The Rest Is History

Latest Episodes:

121. Australia Before Cook Nov 18, 2021

Show notes

"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

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

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120. The Oil Weapon Nov 15, 2021

Show notes

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:

@TheRestHistory

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

119. World Cup of Kings & Queens preview Nov 12, 2021

Show notes

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

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

118. End of the First World War & Remembrance Nov 11, 2021

Show notes

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:

@TheRestHistory

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

117. Alexander the Great part 2 Nov 09, 2021

Show notes

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

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

116. Alexander the Great Part 1 Nov 08, 2021

Show notes

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

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

115. The Gunpowder Plot Nov 04, 2021

Show notes

‘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

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

114. Stonehenge, ancient ritual and the origins of paganism Nov 02, 2021

Show notes

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:

@TheRestHistory

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

113. Hallowe'en and modern paganism Nov 01, 2021

Show notes

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:

@TheRestHistory

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

112. Medieval Science Oct 28, 2021

Show notes

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!

Buy your tickets here: restishistorypod.com

Twitter:

@TheRestHistory

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices