Monday 20th June).
However, members of The Rest Is History Club get all episodes RIGHT NOW, so head to restishistorypod.com to sign up.
Editor: James Hodgson
Producer: Dom Johnson
Exec Producer: Jack Davenport
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
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@dcsandbrook
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Welcome to The Rest Is History Cleopatra series!
The release schedule of the four episodes is as follows:
Young Cleopatra (Monday 13th June)
Julius Caesar & Cleopatra (Tuesday 14th June)
Antony & Cleopatra (Thursday 16th June)
Cleopatra's Downfall (Monday 20th June)
However, members of The Rest Is History Club get all four episodes RIGHT NOW, so head to restishistorypod.com to sign up.
In episode 1 of this four part mini-series on Cleopatra, Tom and Dominic discuss the incredible story of 'Young Cleopatra' and her early life in Ptolemaic Egypt.
Editor: James Hodgson
Producer: Dom Johnson
Exec Producer: Jack Davenport
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
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Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook discuss the 'first' fascist, Gabriele D'Annunzio, with historian Lucy Hughes-Hallett.
D'Annunzio was a key figure in Italian literature before becoming a political figure later in his life. Although never personally identifying with fascism, his ideas were hugely influential on Mussolini.
Join The Rest Is History Club for ad-free listening to the full archive, weekly bonus episodes, live streamed shows and access to an exclusive chatroom community.
Producer: Dom Johnson
Exec Producer: Jack Davenport
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
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As British PM Boris Johnson survives a no confidence vote, Tom and Dominic record a special episode on the history of bringing down Prime Ministers. Prominent victims include Asquith, Chamberlain, Thatcher and Blair.
Join The Rest Is History Club for ad-free listening to the full archive, weekly bonus episodes, live streamed shows and access to an exclusive chatroom community.
Producer: Dom Johnson
Exec Producer: Tony Pastor
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
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Join Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook as they uncover the origins of Robin Hood.
What was the earliest mention of Robin Hood in text? How has Robin Hood evolved through time to become the legend that he is today? Did he have a real-life counterpart?
Join The Rest Is History Club for ad-free listening to the full archive, weekly bonus episodes, live streamed shows and access to an exclusive chatroom community.
Editor: Scarlett Murray
Producer: Dom Johnson
Exec Producer: Jack Davenport
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
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In today's episode, Tom and Dominic talk to Sara Read about the history of childbirth.
Sara unveils the origin of the word 'gossip' and its connection to midwifery. As well as this, they discuss how someone would qualify as a midwife; the relationship between religion and childbirth; and the average age of becoming a first time mother. They also look into the changes in the maternal mortality rate throughout history. And, finally, they touch on the authenticity of 'Call The Midwife'.
Sara Read is the author of two works of historical fiction: The Gossips' Choice and The Midwife's Truth, available from all good bookshops.
Join The Rest Is History Club for ad-free listening to the full archive, weekly bonus episodes, live streamed shows and access to an exclusive chatroom community.
Editor: Scarlett Murray
Producer: Dom Johnson
Exec Producer: Jack Davenport
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
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In today's episode of The Rest Is History Dominic and Tom look at how Jubilees have served as a moment for Britain to stop and reflect.
From the celebrations of George III, Queen Victoria and George V to the modern jamborees of Elizabeth II, here's all you need to know before this year's Platinum Jubilee.
Join The Rest Is History Club for ad-free listening to the full archive, weekly bonus episodes, live streamed shows and access to an exclusive chatroom community.
Producer: Dom Johnson
Exec Producer: Tony Pastor
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
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Join Tom and Dominic for the final episode of their Australian epic. Tune in to hear about the exploits of the most recent stretch of prime ministers, spanning from Bob Hawke to Scott Morrison.
Join The Rest Is History Club for ad-free listening to the full archive, weekly bonus episodes, live streamed shows and access to an exclusive chatroom community.
Producer: Dom Johnson
Exec Producer: Tony Pastor
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
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Twitter:
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In the second part of our Australian PMs trilogy, Tom and Dominic explore Chinese Communist conspiracy theories and talk about the most entertaining of all the Aussie leaders.
The final instalment of this mini-series will be in your podcast feed on Thursday.
To get the last episode right now, join The Rest Is History Club, where you'll also get ad-free listening to the full archive, weekly bonus episodes, live streamed shows and access to an exclusive chatroom community.
Editor: Harry Lineker
Producer: Dom Johnson
Exec Producer: Tony Pastor
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
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In the wake of Anthony Albanese's victory in this weekend's Australian election, Tom and Dominic have recorded a three part Antipodean special on the history of Australian prime ministers.
The first episode begins in 1901 with Edmund Barton, covers both World Wars, and drills down into the premierships of Robert Menzies.
The second part will be in your podcast feeds tomorrow, with the final instalment dropping on Thursday.
To get all episodes right now, join The Rest Is History Club, where you'll also get ad-free listening to the full archive, weekly bonus episodes, live streamed shows and access to an exclusive chatroom community.
Editor: Harry Lineker
Producer: Dom Johnson
Exec Producer: Tony Pastor
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
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The longest reigning monarch in British history, Elizabeth II acceded to the throne 70 years ago.
To mark the occasion, Tom and Dominic are joined by Frances Christie, Deputy Chairman of Sotheby's UK and Ireland, who specialises in 20th century British art and culture. Together they drill down into some of the cultural, artistic and historic happenings that have taken place during the Queen's reign.
Sotheby's, the sponsors of this episode, are putting on a celebratory month-long programme of exhibitions and events to dovetail with the Platinum Jubilee celebrations.
Six of the pieces on display are discussed in detail during the pod, ranging from a Warhol portrait to the tiara that Princess Diana wore on her wedding day.
For more information on Sotheby's exhibitions, visit:
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Producer: Dom Johnson
Exec Producers: Jack Davenport & Tony Pastor
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Agatha Christie is the best-selling novelist in history.
Coinciding neatly with the 'Wagatha Christie' trial taking place between Coleen Rooney and Rebekah Vardy in the UK, Tom and Dominic look at Christie as a mirror held up to the 20th century, discuss what we can learn about Christianity and the concept of 'evil' from her work, and debate the value of Tom's Poirot impression.
Join The Rest Is History Club for ad-free listening to the full archive, weekly bonus episodes, live streamed shows and access to an exclusive chatroom community.
Producer: Dom Johnson
Exec Producers: Jack Davenport & Tony Pastor
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
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Could the West have lost the Cold War? Would we be happier if we didn't study history? Would you prefer to have a samurai, a Viking or a Spartan as your bodyguard?
Tom and Dominic are joined by Hardcore History's Dan Carlin for a second episode to tackle the biggest questions in history.
Join The Rest Is History Club for ad-free listening to the full archive, weekly bonus episodes, live streamed shows and access to an exclusive chatroom community.
Producer: Dom Johnson
Exec Producers: Tony Pastor & Jack Davenport
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Who was the most influential leader of the 20th century? What would have happened if the South had won the American Civil War? Would you rather be under siege from the Mongols, the Romans, or the Assyrians?
In a huge moment for transatlantic history podcasting, Tom and Dominic are joined by titan of the genre and friend of the show Dan Carlin, the host of one of the world's largest history podcasts, Hardcore History.
Over the course of two episodes, Dan, Tom and Dominic tackle ten of the biggest questions in history, including counterfactuals and hypothetical matchups.
The second part of this double-header is out on Thursday.
For Hardcore History fans listening to The Rest Is History for the first time - welcome! If you enjoyed this episode, feel free to check out some of our other pods. Below are a few suggestions:
Young Putin, the KGB and the Soviet Union
If you want the second part right now, head over to restishistorypod.com to join The Rest Is History Club. You'll also get ad-free listening to the full archive, weekly bonus episodes, live streamed shows and access to an exclusive chatroom community.
Producer: Dom Johnson
Exec Producer: Tony Pastor & Jack Davenport
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
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What military parallels does Putin's invasion of Ukraine have with Hitler's attempt to invade the Soviet Union?
On today's pod Tom and Dominic are joined by historian - and brother of Tom - James Holland to discuss Operation Barbarossa and the Nazi invasion of 1941, whether it was doomed to fail, and the role it played in the escalation of the Holocaust.
If you enjoy this episode, be sure to listen to our sister podcast, We Have Ways Of Making You Talk, and check out their Second World War festival that's taking place in July by going to wehavewaysfest.co.uk
Join The Rest Is History Club for ad-free listening to the full archive, weekly bonus episodes, live streamed shows and access to an exclusive chatroom community.
