Dan Snow's History Hit - TopPodcast.com

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Britain in the 1980s Mar 08, 2020

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Dominic Sandbrook is one of Britain’s most prolific historians, working his way through a series on Britain since the Second World War. His most recent book examines the pivotal early years of Margaret Thatcher’s premiership. In this podcast, Dominic and I discuss the social change of the tumultuous 1980s, a decade of the personal computer, snooker, Spandau Ballet, the Falklands War, and of course, The Iron Lady.

For ad free versions of our entire podcast archive and hundreds of hours of history documentaries, interviews and films, including our new in depth documentary about the bombing war featuring James Holland and other historians, please signup to www.HistoryHit.TV Use code 'pod6' at checkout for six weeks free.

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Coronavirus is NOT the plague Mar 05, 2020

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It came from Asia via the Middle East and Italy. But, says 17th Century historian, Rebecca Rideal, the parallels with the Black Death, The Plague, are not helpful.

It was great to catch up with Rebecca again on the podcast. She tells me what effect plague had on British people and society when it struck throughout the 17th Century. Her ultimate conclusion seems to be: be very very grateful that youre not living three hundred years ago.

Catch Rebecca and other wonderful historians on my new history channel, History Hit. There are also ad free versions of our entire podcast archive and hundreds of hours of history documentaries, interviews and films. Please signup to www.HistoryHit.TV Use code 'pod6' at checkout for six weeks free.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Champagne Riots Mar 04, 2020

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Rebecca Gibb is a Master of Wine. A ninja who can sniff out a Merlot from a Margaux at 50 paces. I know ABSOLUTELY nothing about wine other than I like drinking it. So we had a lot to talk about.

She has written a fascinating research paper on the riots that tore through the region of Champagne just before the First World War as the small wine growers rose up against the power of the big Champagne brands. This story has it all: invasive species, globalisation, climate crisis, superbrands, booze and artisanal production.

For ad free versions of our entire podcast archive and hundreds of hours of history documentaries, interviews and films, including our new in depth documentary about the bombing war, please signup to www.HistoryHit.TV Use code 'pod6' at checkout for six weeks free.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Discovery of the Universe Mar 03, 2020

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The universe has always been there, kind of, but it took intelligent life on earth billions of years to start to grapple with its nature. Carolyn Collins Peterson is a science writer who charts the progress of astronomy through the observatories used throughout history, from the earliest such as Stonehenge, to places like Birr Castle with its Leviathan telescope used by Herschel.

As always the compressed timescale of the major discoveries in astronomy left me amazed. in just a few generations we have gone from squinting at the nearest celestial bodies to sending manmade objects beyond our solar system.

For ad free versions of our entire podcast archive and hundreds of hours of history documentaries, interviews and films, including our new in depth documentary about the bombing war, please signup to www.HistoryHit.TV Use code 'pod6' at checkout for six weeks free.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The First President Mar 02, 2020

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George. Where did it all go wrong?

George Washington could have had a comfortable career as a loyal member of HIs Majesty's Virginia militia and colonial grandee. But no, he had to go and roll the dice.

I am thrilled in this episode to be talking to historian Alexis Coe about her new biography of Washington. She has a fresh take on the first President, but no less scholarly for that.

Young George Washington was raised by a struggling single mother, demanded military promotions, caused an international incident, and never backed down - even when his dysentery got so bad he had to ride with a cushion on his saddle. But after he married Martha, everything changed. Washington became the kind of man who named his dog Sweetlips and hated to leave home. He took up arms against the British only when there was no other way, though he lost more battles than he won.

For ad free versions of our entire podcast archive and hundreds of hours of history documentaries, interviews and films, including our new in depth documentary about the bombing war, please signup to www.HistoryHit.TV Use code 'pod6' at checkout for six weeks free.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Bombing War Mar 01, 2020

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75 years ago this Spring, the aerial assault on Germany was reaching a crescendo as city after city was devastated by British and American bomber fleets. History Hit TV have just launched a major documentary to mark this anniversary featuring veterans and historians like Max Hastings and Victoria Taylor. In this podcast one of our contributors, the hugely popular James Holland, joins me to talk about why and how the bombing reached such catastrophic levels and whether it actually shortened the Second World War.

From the earliest days of the war when the RAF confined themselves to dropping propaganda leaflets to the murderous bombing on Pfrozheim in late February 1945 which utterly destroyed most of the medieval city and killed a third of its population, James talks me through what both sides hoped to achieve from aerial bombing and how they went about it.

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The Irish War of Independence Feb 27, 2020

Show notes

Dan made a stupid comment on twitter. Irish history twitter melted down. So we did a pod on why.

100 years ago the Irish War of Independence was being fought in Ireland as the UK government sought to keep Ireland within the Union while the Irish independence fighters seized control of much of the countryside.

Dan and Finn Dwyer, host of the Irish History Podcast, had a good chat about the war and why, under no circumstances at all, must you never ever refer to it as a civil war.

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Guernsey: Voices of the Occupation Feb 26, 2020

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This year marks the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the Channel Islands. Dan went to meet four people who remember the war years on the islands and hear their experiences of occupation.

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‘One of Our Greatest Living Historians’ Feb 24, 2020

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Natalie Zemon Davis is a legend. One of the most influential and versatile contemporary historians. A pathbreaking scholar of early modern European social and cultural history, she has also explored the Mediterranean world as seen by Leo Africanus and the culture of slavery in Suriname.

She was born on 8 November 1928 and she is still working. She is currently an Adjunct Professor of History and Anthropology and Professor of Medieval Studies at the University of Toronto in Canada. Her work originally focused on France, but has since broadened to include other parts of Europe, North America, and the Caribbean. For example, Trickster Travels (2006) views Italy, Spain, Morocco and other parts of North Africa and West Africa through the lens of Leo Africanus's pioneering geography. It has appeared in four translations, with three more on the way.

She is a hero to many historians and academics, as "one of the greatest living historians", constantly asking new questions and taking on new challenges, the second female president of the American Historical Association (the first, Nellie Neilson, was in 1943) and someone who "has not lost the integrity and commitment to radical thought which marked her early career"

As a Canadian and a lover of history- this was a very special podcast for me.

For ad free versions of our entire podcast archive and hundreds of hours of history documentaries, interviews and films, signup to HistoryHit.TV. Use code 'pod3' at checkout.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Churchill's Cook Feb 23, 2020

Show notes

Annie Gray is a wonderful historian and broadcaster. Her latest project is a biography of the woman who cooked for Churchill. Georgina Landemare was one of the few people able to cope with the demands, eccentricities and public nudity that came with working for the Churchills. Where all the other servants came and went fairly rapidly, she remained in the family's service and helped Churchill through the war years, not just feeding him but helping his efforts to lead or cajole by providing sumptuous meals for him, his guests and subordinates.

I talked to Annie about what was like being a woman in domestic service in this period as well as the challenges of working for Winston.....

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