The Rest Is History

626. Jack The Ripper: The Killer Strikes Again (Part 3)

15 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

How did Jack the Ripper manage to strike twice in the same night without getting caught? Did he have an accomplice? And, what chilling clues did the p...

625. Jack The Ripper: Horror in Whitechapel (Part 2)

11 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Who was Jack the Ripper’s second victim, and why was their murder considered the true starting point of his terrifying killing spree? How did the po...

The Beatles: The British Invasion, with Conan O’Brien (Part 2)

10 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

| This episode is available a week early for members of The Rest Is History Club | What happens when fame, drugs, and genius collide? How did the B...

624. Jack The Ripper: History’s Darkest Mystery (Part 1)

08 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Was Jack the Ripper the first serial killer of all time? Who was his first victim, and why was the murder so shocking? And, what did the Ripper phenom...

623. The Nazis at War: Churchill’s Finest Hour (Part 4)

04 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

With Adolf Hitler at the apex of his power during the Second World War, how did he move on Britain? How did Winston Churchill respond? And, would Brit...

The Beatles: The Band that Changed the World, with Conan O’Brien (Part 1)

03 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

How did four Liverpool teenagers become the most influential band on earth? What made their music and charisma irresistible to a generation? And, how ...

622. The Nazis at War: The Fall of France (Part 3)

01 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

How did the Battle of Dunkirk unfold in 1940? Why was it one of the key turning points of the Second World War for Hitler and his Nazi regime? And, ho...

621. The Nazis at War: Blitzkrieg (Part 2)

27 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

When Hitler’s eye fell on Norway and Denmark, how did he and the Nazis enact their terrible plan of conquest? How did the Allies respond to this wes...

620. The Nazis at War: Hitler Strikes West (Part 1)

24 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What was Adolf Hitler’s next move, after occupying Czechoslovakia in March 1939, and brutally invading Poland that September? Why did the Allies fai...

619. Elizabeth I: The Virgin Queen (Part 4)

20 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

How was Elizabeth I finally crowned Queen of England, after long years of perilous waiting? Why was her early reign so fraught with danger? Who was Wi...

618. Elizabeth I: The Shadow of the Tower (Part 3)

17 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Why did Elizabeth I’s brother, Henry VIII’s heir, Edward VI, choose his cousin Jane Grey to succeed him, rather than either of his wily Tudor sist...

617. Elizabeth I: Anne Boleyn's Bastard (Part 2)

13 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What happened to the infant Elizabeth I following the bloody execution of her mother Anne Boleyn? How did her father Henry VIII and his next four wive...

616. Elizabeth I: The Fall of the Axe (Part 1)

10 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

How did Elizabeth I’s tumultuous early life in the court of her wife murdering father, Henry VIII, influence the rest of her life? What was the natu...

RIHC: Disney's Legacy, with Bob Iger

07 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What’s the first question people at Disney ask themselves when they have a great idea? How does Bob Iger view his legacy, and does he think Walt Dis...

615. Disneyland: The Modern American Utopia

06 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Why is Disneyland one of the most influential architectural creations of the 21st century? How did the Second World War impact Disney? And, how is Dis...

614. Walt Disney: The Great American Storyteller

03 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

How did Walt Disney come to found the company that still bears his name, and would change the world forever? How did Disney help to establish American...

Spartacus and Gladiators, with Mary Beard

31 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Where did gladiatorial combat originate? Who was Spartacus, the legendary gladiator? How did he come to lead the most famous slave revolt in all Roman...

613. Nelson: Glory at Trafalgar (Part 6)

30 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

How did the British fleet prepare for war, on the morning of the Battle of Trafalgar? With the flags of both fleets flying and both Nelson and the Fre...

612. Nelson: The Final Showdown (Part 5)

27 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

After two years at sea chasing the combined fleet of France and Spain, what was Nelson’s next step? Upon returning to his beloved Emma, how was the ...