Producer: Dom Johnson
Exec Producer: Tony Pastor
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In January, Tom and Dominic explored the history of Babylon, from Nebuchadnezzar onwards (episode 145 in the Rest Is History feed).
At the end of that episode, there was a promise to revisit Babylon's earlier period to fully do the topic justice - so here it is!
Tune in to hear about the constant theft of the Statue of Marduk, the formidable Assyrians, and what Dominic describes as his 'favourite impersonation ever'...
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Producer: Dom Johnson
Exec Producer: Jack Davenport
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George Orwell, a love of wildlife, and Raheem Sterling - but what does it mean to be English in the modern world?
In today's episode, Tom and Dominic are joined by the New Statesman editor, Jason Cowley, to discuss England and Englishness in the 20th century.
Jason's new book 'Who Are We Now?' is available at all good book retailers.
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Editorial Assistant: Grace Mainwaring
Producer: Dom Johnson
Exec Producer: Jack Davenport
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
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In the second of two episodes covering France's post-war presidents, Tom and Dominic drill down into the remaining historical statesmen, bringing us right up to the current day.
François Mitterrand, Jacques Chirac, Nicolas Sarkozy, François Hollande, and Emmanuel Macron - there are some incredible stories...
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Producer: Dom Johnson
Exec Producer: Tony Pastor
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It's the day after the French election runoff between Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen, so naturally here's a Rest Is History French Presidents special.
Charles de Gaulle, Georges Pompidou, and Valéry Giscard d'Estaing. Join Tom and Dominic for the first of two episodes on the topic, as they dive headfirst into the first three post-war presidents.
Join us tomorrow for the second part of this special double-bill, where we'll cover the remaining historical residents of the Élysée Palace.
If you can't wait until then, sign up to The Rest Is History Club (restishistorypod.com) to hear the next episode right now and also get ad-free listening to the full archive, weekly bonus episodes, live streamed shows and access to an exclusive chatroom community.
Producer: Dom Johnson
Exec Producer: Tony Pastor
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
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In the second of two episodes on the Jewish Revolt, Tom and Dominic discuss the burning of the Temple, Vespasian & Titus' triumph, and Masada.
Why was it such a landmark revolt for both Christianity and Judaism? What happened in its aftermath? And what has its historical significance been in the modern world?
All this and more on today's episode of The Rest Is History.
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Producer: Dom Johnson
Exec Producer: Jack Davenport
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"The destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans: a thrilling, terrible, and blood-soaked story."
Following on from last week's episode on the Crucifixion, Tom and Dominic take us back to Judea to dissect the tumultuous events of the Jewish Revolt.
Tune in to hear the first part of the incredible story that features Pontius Pilate, Nero, and the figure of Jesus - plus how it all tenuously links to Bryan Adams and the Summer of '69.
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Producer: Dom Johnson
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Crucifixions were a form of public execution so heinous that the Romans themselves were reluctant to document their gory details...
In this Easter special, Tom and Dominic trace the origins and evolution of crucifixion - as well as the historical accuracy of Jesus' death.
Warning: this pod is not for the faint of heart.
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Producer: Vasco Andrade
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Richard II, Prince Charles, and Tony Blair. From Merlin, to the middle ages, to the modern day, the mysterious world of magic, necromancy and the occult has had a notable presence in the lives of British monarchs, politicians and members of high society.
Tom and Dominic are joined by Francis Young, author of 'Magic in Merlin's Realm: A History of Occult Politics in Britain' to discuss this infinitely interesting and entertaining topic.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
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China's Cultural Revolution under Chairman Mao was one of the most staggeringly brutal events in recent human history. Tom and Dominic are joined by historian Rana Mitter, who specialises in the history of Republican China.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
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In the final part of our Falklands series, Tom and Dominic discuss the legacy of the war in both the UK and Argentina, and debate whether the nostalgic sentiment stirred by Britain’s victory laid the foundations for Brexit.
If you enjoyed this series and want a deeper dive into the Falklands War, featuring interviews with some the key players like special forces commandos, politicians and military leaders, download the first episode of BATTLEGROUND: THE FALKLANDS WAR here.
Producer: Dom Johnson
Exec Producers: Jack Davenport & Tony Pastor
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In the third episode of our Falklands War mini-series, the story heats up.
The most controversial episode of the war, the sinking of the Belgrano, takes place, the British Task Force lands and battle plays out.
Tom and Dominic thumb through their copies of the Sun, relive Reagan's final plea to Thatcher, and recount the stories of the men on the ground as Britain closed in on victory.
For access to all four episodes, go to www.restishistorypod.com
Producer: Dom Johnson
Exec Producers: Jack Davenport & Tony Pastor
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
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In the second episode of our Falklands War mini-series, Britain is faced with an Argentine occupation and prepares to go to war.
Margaret Thatcher discovers her inner Winston Churchill - but faces a titanic showdown in Parliament, which sits on a Saturday for the first time since Suez.
The Task Force eventually sails - to huge public support - while the US, France and Chile all lend a hand.
Come for Tom's Iron Lady impression, stay for his Tony Benn as Dominic talks us through the second instalment in this epic four-parter.
For access to all four episodes, go to www.restishistorypod.com
Producer: Dom Johnson
Exec Producers: Jack Davenport & Tony Pastor
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
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Twitter:
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Welcome to our mini-series on The Falklands War, where Tom and Dominic will break down the causes, conflict and aftermath of the war on its fortieth anniversary.
In the first episode we dig into the history of the islands, the causes behind the Argentine invasion, and the domestic situation in both Britain and Argentina in the late 70s and early 80s.
The boys also dissect the almost farcical events that took place in the build up, some of the memorable characters like Rex Hunt, and the significance of a reindeer barbecue in South Georgia.
For access to all four episodes, go to www.restishistorypod.com
Producer: Dom Johnson
Exec Producers: Jack Davenport & Tony Pastor
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
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Tom and Dominic are back with Helen Thompson for a second episode on the history of oil, its impact and how it shapes geopolitics.
Tune in to hear about the impact of oil production on US Politics, its importance to the history and current situation in Ukraine, and what we can learn about oil from the exploits of J. R. Ewing in the TV show 'Dallas'.
The pod also looks to the future, examining China's explosive growth and advantageous position with Green Energy, whether Putin's recent actions have shifted the basis of his geopolitical power and if Britain is on track for Net Zero by 2050...
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Producer: Dom Johnson
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Tom and Dominic are joined by Helen Thompson, Professor of Political Economy at the University of Cambridge, to talk about the incredible influence of oil over the last couple of centuries.
Discussion covers the first oil well ever drilled, how it's hard to overestimate Hitler's obsession with oil, and the formation of OPEC in the aftermath of the Suez Crisis.
Helen's new book 'Disorder: Hard Times in the 21st Century' is out now.
Catch our second episode with Helen tomorrow, or get it right now by going to restishistorypod.com!
Producer: Dom Johnson
Exec Producer: Jack Davenport
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
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The second of two episodes on Genghis Khan, listen to yesterday's pod (165. The Rise of Genghis Khan) before listening to this one!
'An almost sacral figure' in the words of Tom Holland, Genghis Khan has become the paramount leader of the Mongols.
Can we call his kingdom a 'Mongol Empire'? What was his aim? And why are some now calling him an 'eco-warrior'?!
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Producer: Dom Johnson
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Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook speak to Ali Ansari about the origins of one of the greatest warlords in human history - Genghis Khan.
They discuss his early life as Temujin and how he became Genghis Khan, leader of the Mongols.
Catch the second episode - Genghis Khan: Lord of the Mongols - tomorrow! Or get it right now as a member of The Rest Is History Club, where you also get ad-free listening to the full archive, weekly bonus episodes, live streamed shows and access to an exclusive chatroom community.
Producer: Dom Johnson
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Happy St. Patrick's Day!
No, Tom isn't turning Brixton's River Effra green, nor is Dominic distributing shamrocks throughout the Oxfordshire countryside, but they're here anyway with a very special pod on the mysterious Apostle of Ireland.
When was St. Patrick alive? Where was he really born? Why was he kidnapped by pirates? And did he really banish the snakes from Ireland?
All this and more on today's episode of The Rest Is History.
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Producer: Dom Johnson
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What links the Mexican Republic, Palmerston, the Hapsburgs, Napoleon III and butterfly catching? Please tweet us if you can think of anything other than the following answer, which is the incredible story of the Last Emperor of Mexico.
Tom and Dominic are joined by Edward Shawcross as they travel back to recount and discuss this amazing moment in Mexican history.
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************************************
If you are a new listener to The Rest Is History, you might enjoy these episodes from the archive:
Producer: Dom Johnson
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[Episode 4 of 4]
'In the noughties, Russian democracy becomes a form of show business'
In the final instalment of our Russia mini-series, Tom and Dominic reach the climax of Putin’s rise to power, charting how a former KGB agent managed to climb from relative obscurity to become the uncrowned Tsar of Russia.
The episode also touches on his relationship with oligarchs such as Roman Abramovich, the hall of mirrors he's created, and a look at how his character has changed over the course of his presidency.
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Editor: Vasco Andrade
Producer: Dom Johnson
Exec Producers: Tony Pastor & Jack Davenport
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[Episode 3 of 4]
'You certainly won't understand what ordinary Russians see in Vladimir Putin if you don't understand what happened in the 1990s. A time of utter, utter collapse.'
In part three of our Soviet Union, Russia and Putin series, Tom and Dominic drill down into the details of the chaos in 90s Russia, the laughing stock Yeltsin became on the global stage, and Putin's brutal rise to power on the back of the Second Chechen War.
The final episode in the series is out tomorrow - or get it now by heading to restishistorypod.com!
Producer: Dom Johnson
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[Episode 2 of 4]
This episode of The Rest Is History marks the second instalment in our four part series on the Soviet Union, Russia and the rise of Vladimir Putin.
From the 70th anniversary of the Russian Revolution in 1987 to the fall of the Soviet Union on Christmas Day 1991, this episode is jam-packed full of late Soviet drama.
Tune in now to hear about the abuse Yeltsin received after his attempted suicide, the failed Soviet coup of 1991 and Putin's return from East Germany.
Next episode out tomorrow - or get them all at once by heading to restishistorypod.com!
Producer: Dom Johnson
Exec Producers: Tony Pastor & Jack Davenport
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[Episode 1 of 4]
Welcome to our new four part series on the latter years of the Soviet Union, its fall, Putin's early life and his subsequent rise to power.
Today's episode focuses on Brezhnev, Putin's formative years, his early KGB career and Gorbachev's descent into chaos.
Was Putin a nationalist or a communist? What changed from Brezhnev to Gorbachev? What was Putin doing in East Germany during the Soviet twilight years?
Next episode out tomorrow - or get them all at once by heading to restishistorypod.com!
Producer: Dom Johnson
Exec Producers: Tony Pastor & Jack Davenport
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How much do you know about the lethal price people have paid over the centuries to look fashionable?
In today's episode Tom and Dominic are joined by Dr. Alison Matthews David to discuss the dark secrets behind the history of garments.
Join The Rest Is History Club for ad-free listening to the full archive, weekly bonus episodes, live streamed shows and access to an exclusive chatroom community.
Producer: Dom Johnson
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What happened to the Roman Empire after its fall?
In the second of two episodes, Tom and Dominic discuss where Rome endured, how its ghost still haunts 21st century geopolitics, and which member of the British Royal Family Tom thinks is the last true Roman!
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Producer: Dom Johnson
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Tom and Dominic explore what Edward Gibbon called “the greatest, perhaps, and most awful scene in the history of mankind”: the decline and fall of the Roman Empire.
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Producer: Dom Johnson
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With eastern Europe apparently on the brink of war and Vladimir Putin citing history as pretext, what exactly is Ukraine? Is it distinct from Russia, and how long has it existed? Tom and Dominic run through a brutal and fractured history, from the Viking conquest and Kyivan Rus', to the ever-shifting landscape in the early modern period, to the incredibly complicated Russian Civil War, right up to the modern day.
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We've all been to some terrible ones, but what is the most disastrous party in human history?
Not at all inspired by recent political events, Tom and Dominic have whittled our listener suggestions down to the ten parties that they think are the most calamitous - tune in to hear which party comes out on top!
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On today's episode Tom and Dominic are joined by Friend of the Show, Professor Andrew Preston, to talk about the relationship between the US and religion, both at home and abroad in the 20th and 21st centuries.
Why have there been such low levels of anti-clericalism in the US compared to the rest of the world? What's behind the sustained and growing numbers of religious believers in the United States? Was the Cold War really a religious crusade against godless communism?
Tune in to hear the boys drill down into American Exceptionalism, the Marketplace of Faith and whether 'US isolationism' is an ahistorical term.
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Producer: Dom Johnson
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On today's episode Tom and Dominic are joined by Andrew Preston, a Cambridge University professor whose new book focuses on religion in American war and diplomacy.
What is the role of religion in the American outlook? How has it shaped foreign policy? What is the relationship between pacifistic religious ideals and a crusading mentality?
Join us tomorrow for another episode, which focuses on more recent American history and its relationship with religion.
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Producer: Dom Johnson
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Happy Valentine's Day! Have you ever wondered why we send each other cards and go out to Carluccio's for dinner on a weeknight?
In today's episode, Tom and Dominic drill down into the details - what are its origins? Why were 'Vinegar' Valentines so brutal? And what was an optician's role in Al Capone's St Valentine's Day Massacre?
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Today we're dropping an episode from our friends at Noiser. Their podcast brings us to Munich, Germany. November 1923. The Nazis have just attempted to launch a revolution. But instead, Adolf Hitler now finds himself on the run from the law. Unless he makes it to the border, the firing squad beckons. But in fact, as unlikely as it seems, Hitler is about to take Germany by storm.
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Did you think smuggling in Britain was confined to the Jamaica Inn and the beaches of the Cornish coast? If so, you might want to listen to today's podcast, where Tom and Dominic are joined by author and smuggling oracle, Alex Preston.
The discussion is wide-ranging, including wrecking, the Hawkhurst Gang and coastal militias.
Alex's new book, Winchelsea, is available at all good book retailers.
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Producer: Dom Johnson
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In the second of two episodes on the Vikings in the East, Tom and Dominic investigate their role in the birth of Russia.
Producer: Dom Johnson
Exec Producer: Jack Davenport
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In this week's episode, Tom and Dominic take a look at the actions, influence and brutalisation of the Vikings in Eastern Europe, including their role in the formation of Russia and Ukraine.
Producer: Dom Johnson
Exec Producer: Jack Davenport
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How devastating were European arrivals to the Americas in terms of deaths and the introduction of new infectious diseases?
Tom and Dominic are joined by Professor Kyle Harper from the University of Oklahoma to discuss the relationship between disease and colonial expansion, the origins of the Spanish flu and the spread of modern forms of infectious disease.
Producer: Dom Johnson
Exec Producer: Jack Davenport
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The way we die has been utterly transformed.
There have been around 10,000 generations of human beings, but only in the last 3 or 4 have infectious diseases not been an expected and accepted cause of death.
What drove the most deadly infectious diseases? Was technological progress and globalisation one of the key causes for its spread over the course of history?
Tom and Dominic are joined by Professor Kyle Harper from the University of Oklahoma to discuss the fascinating history of disease and how shifts in the way we die have changed our world completely.
Producer: Dom Johnson
Exec Producer: Tony Pastor
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Greatest city on earth. Den of iniquity. Imperial oppressor. Wealth and power.
The ancient city of Babylon has been mythologised for millenia, but how much do we actually know and why does it still resonate today?
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Tune in to hear the second part of The Rest Is History's take on the execution of Charles I and its aftermath.
Charles I was executed 373 years ago to the day on 30th January. But was his killing a sinful act of treason or merely one of retributive justice?
Tom and Dominic welcome back Professor Ted Vallance from the University of Roehampton to explore one of the most extraordinary events in British history.
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Charles I was executed 373 years ago to the day on 30th January. But was his killing a sinful act of treason or merely one of retributive justice?
Tom and Dominic welcome back Professor Ted Vallance from the University of Roehampton to explore the build-up, event and aftermath of the trial of Charles I.
Producer: Dom Johnson
Exec Producer: Tony Pastor
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What happened to Gordon at Khartoum?
Described by Dominic as the 'greatest media event of the Victorian era', this second parter is not to be missed.
Producer: Dom Johnson
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Who was General Gordon?
Tune in to hear about the life and times of the 'emblematic martyr of the Victorian age'.
Producer: Dom Johnson
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Today Tom and Dominic are joined by historian Dan Jackson to talk about one of the greatest inventions known to man - the railways.
Where were they first created? When did they arrive in England? And how did they relate to the standardisation of GMT in Britain?
