Activity Overview
Episode publication activity over the past year
425. The History Of Chocolate
04 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
‘For if a person fatigued with long and hard labour, or with a violent agitation of the mind, take...
424. Carthage vs. Rome: Total War (Part 4)
29 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In the third century BC, a clash which had been brewing for centuries finally erupted: Rome, the rut...
423. Carthage vs. Rome: The Wolf at the Gates (Part 3)
26 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
“Every man is the architect of his own destiny” Long before Rome reigned over the Mediterranean,...
422. Ancient Carthage: Rise of a Superpower (Part 2)
22 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
“An aristocratic republic, secret and well-ordered, where individuals are subject to the harsh law...
421. Ancient Carthage: Lords of the Sea (Part 1)
19 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
“Carthago delenda est.” Carthage must be destroyed: this was the rallying cry of Cato the Elder,...
420. Britain in 1974: Thatcher Enters the Ring (Part 4)
16 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
The horrific Guildford Pub Bombings of Saturday 5th October 1974 sent shockwaves through Britain, wo...
419. Britain in 1974: Countdown to a Coup (Part 3)
15 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Following a tumultuous election in February 1974, Labour’s Harold Wilson has been re-elected Prime...
418. Britain in 1974: The Crisis Election (Part 2)
13 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Three days after one of the most devastating IRA attacks launched upon British soil, the Conservativ...
417. Britain in 1974: State of Emergency (Part 1)
12 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
“Who governs Britain?” Britain in the early 1970’s was a state in crisis, and by 1974, things ...
416. The Canterbury Tales (Part 4)
08 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Geoffrey Chaucer stands as a founding father of English literature, and ‘The Canterbury Tales’ i...
415. The Murder of Richard II (Part 3)
05 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
“For within the hollow crown that rounds the hollow temple of a king...” Richard II, son of the ...
414. The Peasants’ Revolt: London’s Burning (Part 2)
01 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
On the 13th of June 1381, the rebel army of English peasants, led by Wat Tyler, entered London and b...
413. The Peasants' Revolt: England Erupts (Part 1)
29 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
By the late 14th century, England was in decline. Already weakened by the Hundred Years’ War, both...
412. Romans in Space: Star Wars, Dune and Beyond...
25 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Extolling his love for democracy, the Senator took on autocratic powers, during a time of emergency,...
411. The Man in the Iron Mask
22 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In the late 17th century, during the glorious reign of Louis XIV, the Sun King, France was at its ap...
410. The Nazis in Power: The Night of Broken Glass (Part 7)
18 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
By November 1938 the scene in Germany was at its darkest yet, as the full scale of Hitler’s intent...
409. The Nazis in Power: Hitler's War on the Jews (Part 6)
16 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
As Hitler ramps up the German war machine, he remains obsessed with one idea: uprooting Jews from th...
408. The Nazis in Power: Hitler's Dream (Part 5)
15 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
“We must have a healthy people to dominate in the world”. In July 1933, Hitler’s Nazi party pa...
407. The Nazis in Power: The Conquest of Austria (Part 4)
11 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
By 1937, Hitler’s ever-growing ambitions were driving Europe to the brink of war. Ever restless, h...
406. The Nazis in Power: Hitler’s Road to War (Part 3)
08 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
“No one can doubt that this world will one day be the scene of dreadful struggles for existence on...
405. The Nazis in Power: The Nuremberg Rallies (Part 2)
04 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
“We did not lose the war because our artillery gave out, but because the weapons of our mind didn’...
404. The Nazis in Power: The Night of the Long Knives (Part 1)
01 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
“Hitler had entered Röhm’s bedroom alone with a whip in his hand. Behind him had stood two dete...
403. The Mystery of the Pregnant Pope
28 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
A Pope of great renown once reigned during chaotic years for the medieval Church: she was an extraor...
402. Christmas: Pagan or Christian?
25 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
“The Church was anxious to draw the attention of its members away from the old pagan feast days, a...
401. Windrush: The Story of Black Britain
21 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
On the 8th of June 1948, the HMT Windrush sailed from Kingston with almost 500 migrants on board, de...
