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The Man Who Escaped Auschwitz Jun 28, 2022

Show notes

In April 1944 nineteen-year-old Rudolf Vrba and fellow inmate, Fred Wetzler broke out of Auschwitz. Under electrified fences and past armed watchtowers, evading thousands of SS men and slavering dogs, they trekked across marshlands, mountains and rivers to freedom. Vrba's mission: to reveal to the world the truth of the Holocaust.

Celebrated journalist and broadcaster Jonathan Freedland joins Dan on the podcast to tell this astonishing story which can be found in his new book 'The Escape Artist'.

This episode does contain descriptions that some listeners may find distressing.

Produced by Mariana Des Forges

Mixed and Mastered by Dougal Patmore

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The Assassination of Franz Ferdinand Jun 27, 2022

Show notes

Europe in 1914 was a tinderbox of imperial tensions and the spark that would light the conflagration would be the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. But there is much more to this story than simply the murder of two royals on the street of Sarajevo. Archduke Franz Ferdinand was an often misunderstood figure seemingly hard and old-fashioned. But in private he was a dedicated family man and husband who had married for love against the wishes of the Emporer and he and Sophie had endured snubs and humiliation at court because of it. He had travelled the world and hoped to reform the Austrian-Hungarian empire he was supposed to one day rule. Sue Woolmans, historian and author of The Assassination of the Archduke: Sarajevo 1914 and the Murder that Changed the World, joins the podcast to discuss the real Franz Ferdinand. She guides Dan through the life of Franz Ferdinand and the incompetence, bad luck and chance on the day that would lead to the death of the Archduke and begin a century of conflict.

Mixed and Mastered by Dougal Patmore

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Cleopatra Jun 26, 2022

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Cleopatra VII was part of a dynasty of Macedonian rulers founded by Ptolemy, who served as general under Alexander the Great during his conquest of Egypt in 332 B.C. Cleopatra served as the dominant ruler in all three of her co-regencies and was a shrewd strategist and an ingenious negotiator. Though her life spanned fewer than forty years, it reshaped the contours of the ancient world.

Stacy Schiff is the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Cleopatra: A Life. Stacy joins Dan on the podcast to reconstruct Cleopatra’s life. From ascension to the throne, her relationships with Julius Caesar and Mark Anthony, to her eventual death, Stacy and Dan chart the life of a ruler who controlled the largest territory of any woman.

Produced by Hannah Ward

Mixed and Mastered by Dougal Patmore

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A Short History of Nomads Jun 23, 2022

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The roots of the word ‘Nomad’ dates back to an extremely early Indo-European word, ‘nomos’. After towns and cities are built and more people settle, ‘Nomad’ comes to describe people who live without walls and beyond boundaries. Now, the word is used by settled people - for some with a sense of romantic nostalgia, and for others, it carries an implicit judgement that such people are wanderers of no fixed abode. Yet, often overlooked, Nomads have fostered and refreshed civilisation throughout our history.

Anthony Sattin is a journalist, broadcaster and author. Anthony joins Dan to trace the transformative and often bloody relationship between settled and mobile societies, from the Neolithic revolution to the 21st century via the rise and fall of the Roman Empire and the great nomadic empires of the Arabs and Mongols.

Produced by Hannah Ward

Mixed and Mastered by Dougal Patmore

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Al Capone Jun 22, 2022

Show notes

Born in Brooklyn, New York in January 1899, Alphonse Gabriel Capone would go on to become perhaps the most infamous gangster in American history. During the Roaring Twenties, Al Capone ruled an empire of crime in the Windy City of Chicago: gambling, prostitution, bootlegging, bribery, narcotics, robbery, and many brutal acts of violence.

Jonathan Eig is a journalist, author and biographer dubbed by Ken Burns as a “master storyteller.” Jonathan joins Dan on the podcast to discuss Capone’s transition from young entrepreneur to notorious criminal, how the escalating Mob violence in Chicago culminated with the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre and the events which led to the end of his crime boss reign.

Produced by Hannah Ward

Mixed and Mastered by Dougal Patmore

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Inside the Royal Marines Jun 21, 2022

Show notes

The Royal Marines are the UK's Commando Force and the Royal Navy's own amphibious troops. The Commandos have become a byword for elite raiding skills and cutting-edge military operations. They are globally renowned, yet shrouded in mystery.