From Eric Hobsbawm to cucumber straighteners, this pod has it all!
Producer: Dom Johnson
Exec Producer: Tony Pastor
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Who killed the Princes in the Tower? The inspiration behind Shakespeare's Richard III, their murder remains one of the greatest mysteries in English history.
In the second of two episodes, all eyes turn to Richard III, prime suspect in the disappearance of Edward IV's sons.
Tom and Dominic discuss whether Richard likely did kill his nephews, potential other suspects, and whether it was a matter of survival for him to do so.
Plus, the greatest question of our time: was Richard III more Raul Castro, Robert Kennedy, or James Callaghan?
Producer: Dom Johnson
Exec Producer: Tony Pastor
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Who killed the Princes in the Tower? The inspiration behind Shakespeare's Richard III, their murder is one of the greatest mysteries in English history.
In the first of two episodes, we start with the princes' father, Edward IV. Tom and Dominic discuss the remarkable parallels between Edward IV and his grandson, Henry VIII, and why Edward's brother, Duke of Clarence, is certainly not a friend of the show.
All this, plus Tom's case for why he does a better prince impression than Brian Blessed.
Producer: Dom Johnson
Exec Producer: Tony Pastor
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In part 2 of this centennial episode, Tom and Dominic cover the triggering of the Irish Civil War, the birth of the BBC, and Howard Carter's 'Tutmania'.
Plus, have you ever wondered how many stars Dominic's 1995 Edinburgh Fringe performance of Becket REALLY received from The Scotsman? Featuring appearances from Winston Churchill, Michael Collins and Just William, this podcast is not to be missed!
Producer: Dom Johnson
Exec Producer: Tony Pastor
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2022 marks 100 years since one of the most important years in modern history. In part 1 Tom and Dominic discuss all things 1922: Bolshevism, fascism, and the significance of The Waste Land and Ulysses.
Producer: Dom Johnson
Exec Producer: Tony Pastor
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Now ready to take on Pompey and the Senate, Julius Caesar must take the final step and cross over into Italy with his legion.
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Julius Caesar crossed the banks of the Rubicon river with his legion on this day (maybe) over 2000 years ago. In the first of a two-parter, Tom explains how Caesar rose to become powerful enough to take the decision that would eventually lead to him becoming the sole 'dictator' of Rome.
If you can't wait to find out how the story ends, sign up for the Rest Is History Club to access the full epsiode, more bonus content, ad-free listening and much more. www.restishistorypod.com
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A key battle in the history of England and a forgotten uprising in 17th century London round off our 12 (13) Days of Christmas. Back with to our regular schedule next Monday 10th January.
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The catalyst for the upheaval of 1066 and one of the most controversial episodes in French history happened on this day in history.
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Tom analyses the historical importance of Solomon Northup's story, made famous by Steve McQueen's '12 Years A Slave'. Then, Dominic delves into the death of French philosopher and author Albert Camus. Tune in to also hear about the travails of Monsieur Sandbrook, the 21-year-old Provence-based English language assistant.
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Luther's excommunication from the Catholic church and the birth of the author of Lord of the Rings happened on this day.
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The conquest of the kingdom of Grenada by Christian forces reclaimed southern Spain from the Moors, and the forgotten monarchs of Hawaii.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
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In a distinctly Roman start to 2022, Tom sets the scene for Rome's "Year of the four Emperors", while Dominic recounts a battle which was the beginning of the end for the Byzantine Empire.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
It's New Year's Eve - switch off the Hootenanny and tune in to hear Dominic recount extraordinary tales of coups, cousins and the rise of an emperor in the Central African Republic. Later on in the podcast, Tom questions whether the current pandemic will have a more prominent role in the history books than the often disregarded Spanish flu.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tom dissects the Battle of Wakefield and the subsequent fall of Richard, Duke of York, while Dominic talks us through the last ‘great’ Habsburg emperor, Karl I of Austria.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
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Tom takes us through the murder of Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral in 1170, while Dominic looks at one of the United States' most tragic massacres: the 1890 Battle of Wounded Knee.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
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In a suitably festive edition, Tom recounts the biblical story of King Herod's massacre of babies in Jerusalem, and Dominic remembers a rail disaster from 1879 and the hilariously bad poetry it inspired.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
How the English's fondness for Portuguese fortified wine began, and the unlikely story of the voyage which inspired Charles Darwin's natural philosophy.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
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@dcsandbrook
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Was Wenceslas good? Was he a king? And Dominic remembers the popular Victorian light opera maestros first production "Thespis".
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
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@dcsandbrook
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
To kick off our 12 Days of Christmas mini-series, Tom and Dominic remember the birth of the Holy Roman Empire and Mikhail Gorbachev's resignation
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Fan favourite Rachel Morley from Friends of Friendless Churches is back to count down her top ten churches with a festive connection
Go to restishistorypod.com to access bonus episodes, an exclusive Discord chat community, and to listen to the entire archive ad-free,
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Join Tom and Dominic in this festive special as they retrace the steps of Scrooge, Bob Cratchit and Tiny Tim in an episode dedicated to Charles Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol'. The boys traverse the City of London, visit Scrooge's old haunts and dissect the history and politics of one of the most adapted texts in the English language.
Producer: Dom Johnson
Exec Producer: Tony Pastor
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
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In Tom and Dominic's inaugural livestream for the Rest is History Club, we dive into one of the most seminal decades in modern history: the 1960s. Should the period be remembered as a byword for cultural revolution or as the birthplace of individualism? Where else could you find a jam-packed show that veers between the uprisings of Eastern Europe to Tom singing Bob Dylan?
To listen to the full episode, discover more bonus content, and enjoy other benefits such as ad-free listening and access to an exclusive chat room, please click here and join The Rest Is History Club.
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Now mostly overlooked by history, Burgundy was a major political and cultural power in western Europe during the Middle Ages, rivalling France and England. How did the kingdom gain such prominence, and why did it disappear? Bart van Loo, author of "The Burgundians", joins Dominic and Tom to explain.
To sign up to the brand new Rest Is History Club, go restishistorypod.com or click here. Benefits for members include an extra episode every week, a live streamed show every month, ad-free listening, and access to a Rest Is History chatroom where we'll be discussing episodes and suggesting subjects for future shows.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
From their origins in the 1930's running parallel to the rise of fascism in Europe, to the Adam West camp of the 1960's, to the gritty modern reboots - what has made Superheroes a cultural phenomenon, and what mirror does it hold up to society?
To sign up to the brand new Rest Is History Club, go restishistorypod.com or click here. Benefits for members include an extra episode every week, a live streamed show every month, ad-free listening, and access to a Rest Is History chatroom where we'll be discussing episodes and suggesting subjects for future shows.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
How did a game played by peasants in the English countryside as early as the 17th century evolve into one of the most popular sports in the world? Jon Hotten, author of 'The Meaning of Cricket', joins Tom and Dominic to discuss the origins of the game, its Victorian transformation and the inextricable link with Empire.
To sign up to the brand new Rest Is History Club and enjoy benefits like bonus episodes, live streamed shows and ad-free listening, as well as membership of the RIHC Discord chatroom, go to www.restishistorypod.com
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
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A chance to peek behind the curtain into the new weekly bonus episode for subscribers to the Rest Is History Club. As well as the extra episode, subscribers get a monthly live-streamed show (the first is on Wednesday 15th December, talking about the 1960's), access to an exclusive chatroom community and ad-free listening. To subscribe, go to restishistorypod.com
To celebrate the formation of the Rest Is History Club, Tom and Dominic discuss the great organisations that have set the template for places where like-minded individuals could meet, share ideas and enjoy each other's company.
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The peasant who became one of the most influential figures in the final days of the Russian Empire is an unbelievable story. But how much of the gossip, rumour and scandal that surrounded Grigori Rasputin is true? Dominic and Tom discuss, and somehow manage not to get too sidetracked by Boney M.
To sign up to the brand new Rest Is History Club, go restishistorypod.com or click here. Benefits for members include an extra episode every week, a live streamed show every month, ad-free listening, and access to a Rest Is History chatroom where we'll be discussing episodes and suggesting subjects for future shows.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Where did Neanderthals come from? How are they related to homo sapiens? And why are they no longer with us? Tom and Dominic are joined by Professor Chris Stringer from the Natural History Museum.