Julius Caesar, with Mary Beard

23 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What is the main difference between Julius Caesar and Alexander the Great? When did Julius Caesar become one of the major players of the Roman Republi...

611. Nelson: Bonaparte Prepares to Strike (Part 4)

22 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

With Britain at war for more than eight long years, and her people depleted and hungry, how did her government react to the news that Napoleon Bonapar...

610. Nelson: The Battle of Copenhagen (Part 3)

19 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

With fears that the powerful Danish fleet would join with the French against the British, what great gamble did Horatio Nelson take? After taking the ...

Alexander the Great, with Mary Beard

16 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

No one was like him, terrible were his crimes… Where was Alexander the Great born, and who were his parents? What drove him to go beyond the Aegea...

609. Nelson: The Gathering Storm (Part 2)

15 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

After two years at sea, what happened when Horatio Nelson - now Britain’s most celebrated naval commander - finally returned home, to his wife and f...

608. Nelson: Slaughter in Naples (Part 1)

12 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What happened when the heroic Horatio Nelson, victor of the Battle of the Nile, sailed into the seething city of Naples? Why would his meeting with th...

The Trojan War, with Mary Beard

09 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Did the Trojan War - the ten year, cosmic clash between the Greeks and the Trojans, featuring the Olympian gods, kings and heroes - actually happen? I...

607. Nelson’s Lover: The Scandalous Lady Hamilton

08 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Who was Emma Hamilton, Horatio Nelson’s strikingly beautiful, and famously fashionable mistress? How did she raise herself up from dire poverty, to ...

606. Enoch Powell: Rivers of Blood

05 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Who was Enoch Powell, the deeply controversial British conservative politician? Why is he the father of Brexit, and possibly even Reform? And, how did...

605. Greek Myths: Jason & The Quest for the Golden Fleece (Part 4)

01 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What terrifying trials did Jason and the Argonauts have to overcome to win the famous Golden Fleece from a fire-breathing dragon, in one of the greate...

604. Greek Myths: Sex, Drugs & Tragedy (Part 3)

28 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Who was Dionysus, the son of Zeus, and Greek god of ecstasy, revelry and madness? Why was he so central to the ancient Greeks? What is the story of th...

603. Greek Myths: The Riddle of the Sphinx (Part 2)

24 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What is the story behind the writing of Oedipus, the notorious king of Thebes who murdered his father and unwittingly married his mother? Was it based...

602. Greek Myths: Zeus, King of the Gods (Part 1)

21 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What are the mythic origins of Zeus, King of the Olympians, and the other Greek gods? From what period did the earliest of the Greek myths derive? Who...

601. Scandal in the White House

17 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Who was Grover Cleveland, and why is he one of the most controversial American Presidents of all time? Why was the run up to his first term, in 1884 a...

600. CHATHAM HIGH STREET

14 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Why is Chatham High-street both futuristic and riddled with the past? Why was it a magnet for historical figures such as King John, Charles II, Nelson...

599. The First World War: Downfall of the Habsburgs (Part 6)

10 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

After endeavouring to wreak their revenge on Serbia, what would be the greatest hammer blow to the Austro-Hungarian Empire during the First World War?...

598. The First World War: The Eastern Front Explodes (Part 5)

05 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

While the Western front was raging following the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, what was unfolding on the Eastern Front? Why was it an even ...

597. The First World War: The Massacre of the Innocents (Part 4)

03 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What happened at the crucial, bloody, Battle of Ypres in October 1914? How did the battle come about? Why did the Germans and the British fight each o...

596. The First World War: The Miracle on the Marne (Part 3)

31 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What extraordinary events saw the French - already on the brink of defeat - take on the formerly formidable German army in a remarkable counter-offens...

595. The First World War: The Battle of the Frontiers (Part 2)

27 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What was Britain's first military move following the outbreak of the First World War? Where did the French launch their initial attack on the Germans?...

594. The First World War: The Invasion of Belgium (Part 1)

24 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Following the declaration of war in 1914, how did the outbreak of the First World War unfold? What were the earliest military engagements of this terr...

593. The Fight of the Century

20 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Why did two men - John Heenan and and Tom Sayers - illegally meet in a field in Hampshire, in 1860, to brutally fight one another, captivating Britain...

592. Mad Victorian Sport

17 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

How and when was football invented, and what are the origins of football clubs? What is the connection between public hangings, highwaymen, and early ...

591. The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln: Manhunt for the Killer (Part 2)

13 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

How was President Abraham Lincoln murdered on Good Friday 1865, at Ford’s Theatre, just five days after Robert E. Lee’s surrender? Who was John Wi...

590. The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln: Death at the Theatre (Part 1)

10 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

After passing the 13th amendment, in the closing weeks of the brutal American Civil War, what did president Abraham Lincoln - recently re-elected - do...

589. Mary, Queen of Scots: Downfall (Part 6)

06 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Following the murder of her husband, Lord Darnley, how did Mary Queen of Scots - thought to have conspired for his death - navigate the most precariou...

588. Mary, Queen of Scots: The Mystery of the Exploding Mansion (Part 5)

03 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

How and why was Mary Queen of Scots’ traitorous husband, Lord Darnley, murdered, and by whom…? Was Mary complicit? Why was his death one of the gr...

587. Mary, Queen of Scots: Murder Most Foul (Part 4)

30 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Why did Mary Queen of Scots’ second marriage to the volatile Lord Darnley threaten to send Scotland into civil war? In what way did she essentially ...

586. Mary, Queen of Scots: The Battle for Scotland (Part 3)

27 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Following the death of her husband, the King of France, was the glamorous Mary welcomed back to Scotland, her kingdom since infancy, with open arms or...

585. Mary, Queen of Scots: The Royal Rivals (Part 2)

23 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What was life like in the glittering French court, for the young and newly married Mary Queen of Scots? What momentous destiny was her formidable moth...

584. Mary, Queen of Scots: Birth of a Legend (Part 1)

20 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Where was Mary Queen of Scots - Elizabeth I’s most famous rival - born, and who were her parents? What was the nature of the turbulent politically a...

583. The Lion, the Priest and the Parlourmaids: A 1930s Sex Scandal

16 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Who was the Rector of Stiffkey, Harold Davidson - the "Prostitutes' Padre" - and why was he Britain’s most notorious curate? Was it his unnerving in...

582. The Body in the Woods: A Medieval Murder Mystery

13 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Why was a boy grotesquely and mysteriously murdered in a wood in Norwich in the 12th century? Who was his killer? Was it a ritual child sacrifice? Why...

581. The Irish Civil War: The Killing of Michael Collins (Part 2)

09 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

After the assassination of Sir Henry Wilson and the signing of the polarising Anglo-Irish Treaty, how did the bombastic Battle of the Four Courts brea...

580. The Irish Civil War: The Assassination of Sir Henry Wilson (Part 1)

06 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Who was Sir Henry Wilson, and how was he shockingly murdered in 1922? Who ordered it? What was his attitude to the question of Irish Home Rule? Why ha...

579. The Irish War of Independence: Showdown in London (Part 4)

02 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What were the terms of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, signed in December 1921, following negotiations between the UK and Sinn Féin? How was it received by t...

578. The Irish War of Independence: Bloody Sunday (Part 3)

29 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What occurred on Bloody Sunday on 21 November 1920 - a turning point in the Irish War of Independence and one of the bloodiest and most brutal moments...

577. The Irish War of Independence: The Violence Begins (Part 2)

25 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What was Sinn Féin’s totemic first move after winning a majority seat in 1917? Were the IRA’s methods during this early stages of the war as viol...

576. The Irish War of Independence: Rise of the IRA (Part 1)

22 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What are the origins of the Irish War of Independence? What impact did the First World War have on Irish efforts for Home Rule? What was the mood in I...