Former Royal Marine Monty Halls joins Dan to shed light on the modern vanguard of a legendary unit, the descendants of the misfits and eccentrics who were so effective and feared in WW2 that Hitler famously ordered them to be shot on sight. They reveal the history behind the green beret, the real stories of extraordinary individuals and what it means to patrol the high seas and police coastlines around the globe.

Produced by Hannah Ward

Mixed and Mastered by Seyi Adaobi

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

Nuclear Disasters Jun 20, 2022

Show notes

In 2011, a 43-foot-high tsunami crashed into a nuclear power plant in Fukushima, Japan. In the following days, explosions would rip buildings apart, three reactors would go into nuclear meltdown, and the surrounding area would be swamped in radioactive water. It is now considered one of the costliest nuclear disasters ever. But Fukushima was not the first, and it was not the worst.

Acclaimed historian Serhii Plokhy returns to the podcast. Serhii joins Dan to tell the tale of some of the nuclear disasters that shook the world. From the 1957 fire at the Windscale facility in Cumbria which burned for three days and released radioactive fallout, to the 1986 crisis at Chernobyl, Serhii shows how the same story of nuclear ambition, often clouded by political and economic motives, is tragically repeated time and again.

Produced by Hannah Ward

Mixed and Mastered by Dougal Patmore

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HS2: Digging up the 'Dark Ages' Jun 19, 2022

Show notes

An extraordinary discovery has been unearthed by archaeologists working alongside the HS2 rail project. The find, made at an undisclosed location near Wendover in the Chilterns, consists of a 5th-6th century burial site that has been described as one of the most important post-Roman, early medieval discoveries of our lifetime.

It offers the chance to see more clearly a part of British history that has been hidden from us until now. If there was a real, historical King Arthur, this is the part of history he's hiding within.

In this special episode, join our very own Dan Snow and Gone Medieval host Matt Lewis as they chat to the team behind the dig about some of their revelatory finds, and begin to see the people behind them, and the way they may have lived their lives.

A special thanks to HS2, INFRA and Fusion for giving History Hit special access behind the scenes!

The Senior Producer on this episode was Elena Guthrie. The Producer was Rob Weinberg. It was edited and mixed by Aidan Lonergan.

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The Sinking of the Lancastria Jun 16, 2022

Show notes

On June 17, 1940, the British ocean liner, RMS Lancastria, was sunk during Operation Aerial.

RMS Lancastria had sailed to the French port of St. Nazaire to aid in the evacuation of British and French soldiers, civil servants and British civilians after the fall of Dunkirk. The ship was loaded well in excess of its capacity— the consequences of which were felt when a German fighter plane flew overhead and catastrophically attacked the Lancastria.

Janet Dempsey is a former maritime record specialist who worked at The National Archives for fifteen years. Janet joins Dan to discuss why the Lancastria was requisitioned as a troopship, the horrific sinking and loss of life, and how the subsequent media blackout at the time has informed this largely forgotten chapter in British history.

Produced by Hannah Ward

Mixed and Mastered by Dougal Patmore

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

The Siege of Loyalty House Jun 15, 2022

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The Civil War was the most traumatic conflict in British history, pitting friends and family members against each other, tearing down the old order.

Award-winning historian Jessie Childs plunges the reader into the shock of the struggle through one of its most dramatic episodes: the siege of Basing House. To the parliamentarian Roundheads, the Hampshire mansion was a bastion of royalism, popery and excess. Its owner was both a Catholic and a staunch supporter of Charles I. His motto Love Loyalty was etched into the windows. He refused all terms of surrender.

As royalist strongholds crumbled, Loyalty House, as it became known, stood firm. Over two years, the men, women and children inside were battered, bombarded, starved and gassed. Their resistance became legendary. Inigo Jones designed the fortifications and the women hurled bricks from the roof. But in October 1645, Oliver Cromwell rolled in the heavy guns and the defenders prepared for a last stand.

Drawing on exciting new sources, Childs uncovers the face of the war through a cast of unforgettable characters: the fanatical Puritan preacher who returns from Salem to take on the king; the plant-hunting apothecary who learns to kill as well as heal; the London merchant and colonist who clashes with Basing's aristocratic lord; and Cromwell himself who feels the hand of God on his sword. And we hear too the voices of dozens of ordinary men and women caught in the crossfire.

The Siege of Loyalty House is a thrilling tale of war and peace, terror and faith, friendship and betrayal - and of a world turned upside down.

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