Produced by Dom Johnson
Exec Producer: Tony Pastor
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
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“God is too late, you have begun, now I will finish it.” Swash-buckling hero or sacrilegious tyrant? Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook explore Napoleon’s campaign in Egypt, his dream of becoming the next Alexander the Great, and the complicated history between France and Islam.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
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The USA's Central Intelligence Agency is a mysterious organisation which has used covert methods to assassinate enemies, influence governments and tip whole countries into revolution - or so countless films, TV series and books would have us believe. How much of it is true? Hugh Wilford, professor of history at California State University, Long Beach, and author of four books, including 'The Mighty Wurlitzer: How the CIA Played America', joins Tom and Dominic to discuss.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
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@dcsandbrook
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Elizabeth II. Henry V. William the Conqueror. All pretenders, according to our twitter poll to find England’s greatest monarch, which has been running over the last week. Dominic and Tom discuss those who fell at the final hurdle, as well as finding room for a rather queasy anecdote about Henry VIII’s personal hygiene.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
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@dcsandbrook
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Oliver Cromwell. Queen Victoria. George V. All contenders for the title of England's greatest monarch, a poll for which took place on a twitter over the last week. We know that Athelstan went on to win, but in this episode Tom and Dominic run through the sovereigns who fell at the first hurdle.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
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@dcsandbrook
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After an intense tournament featuring sixteen of the finest Kings and Queens this island has to offer, the people have decided the greatest king of England also happens to be the first. The 10th century grandson of Alfred the Great united the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and saw off the Vikings, so Tom explains why we should all be Æthel-STANS.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
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"Discovered this territory, 1770". So reads the inscription on a statue of Captain Cook in Hyde Park, Sydney. But did he really discover it? Tom and Dominic are joined by David Hunt to explore the long story of human settlement in Australia, and of the European explorers who reached it before Captain Cook ever sighted Botany Bay. (Also features giant wombats)
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
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1973: Major oil-producing nations led by Saudi Arabia quadruple the price of oil overnight, sending the West (particularly the United Kingdom) into crisis. The face of 20th century geopolitics is permanently altered. Slade are Christmas number 1.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
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@dcsandbrook
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Who's England's greatest monarch? Voting starts on Saturday 13th November, go to @TheRestHistory on Twitter to get involved.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
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@dcsandbrook
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On the anniversary of the day the guns fell silent on the Western Front, we look at the last moments of the First World War – and how we remember them. How did Remembrance Day start? What are the stories behind the Cenotaph and the Unknown Warrior? Why do we wear poppies? And will we always remember the fallen - or is it time to forget?
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
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In the second part of our Alexander the Great special, we head to the limits of the known world, burning down palaces, storming mountain-top fortresses and battling elephants as we go. Might Alexander have kept his empire together had he lived? What killed him? Why is he in the Qur’an?
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
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@dcsandbrook
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Alexander the Great is the most charismatic conqueror in history. Tom and Dominic, in the first of a two part special, trace the course of his dazzling career from Macedonia to his mysterious journey to the oracle at Siwa. Man or god? Visionary or blood-stained tyrant? The debate rages on!
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
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@dcsandbrook
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‘Remember, remember / the Fifth of November / Gunpowder, treason & plot.” But what is it exactly we are remembering on Bonfire Night? Tom & Dominic explore what - if it had succeeded - would have been the most spectacular terrorist attack in British history: its background, its legacy, & the controversies that still bedevil our understanding of it.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
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@dcsandbrook
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Like Merlin, who lived his life in reverse, we go backwards in time as we continue our two-part series on paganism. Renaissance philosophers; green men; a pagan city in the early caliphate; hooded gods on Hadrian’s Wall; Stonehenge; cannibals (or were they?) in Cheddar Gorge; and the oldest evidence ever found of pagan practice in Britain.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
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In the first of a two part Hallowe’en special, Tom and Dominic are joined by Professor Ronald Hutton to explore the history of modern paganism: from Wicca to Druids, and from Himmler to the Glastonbury Festival. Do its roots reach back to a genuine pre-Christian past?
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
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@dcsandbrook
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The word ‘medieval’ is often used to mean backward, benighted, unscientific. But is this fair? Historian of science Seb Falk joins Tom and Dominic to explore how the Middle Ages shaped and influenced the development of science.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
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Twitter:
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Oh, to be Dutch in the seventeenth century. Or Roman in 150 AD. Or British in the 1990's. Tom and Dominic debate the merits of various "Golden Ages" in history, and ask whether we might have seen the last.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
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Twitter:
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Curator and art historian Aparna Andhare gives Tom and Dominic her selection of the ten buildings that best illustrate India’s past 4,500 years. Ranging from Mohenjo-daro to Narendra Modi, all the Subcontinent’s history is here.
A Goalhanger Films & Left Peg Media production
Produced by Joey McCarthy
Exec Producer Tony Pastor
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
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Twitter:
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How did the existence of dinosaurs come to be discovered, & what role have they played in the popular imagination over the past 200 years? And what can humanity learn from the extinction of dinosaurs - if indeed they ARE extinct? Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook explore the constantly evolving after-life of dinosaurs.
A Goalhanger Films & Left Peg Media production
Produced by Joey McCarthy
Exec Producer Tony Pastor
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
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Twitter:
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Did the industrial revolution really improve people’s lives? And why was Britain first to industrialise? Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook are joined by Emma Griffin, professor of modern history and author of Liberty's Dawn: A People's History of the Industrial Revolution.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
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Twitter:
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Despite his overwhelming lead in the polls, President Richard Nixon’s paranoia leads to the criminal actions of the Watergate scandal. In this second part of our mini-series, Dominic Sandbrook and Tom Holland explore the unravelling of the conspiracy and its consequences for US politics.
A Goalhanger Films & Left Peg Media production
Produced by Harry Lineker
Exec Producer Tony Pastor
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
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Twitter:
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What led Richard Nixon into the greatest political scandal in American history? Dominic Sandbrook, acclaimed historian of the period, leads Tom Holland on an extraordinary journey from Nixon’s humble beginnings through his political rise and to the precipice of his downfall. The first in a two part mini-series.
A Goalhanger Films & Left Peg Media production
Produced by Harry Lineker
Exec Producer Tony Pastor
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
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Twitter:
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The world’s most famous classicist, Professor Mary Beard, joins Tom and Dominic to discuss how the legacy of classical Greece and Rome has been interpreted and re-interpreted over the past millennium and a half. They range from Dante’s Satan snacking on Julius Caesar’s assassins in Hell to recent demands in the United States that Classics itself should be cancelled.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
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Twitter:
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WARNING: THIS PODCAST INCLUDES SPOILERS ABOUT THE NEW JAMES BOND MOVIE. DO NOT LISTEN UNTIL YOU’VE SEEN THE FILM.
What does the new Bond movie tell us about modern masculinity? And where does the franchise go from here? Dominic Sandbrook and Tom Holland share notes on No Time to Die.
A Goalhanger Films & Left Peg Media production
Produced by Harry Lineker
Exec Producer Tony Pastor
Twitter:
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@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Email: [email protected]
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Something wicked this way comes. Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook take a deep dive into the real history of Scotland’s most notorious king. Was he really the murderous man of Shakespeare’s writing? Plus the boys examine the play for its insight into the politics of the time in which it was written. And we discover Dominic’s missed vocation.
A Goalhanger Films & Left Peg Media production
Produced by Joey McCarthy
Exec Producer Tony Pastor
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
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In today’s episode, Tom and Dominic are joined by Dr Eleanor Barraclough as they sail across the Atlantic in a dragon-ship, bound for the epic world of the Norse sagas. What society did the Vikings set up in Iceland? How did they get to America? Why were they always so violent?
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
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Twitter:
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As Angela Merkel bows out of German politics, Dominic Sandbrook and Tom Holland explore the surprisingly colourful world of Germany’s Chancellors since the Second World War. It’s a story of rebels, exiles, Nazis, chain-smokers, the colossal bulk of Helmut Kohl and the East German youth of the future Frau Merkel. And to Tom’s relief, there’s lots of Christianity.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
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The fictional British agent James Bond returns to our cinema screens this week, but what do the history and evolution of Ian Fleming’s iconic character tell us about our changing society? Dominic Sandbrook and Tom Holland explore 007 in both book and cinematic form.