575. The Medici: The Bonfire of the Vanities (Part 4)

19 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Following the death of Lorenzo the Magnificent, who was his Medici successor? Could he overcome the political turmoil and religious fervour in Florenc...

575. The Medici: The Bonfire of the Vanities (Part 4)

18 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Following the death of Lorenzo the Magnificent, who was his Medici successor? Could he overcome the political turmoil and religious fervour in Florenc...

574. The Medici: Curse of the Mad Monk (Part 3)

15 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Did Lorenzo de’Medici’s rule in Florence incur prosperity, or was it a corrupt and autocratic regime, rife with torture, that would spell the doom...

573. The Medici: Lorenzo the Magnificent (Part 2)

11 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Who was Lorenzo the Magnificent, the most glamorous, glittering, and blood-soaked of all the Medici, who became his family’s formidable but compulsi...

572. The Medici: Masters of Florence (Part 1)

08 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What are the origins of one of history’s most glittering, and for a time, most powerful families in Europe; the Medici? How were they able to seize...

571. Hannibal: Roman Bloodbath at Cannae (Part 4)

04 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

How did the Battle of Cannae - one of the most important battles of all time for Ancient Rome, with a whole Empire at stake, and a reputation that had...

570. Hannibal: The Invasion of Italy (Part 3)

01 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

How did Hannibal achieve the remarkable feat of crossing the Alps with his army, and elephants? How many of his men survived the treacherous journey? ...

569. Hannibal: Elephants Cross the Alps (Part 2)

28 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Why did Hannibal choose to cross the Alps with his elephants in 218 BC, when invading Rome? Was it a brilliant stratagem or a military disaster? What ...

568. Hannibal: Rome's Greatest Enemy (Part 1)

25 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Who was Hannibal, the flawed but brilliant Carthaginian general? What makes Rome vs Carthage in the third century BC one of the most totemic ancient r...

567. The Great Northern War: Murder in Moscow (Part 4)

21 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What were the consequences of Peter the Great’s mighty victory over Sweden at the Battle of Poltova in 1707? How great was the impact of his reign u...

566. The Great Northern War: Slaughter on the Steppes (Part 3)

18 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Why was the greatest and most climactic battle of the Great Northern War, the Battle of Poltova, one of the most important in all European history? Wh...

565. The Great Northern War: Revenge of the Cossacks (Part 2)

14 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

After establishing the city of St Petersburg, what was Peter the Great’s next step in his titanic struggle against Charles XII of Sweden, for master...

564. The Great Northern War: The Battle of the Baltic (Part 1)

11 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

How did the Great Northern War, which saw Sweden pitted against Peter the Great’s Russia and her allies, and would transform Europe forever, begin? ...

563. Peter the Great: Bloodbath in the Kremlin (Part 2)

07 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What abominable mischief and hedonism did the seventeen year old Peter the Great revel in during his strange and remarkable travels through Europe, be...

562. Peter the Great: The Rise of Russia (Part 1)

04 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Why was the early life of Peter the Great - Tsar and autocrat of all the Russias, who endures to this day as an iconic symbol of Russian might - drenc...

561. The Golden Age of Japan: Secrets of the Imperial Court (Part 2)

30 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In the vibrant but vicious golden age of Imperial Japan, how did women use writing as a way to secure their status, and express their deepest desires?...

560. The Golden Age of Japan: Lady Murasaki and the Shining Prince (Part 1)

27 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

At the height of Imperial Japan, during a golden age of court intrigue, obsessive hierarchy, and fabulous sophistication, who was the legendary lothar...

559. The Rolling Stones: Satanic Majesties of Sixties Rebellion (Part 2)

23 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"We're not worried about petty morals." What happened to the Rolling Stones in 1967 to see them on the brink of imprisonment and mass censure, while ...