A Goalhanger Films & Left Peg Media production
Produced by Vasco Andrade
Exec Producer Tony Pastor
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
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Twitter:
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Writer and critic Tomiwa Owolade joins Dominic and Tom to discuss the pan-African movement and the varying ways in which African states became independent from their European colonisers during the 20th century.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
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Twitter:
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Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook continue their celebration of the 2,500th anniversary of the Persian invasion of Greece. Today, they look at two battles which have echoed down the millennia: Thermopylae, the very archetype of a heroic defeat, and Salamis, the great naval clash which saved Greece from Persian conquest.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
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In 480 BC, 300 Spartans made a famous stand at Thermopylae, as hordes of Persian soldiers, led by Xerxes, seemed set to succeed in their aim of conquering Greece. However, although Leonidas and his men were defeated, only a short while later the Greek navy, against superior Persian forces, routed them in the Straits of Salamis, a turning point in the war as the Persians were steadily swept out of Greece. Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook discuss the epic battle and its outcome.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
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Tom Holland is joined by Ali Ansari to discuss the most influential mistresses in history. The definition of success is to impact history, despite often humble beginnings.
Recorded live at the London Podcast Festival.
A Goalhanger Films & Left Peg Media production
Produced by Vasco Andrade
Exec Producer Tony Pastor
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
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There are estimated to be around 16 thousand churches in England alone. But which are the finest in the UK? Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook are joined by the director of Friends of Friendless Churches, Rachel Morley, to decide a top ten. They also discuss some of the listeners’ favourites. Just remember: cathedrals not allowed!
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
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On the morning of Tuesday, September 11, 2001, four commercial airliners were hijacked above the US by the militant Islamist terrorist group al-Qaeda. What followed was the deadliest terrorist attack in history. Twenty years on, Dominic Sandbrook and Tom Holland look back at the events and discuss their impact.
A Goalhanger Films & Left Peg Media production
Produced by Jack Davenport
Exec Producer Tony Pastor
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
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The rise of social media is the central subject of our second instalment with tech pioneer Marc Andreessen. Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook ask whether social media is the principal force behind an increase in populist politics. The ‘Americanisation’ of culture plus Marc’s theory on why software is the closest thing to real life magic also feature.
A Goalhanger Films & Left Peg Media production
Produced by Jack Davenport
Exec Producer Tony Pastor
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
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Dominic Sandbrook and Tom Holland are joined by tech pioneer Marc Andreessen. Has the internet been the most important force in modern history? In part one of this two part series they look at how the internet developed out of military technology, whether early developers knew they were changing the world, and why business initially built a ‘wall of scepticism’ around the possibilities of the World Wide Web.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
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The year is 1983, and on November the 8th the world is the closest it’s ever been to nuclear destruction, yet nobody at the time realises. Dominic and Tom are joined by author and historian Taylor Downing to discuss how Armageddon was just avoided and why Tom, living near Salisbury, was in more danger than most.
A Goalhanger Films & Left Peg Media production
Produced by Jack Davenport & Harry Lineker
Exec Producer Tony Pastor
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
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Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook are live at the Chalke Valley History Festival to discuss the cultural impact of the Fab Four. What were the social conditions that led to their phenomenal success, and will their legacy endure in another hundred years? Plus, why Tom was turned away from John Lennon’s house.
A Goalhanger Films & Left Peg Media production
Produced by Jack Davenport
Exec Producer Tony Pastor
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
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The slaughter and bloodshed on the Western Front in World War One helped shape the narrative of the 20th century. But was it a case of lions led by donkeys?
Gary Sheffield, historian and author of Forgotten Victory: The First World War - Myths and Realities, joins Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook to explore events on the Western Front.
A Goalhanger Films & Left Peg Media production
Produced by Jack Davenport
Exec Producer Tony Pastor
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
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From the Ice Age to the Winter of Discontent, climate and weather have hugely impacted historical events. Wars halted by freezing conditions, Prime Ministers thrown out of office by an electorate made angrier by the weather. Dominic Sandbrook and Tom Holland review their top ten weather affected moments in time.
A Goalhanger Films & Left Peg Media production
Produced by Jack Davenport
Exec Producer Tony Pastor
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
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@dcsandbrook
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“A war begun for no wise purpose.” This description of the First Anglo-Afghan War, fought in the early-mid 19th Century, could stand as an epitaph for most conflicts in the region since. William Dalrymple has written extensively about the history of Afghanistan and he joins Dominic Sandbrook and Tom Holland to take a deep dive into this ‘graveyard of empires’.
A Goalhanger Films & Left Peg Media production
Produced by Jack Davenport
Exec Producer Tony Pastor
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
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In the first of a two-part series exploring the history of Afghanistan, Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook examine the nation’s complicated relationships with empires and discuss its role in the ‘Great Game’.
A Goalhanger Films & Left Peg Media production
Produced by Jack Davenport
Exec Producer Tony Pastor
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
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Once there was darkness and then there was light. What was the Enlightenment and why did it matter? Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook explore the Enlightenment and its path towards reason, science, revolution and the guillotine.
A Goalhanger Films & Left Peg Media production
Produced by Jack Davenport
Exec Producer Tony Pastor
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
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The games afoot! Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook discuss the world’s favourite consulting detective. Why has the popularity of Sherlock Holmes survived more than a century and what do the stories tell us about Victorian and Edwardian London?
A Goalhanger Films & Left Peg Media production
Produced by Jack Davenport
Exec Producer Tony Pastor
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
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Even the memory of them is enough to make most people shudder. As thousands of British students wait nervously for their A-level and GCSE results, Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook are joined by educationalist Daisy Christodoulou to discuss the fascinating history of the examination. Your time starts now.
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
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Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
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60 years ago this month, the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) began building a barrier that divided the city of Berlin. It stood until 1989 and came to symbolise the front line of the Cold War.
Iain MacGregor, author of "Checkpoint Charlie: The Cold War, the Berlin Wall and the Most Dangerous Place on Earth", joins Tom and Dominic to discuss the history of the Wall, the ideological divide it represented and why it eventually fell.
A Goalhanger Films & Left Peg Media production
Produced by Jack Davenport & Harry Lineker
Exec Producer Tony Pastor
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
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What does it mean to be a Spartan? How much of this Spartan image is real and how much is based on projections and prejudices of others?
Tom and Dominic delve into the Ancient Greek world and take us inside the minds and reality of this civilisation. They also analyse the film “300” and look at what it got right and wrong.
A Goalhanger Films & Left Peg Media production
Produced by Jack Davenport & Harry Lineker
Exec Producer Tony Pastor
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
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Tom and Dominic continue their journey through the history of the Olympics, turning their attention from post-war to the present day.
They discuss Cold War rivalries, financial extravagance, the influence of TV and the darkest moments in Olympic history.
A Goalhanger Films & Left Peg Media production
Produced by Jon Gill
Exec Producer Tony Pastor
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
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In 1896 the Olympic Games were reborn in Athens. Here we look at the forgotten tales and little known facts from the start of the modern Olympics through to the outbreak of the Second World War.
Tom tells us about the greatest race of all time, whilst Dominic reveals he is somewhat of an Olympics sceptic.
A Goalhanger Films & Left Peg Media production
Produced by Jon Gill
Exec Producer Tony Pastor
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
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With the Games underway in Tokyo, Tom and Dominic look back to the Ancient Olympics. They discuss the heroic but incredibly violent stories of the Greek superstars of 2500 years ago, and why the Games were bad news for women, animals and cheats. Plus, Tom reveals how his cricketing woes were compounded by an Ancient Greek poet.
A Goalhanger Films & Left Peg Media production
Produced by Jack Davenport
Exec Producer Tony Pastor
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
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Statues: Parliament Square
In the final part of their epic trilogy, Tom and Dominic arrive at Parliament Square to explore the statues of world leaders including Winston Churchill, Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi.
A Goalhanger Films & Left Peg Media production
Produced by Jack Davenport
Exec Producer Tony Pastor
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
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Tom and Dominic continue their tour of London’s statues, arriving in Whitehall. War leaders, useless royals and courtesans all feature.
A Goalhanger Films & Left Peg Media production
Produced by Jack Davenport
Exec Producer Tony Pastor
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
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@dcsandbrook
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In the first of a three part series Tom and Dominic take a walking tour of central London to examine the statues of Trafalgar Square and explore the stories behind them.
A Goalhanger Films & Left Peg Media production
Produced by Jack Davenport
Exec Producer Tony Pastor
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
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Tom and Dominic are joined by historian William Dalrymple to tell the fascinating and shocking story of the East India Company in the 18th century. How could a gang of “spectacularly corrupt” merchants conquer vast parts of Asia from a small office in London with just 35 employees? And how did the company’s actions pave the way for British government rule in India.
A Goalhanger Films & Left Peg Media production
Produced by Jack Davenport
Exec Producer Tony Pastor
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
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@dcsandbrook
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Henry VIII had the most notorious marital relations of any king in history. Tom and Dominic discuss the six women who became his queen. How did they influence the course of the Reformation? And which one would have done best on Love Island?
A Goalhanger Films & Left Peg Media production
Produced by Jack Davenport
Exec Producer Tony Pastor
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
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@dcsandbrook
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No country has enjoyed a greater influence on the English than Italy. Ahead of the European Championship final, Dominic Sandbrook and Tom Holland explore the history of Rome, Italy and England.
A Goalhanger Films & Left Peg Media production
Produced by Jack Davenport
Exec Producer Tony Pastor
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
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@dcsandbrook
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No war has divided public opinion more than the conflict in Vietnam. Andrew Preston, Cambridge University Professor of American History, joins Dominic Sandbrook and Tom Holland to discuss the international politics surrounding the conflict.
A Goalhanger Films & Left Peg Media production
Produced by Jack Davenport
Exec Producer Tony Pastor
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
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Ahead of the two countries’ encounter at Wembley, Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook discuss Anglo-Danish history through the ages. Vikings, the destruction of Copenhagen and royal dogs all feature prominently.
A Goalhanger Films & Left Peg Media production
Produced by Jack Davenport
Exec Producer Tony Pastor
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
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Tom and Dominic discuss how to write history books for kids. What topics are they interested in? What will they find boring? How much detail is acceptable when writing about mass killings and violence? And why it's best to get an 8 year old to do the proof reading
A Goalhanger Films & Left Peg Media production
Produced by Jack Davenport
Exec Producer Tony Pastor
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
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On the eve of a huge sporting encounter in Rome between the English and Ukrainian football teams, Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook explore the history binding the two nations. Crimea, The Light Brigade and Florence Nightingale all make the starting line-up.
A Goalhanger Films & Left Peg Media production
Produced by Jack Davenport
Exec Producer Tony Pastor
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
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The British Empire: good, bad or neither? And how does its legacy shape us today? Journalist Sathnam Sanghera, author of “Empireland”, joins Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook to explore this timely, fascinating and hugely controversial subject.
A Goalhanger Films & Left Peg Media production
Produced by Jack Davenport
Exec Producer Tony Pastor
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
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With England and Germany set to do sporting battle once again, Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook explore the historical events which have shaped the relationship between two or Europe’s super powers.
A Goalhanger Films & Left Peg Media production
Produced by Jack Davenport
Exec Producer Tony Pastor
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
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Settle down by the fire and prepare to be haunted. Roger Clarke, author of A Natural History of Ghosts, joins Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook to wonder whether ghost stories evolve to reflect the age in which the apparition appears.
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Jeremy Thorpe was the most flamboyant politician of his day. Leader of the Liberal Party for nine years he was tried at the Old Bailey for conspiracy to murder his former lover Norman Scott. Although acquitted, the case destroyed Thorpe’s career. Dominic Sandbrook and Tom Holland discuss this extraordinary story, which includes the murder of Scott’s dog Rinka.
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In the second part of our examination of Adolf Hitler, Sir Ian Kershaw joins Dominic Sandbrook to discuss the Nazi leader’s years leading up to and during the Second World War.
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He was “the embodiment of modern political evil” according to historian Sir Ian Kershaw. In this first episode of a two-part investigation of the Nazi dictator, Sir Ian joins Dominic Sandbrook and Tom Holland to discuss Adolf Hitler.
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Does the Magna Carta enshrine the liberties of every free-born Englishman? Or is it now irrelevant? Ted Vallance, Professor of History at Roehampton University, joins Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook to discuss King John and the bill of rights he was forced to sign.
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No state in America captures the imagination quite like California. With its glitz and glamour and also its enormous economic disparities the state is a symbol of both the American dream and nightmare. Dominic Sandbrook and Tom Holland explore California’s origins as well as its modern day politics.
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Who was Muhammad, where did he come from and what was the historical context for his life? Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook discuss one of the most influential religious, social, and political leaders in history.
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Competition for top deity hots up as we look back on the knock out stages of the Rest is History World Cup of Gods. Dominic Sandbrook and Tom Holland discuss the last eight contestants and analyse the final outcome.
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In one of the most anticipated contests of the year, sixteen gods battled for the crown of ultimate deity. Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook offer analysis and insight on the group stages of the competition.
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It may just be the most popular city on earth. Throughout history Paris has maintained a grip on the public imagination, thanks to its culture, architecture and its people.
French journalist and historian Agnès Poirier joins Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook to discuss La Ville Lumièr.
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He remains one of the great characters in all history. But was he depraved, corrupt and evil? Or an artist much maligned by elitist historians? Dominic Sandbrook and Tom Holland discuss Nero.
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It promises to be the biggest event of the summer - The Rest is History World Cup of Gods.
Sixteen competitors, but there can be only one winner. Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook preview all the runners and riders.
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Did Oliver Cromwell save Britain from tyranny or was he a killjoy and military dictator? Paul Lay, author of Providence Lost: the Rise and Fall of Cromwell's Protectorate joins Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook to discuss the short-lived British Republic.
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What, if anything, can we learn about medieval history from Game of Thrones? Or is George R R Martin’s hugely popular series of books, and the blockbuster TV series based on them, in danger of supplanting true history in the popular imagination? Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook, both huge fans of the series, discuss books, films and history.
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Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook talk to award-winning writer Camilla Townsend, author of the revelatory Fifth Sun.
Professor Townsend used Nahuatl language sources to write an engaging history offering a new interpretation of events in Mexico centuries ago.
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“They’re wasting their money and having sex with each other.” Dominic Sandbrook and Tom Holland explore the modern phenomenon of the teenager. Why do teenagers scare older generations and will Tom cope with his daughter’s veganism?
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Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook tuck into the history of British food with author Pen Vogler. They debate the origins of curry and debate our obsession with beef. Plus, they discuss a curious historical obsession with cooking pigs and chickens, stitched together.
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With France facing economic struggles and rising unemployment revolution was in the air. But who was in charge of the uprising and what did it achieve? Dominic Sandbrook and Tom Holland storm their own podcasting Bastille.
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Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook are joined by historian and broadcaster Dan Snow to discuss the biggest event of the 18th century - The Seven Years' War.
@dcsandbrook
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The battle lines are drawn as Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook get involved in this most timely of subjects.
They discuss the historical significance of culture wars from Ancient Rome to the US Civil Rights movement.
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Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook cross their legs and rank the best Eunuchs in history.
From religious fanatics to operatic singers, they discuss the grisly glory these young men ‘enjoyed’.
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It is perhaps the best known year in English history. But why has it endured in the national consciousness? Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook talk the Battle of Hastings, the end of the Anglo-Saxons and wonder if King Harold really was killed by an arrow in the eye.
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It is arguably the most important year in modern history. With the British Expeditionary Force trapped at Dunkirk, Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain replaced by the maverick Winston Churchill and France collapsing under the force of invasion, the world watched and waited to see which way the axis of power would tilt. James Holland, leading historian of the period, joins his brother Tom and Dominic Sandbrook to discuss the events of 1940.
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Podcasting’s answer to Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid - that’s Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook of course - explore the Wild West in both fact and fiction. Does the romantic representation in both fiction and film bear any resemblance to the historical truth? And why are we still so intrigued by the myth of the American western frontier?
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It is one of the truly great civilisations in world history and yet the story of Persia has faded from view in the west. Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook are joined by Professor Ali Ansari to discuss Persia's extraordinary influence on the modern world.
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From re-enactment to reinforcing capitalism through the board game Monopoly. Dominic Sandbrook and Tom Holland examine the history of games and the portrayal of history in games.
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She famously claimed to have the heart and stomach of a king and remains one of Britain’s most talked about monarchs, despite having reigned more than 400 years ago. Tracy Borman, author of the acclaimed Elizabeth’s Women, joins Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook to discuss Elizabeth I.
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It was one of the great political ideologies of the 20th century, vying with capitalism for supremacy.
Now communism has retreated from the political mainstream having failed to create the utopia of a classless society.
Dominic Sandbrook and Tom Holland discuss the origins of communism as a theory and the frequently repressive attempts to govern by its principles.
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History is littered with stories of espionage and its capacity to change the course of events. But does spying truly matter and has the human operative finally been replaced by the computer?
Ben MacIntyre, author of books including Agent Zigzag and The Spy and the Traitor, joins Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook to discuss the history of spying.