558. The Rolling Stones: Sex, Drugs and Rock ‘n’ Roll (Part 1)

20 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What are the origins of Britain’s original bad boys, The Rolling Stones? Where did they all come from and how did they meet? What was it about the 1...

557. 1066: The Norman Conquest (Part 4)

16 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

What happened in the aftermath of the Battle of Hastings? What horrors did William the Conqueror have to inflict upon his Anglo Saxon subjects in orde...

556. 1066: The Battle of Hastings (Part 3)

13 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Following King Harold Godwinson’s climactic victory at the Battle of Stanford Bridge, and the death of Harald Hardrada, what did he do when news rea...

555. 1066: Slaughter at Stamford Bridge (Part 2)

09 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In the tumultuous climax of 1066, why was Harold’s very own brother Tostig the first of the mighty foes he had to face? How did Harald Hardrada then...

554. 1066: The Shadows of War (Part 1)

06 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Why is 1066 the most important year in English history? Who were the three main candidates vying for the English throne on the eve of Edward the Confe...

553. The Last Viking: Warrior of the New Rome (Part 2)

02 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Harald Hardrada; exiled prince of Norway and mercenary, has landed in the greatest city on Earth: Constantinople. There he joins one of the most prest...

552. The Last Viking: The Saga of Harald Hardrada (Part 1)

30 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

“I swear I will not flee from this fight. I will triumph, or I will die!” In the 1066 game of thrones for the crown of England, the most extraord...

551. The Road to 1066: Countdown to Conquest (Part 4)

27 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

In the triumvirate of 1066, William of Normandy, Harald Hardrada, and Harold Godwinson, the latter has above all endured as one of the great heroes of...

550. The Road to 1066: Rise of the Normans (Part 3)

24 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

549. The Road to 1066: Revenge of the Vikings (Part 2)

20 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Following the bloody St Brice’s Day Massacre, of the 13th of November 1002, which saw King Æthelred brutally exterminating the Danes from England, ...

548. The Road to 1066: Anglo-Saxon Apocalypse (Part 1)

17 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Norman Conquest of 1066, culminating in the legendary Battle of Hastings, is perhaps the greatest turning point in the history of the English nati...

547. The French Revolution: The Execution of the King (Part 4)

13 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The second revolution that engulfed France over the course of 1792 reached its climax in December, with an astonishing, world-changing spectacle, whic...

546. The French Revolution: The Monarchy Falls (Part 3)

10 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

“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 Sep...

545. The French Revolution: The First Feminist (Part 2)

06 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 als...

544. The French Revolution: The September Massacres (Part 1)

03 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

‘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 Palac...

543. Death in the Amazon: Aguirre, the Wrath of God

27 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

“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 ex...

542. Elizabeth I’s Sorcerer: Angels and Demons in Renaissance Europe

24 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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...

541. Heart of Darkness: Fear and Loathing in the Congo

20 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

“The horror! The horror!” Joseph Conrad’s ‘Heart of Darkness’ - the inspiration for Francis Ford Coppola's ‘Apocalypse Now’ - is one of...

540. Horror in the Congo: A Conspiracy Unmasked (Part 3)

17 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

539. Horror in the Congo: The Crimes of Empire (Part 2)

13 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

“A secret society of murderers with a king for a ringleader”. In 1885 King Leopold of Belgium; an awkward, ruthless, selfish man, was recognised ...

538. Horror in the Congo: The Nightmare Begins (Part 1)

10 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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...

537. Emperors of Rome: Claudius, Paranoia and Poison (Part 4)

06 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Following the bloody assassination of the twenty-eight year old Emperor Caligula, Rome found herself without a leader. Who then should fill the enormo...

536. Emperors of Rome: Caligula, Incest and Insanity (Part 3)

03 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

"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 ...

535. Emperors of Rome: Tiberius, Slaughter and Scandal (Part 2)

30 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The Roman historian Suetonius’ biography of the controversial Emperor Tiberius is one of his most shocking and salacious, condemning Tiberius to inf...