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In our last episode we debated the merits of British Prime Ministers through the centuries. But who was voted the best of all by the public and why? Dominic Sandbrook and Tom Holland discuss the men who made it through to the final stages of our Prime Ministers’ World Cup and analyse the public voting patterns which led to the final outcome.
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Who is the greatest British Prime Minister of them all? The bookmakers have Winston Churchill favourite to lift the crown, but William Gladstone and Maggie Thatcher won’t give up the fight without a struggle. And who’s this coming up quietly on the left-hand rail? Why, it’s Clement Attlee, who looks a real threat to the horses on his right. Dominic Sandbrook and Tom Holland debate the runners and riders in our inaugural Rest is History World Cup.
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March 20th marks the annual Feast day of the Northumbrian Saint Cuthbert. But why should we care about this largely forgotten figure from the 7th century? Tom Holland persuades Dominic Sandbrook that the story of Cuthbert, whose body lay perfectly preserved long after his death, is well worth re-examining.
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It has been described as the most universal cultural mode there has ever been, but is football a worthwhile object of study for historians?
Sports journalist and author Jonathan Wilson joins Dominic Sandbrook and Tom Holland to look at the history of the game and how it became Britain’s most successful export.
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Counterfactuals are the great what ifs of history.
Imagine the Nazis winning World War 2, or the Roman Empire never falling.
Is this a valid form of historical enquiry? Or is it simply game-playing?
Dominic Sandbrook and Tom Holland discuss what might have been.
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It emerged from the Prussian victory over France in 1870 and was destroyed by the First World War less than fifty years later. German historian Katja Hoyer joins Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook to discuss the short but explosive life of the German Second Reich.
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With the British monarchy under intense scrutiny following an interview with Harry and Meghan conducted by Oprah Winfrey, Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook use the lens of history to analyse the significance of this event.
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Has America taken over the world? Did the dollar and Hollywood enable the US to replace the British empire as the dominant international influencer? And is that power now waning?
Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook discuss Americanisation on the Rest is History.
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Comedian Al Murray joins Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook to discuss the history of comedy as well as the funny side of history.
Has comedy changed through time? When and why are we not allowed to laugh at events?
Al Murray has made a living out of making people laugh, while also frequently placing history at the heart of his humour.
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Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook ask why Tutankhamun remains the best known of the Egyptian pharaohs. They examine the discovery of the tomb by Howard Carter in 1922 and discuss Tutankhamun’s relatives, in particular his father Akhenaten.
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Suzannah Lipscomb joins Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook to discuss the history of witches and witchcraft.
Why did society see witches as a threat and what is the modern equivalent of a witch hunt?
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Is the age of empires over? And are they always a bad thing?
Dominic Sandbrook and Tom Holland explore empires through history, examining the modern assumption that nation statehood is always the better way.
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Everything you wanted to know about sex in the 18th and 19th Century but were afraid to ask. Hallie Rubenhold, author of The Covent Garden Ladies and the multi-award winning The Five joins Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook to discuss this fascinating subject.
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Ecstasy, emails and economic stability. Dominic Sandbrook and Tom Holland discuss the 1990s, a decade which brought us Oasis, Tony Blair, Monica Lewinsky and Mr Blobby.
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The Rest is History brings you the top ten strangest conflicts of all time. Obscure, little-known, downright strange. Dominic Sandbrook and Tom Holland choose five each.
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What is history’s take on the future? Oracles, prophecies, apocalypse, scientific projection. Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook discuss them all.
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Broadcaster and historian Michael Wood joins Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook to discuss the world’s oldest civilisation. What were the great moments in Chinese history and why do the Opium Wars still feature so prominently in the modern Chinese school syllabus? The birth of the Chinese Communist Party and the complicated legacy of Chairman Mao all feature.
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It remains the most romantic historical story of all time, but is the legend of King Arthur a myth? Was he even English? And will he rise again when the country needs him most?
Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook take their places at the round table.
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England has long been divided by an invisible line somewhere north of Watford and south of the Mersey.
But do northerners really have more in common with Scots and Welsh people than their fellow Englishmen in London?
Dan Jackson, author of The Northumbrians and a former advisor to Cheryl Cole, joins southerner Tom Holland and midlander Dominic Sandbrook to try and decide if we should eat lunch then dinner, or dinner then tea.
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What is fascism and where did it come from? No one admits to being a fascist yet it continues to be a term of abuse hurled on a regular basis. Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook discuss the history of this most unacceptable of political models.
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Pompeii
Why does Pompeii continue to hold such a fascination for so many people? And which secrets are still to be uncovered from beneath the ashes? Dr Sophie Hay, a leading expert on the ruined Italian city, joins Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook to answer lots of listener questions.
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From the Great Wall of China to the Berlin Wall, history is littered with the building of barriers aimed at keeping people out, and sometimes in. Do they work? Are they ever a good thing? Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook climb walls and explore borders as they investigate the history of separation.
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Is the author’s responsibility to the quality of the novel or the truth of history? What makes a great historical novel and which authors have contributed to our understanding of history. Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook range across literature in search of the best of historical fiction.
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Stephen Fry is our guest on The Rest is History as he tells Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook about his enduring fascination with the Greek myths.
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History is littered with conspiracy theories, from Popish plots to JFK’s assassination. But what makes people believe in them and how do they gain currency? As strange stories continue to swirl around the coronavirus vaccine, Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook examine conspiracy theories through the ages. Oh and Dominic finally solves the question of who did kill JFK.
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As Britain leaves the EU, Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook look at the best & worst comparisons from history that have been made to Brexit.
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Is Christmas an ancient ritual or was it invented by Dickens? Dominic Sandbrook and Tom Holland discuss the transformation of Christmas from public to private event and decide when it became a commercial rather than spiritual celebration.
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Whose fault was it? Does the question even make sense? Are wars always somebody's "fault"? Was it really the first global war? And should Britain have fought, or stayed out?
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Social media has colonised the world but is it really a new phenomenon? Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook debate the effects of technical innovations from the printing press to Twitter. Do they really make a difference?
Or was Swift right when he said: “It is the folly of too many, to mistake the echo of a London coffee-house for the voice of the kingdom.”
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Can we truly learn from history? And if we can - do we?
It’s one of the big questions this week as Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook roam through the centuries in search of certainty.
Never get involved in a land war in Asia. That’s our starter for ten.
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It’s been described as the most legendary story ever told. But did the Trojan War actually happen? And was it really fought over a beautiful woman? Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook discuss an enduring tale that still resonates to this day.
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As a new series of The Crown arrives on Netflix, returning viewers to the 1980s, we look back at the year many Britons consider the worst in living memory.
Rocketing unemployment, riots in major cities and a country governed by the most divisive prime minister in post-war British history made 1981 a year to forget.
Amidst the gloom was the wedding of Prince Charles to Lady Diana and the greatest Ashes fightback England cricket fans had ever seen.
So what can we learn from a closer analysis of 1981?
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
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Plague, pestilence and statue smashing are back in business. Has 2020 turned out to be the 17th Century in disguise? And if so, has Boris Johnson become the new Oliver Cromwell, determined to crack down on the excesses of Christmas? Dominic Sandbrook and Tom Holland suggest things now are not as bad as we thought.
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
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Recorded hours after Joe Biden was named President of the United States, we ask if Donald Trump is a modern day Caesar, willing to do anything to stay in power? Or is Trump the natural successor to the disgraced Richard Nixon? Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook draw parallels between the modern White House, the 1970s and ancient Rome.
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
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What are the conditions needed for a civil war to start? Could we see a modern industrial nation turn upon itself again? Historians Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook explore examples from ancient history though to Spain in the 1930s and Yugoslavia in the 1990s to work out what it takes for neighbour to murder neighbour.
Produced by Jack Davenport
Exec Producer Tony Pastor
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
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How did certain people come to be called ‘the Great’? Is the notion of great men and women outmoded? Can anyone today be reckoned ‘great’? Historians Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook take a wide ranging stroll through the annals of time, from Nero to Nixon, with a bit of Trump thrown in for good measure.
Produced by Jack Davenport
Exec Producer Tony Pastor
*The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*:
Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia!
Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com
Twitter:
@TheRestHistory
@holland_tom
@dcsandbrook
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Historians Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook are interrogating the past, attempting to de-tangle the present for their new podcast "The Rest Is History"
They question the nature of Greatness, why the West no longer has civil wars and whether Richard Nixon was more like Caligula or Claudius.
They're distilling the entirety of human history, or, as much as they can fit into about thirty minutes.
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En liten tjänst av I'm With Friends. Finns även på engelska.