400. Victorian Britain's Maddest Mystery
18 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In 1854, the twenty-five year old aristocrat Roger Tichborne, heir to an impressive fortune, died in...
399. The Savage Storm: World War II and The Battle for Italy
14 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The Battle for Italy in 1943 proved to be one of the bloodiest and most brutal episodes of the Secon...
398. JFK: The Mystery is Solved (Part 7)
11 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In this landmark edition of The Rest is History, Dominic and Tom reveal the astonishing solution to...
397. JFK: A Conspiracy Unmasked (Part 6)
07 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
“We can’t accept very comfortably that two nobodies, two nothings - Lee Harvey Oswald and Jack R...
396. JFK: The Second Assassin Strikes (Part 5)
05 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
“Jack, you son of a bitch, don’t do it!” Just hours after President Kennedy’s assassination...
395. JFK: Hunt for a Killer (Part 4)
04 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It’s 12:31pm on Friday 22nd November 1963, and in Dallas, Texas, President John F. Kennedy lies sl...
394. JFK: Death in Dallas (Part 3)
30 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
“It wouldn't be very difficult to kill the president of the United States, you just have to be in ...
393. JFK: Cuba, Camelot and the Cold War (Part 2)
28 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
By the late 1950s, John F. Kennedy was a rich and handsome Democratic senator with a beautiful wife ...
392. JFK: The Road to the White House (Part 1)
27 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
“There were a lot of people who wanted Kennedy dead, a lot of powerful people. There are secrets s...
391. The Fall of the Aztecs: The Last Emperor (Part 8)
23 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Tenochtitlan, once the glittering jewel at the heart of the mighty Aztec Empire, has fallen. Hernán...
390. The Fall of the Aztecs: War to the Death (Part 7)
20 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
"Conquer or die indeed, Cortes thought… The hour of decision was at hand…" It is the spring of ...
389. The Fall of the Aztecs: The Night of Tears (Part 6)
16 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Things have never looked bleaker for Hernán Cortés and his band of Spaniards. They are trapped, st...
388. The Fall of the Aztecs: The Festival of Blood (Part 5)
14 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
“The blood flowed like water…” It is 1520 and word has reached Hernán Cortés in Tenochtitla...
387. The Fall of the Aztecs: Prisoners of Montezuma (Part 4)
13 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The year is 1519. Hernán Cortés and his Spanish comrades have arrived in Tenochtitlan, the capital...
386. The Fall of the Aztecs: The City of Gold (Part 3)
09 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
“Conquer or die! Conquer or die! Conquer or die!” Making a decision that will change the course...
385. The Fall of the Aztecs: The Woman Who Changed The World (Part 2)
07 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Hernán Cortés has set sail from Cuba, eager to find the truth behind the rumours of gold on the co...
384. The Fall of the Aztecs: The Adventure Begins (Part 1)
06 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The meeting of the controversial Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés and the formidable Emperor Mon...
383. Young Napoleon: The Shadow of the Guillotine (Part 2)
02 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Within the turmoil of the French Revolution, Napoleon Bonaparte stands out to his military superiors...
382. Young Napoleon: Teenage Revolutionary (Part 1)
30 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
“I would plunge the avenging dagger, up to the hilt, in the breast of the tyrant!” Born in Corsi...
381. Captain Cook: To the Ends of the Earth (Part 2)
25 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Cook has been sent by the Royal Navy to the Pacific to track the transit of Venus from Tahiti, but a...
380. Captain Cook: History’s Greatest Explorer (Part 1)
22 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The greatest sea explorer of all time, James Cook was born to a humble Yorkshire family, and first s...
379. Baghdad: The Arabian Nights (Part 4)
18 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The setting for so many of the Arabian Nights, like the stories of Sinbad the Sailor, Ali Baba and t...
378. Baghdad: The Golden Age (Part 3)
15 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Baghdad was a place of fabulous sophistication and teeming multitudes, where terrible things could h...
377. Baghdad: Crossroads of the Universe (Part 2)
11 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
“No city in the world will ever rival it for prosperity...“ Baghdad, originally a Christian vill...
376. Baghdad: The Forging of Islam (Part 1)
08 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
A story of great myth and of huge historical significance, the foundation of Baghdad is a fundamenta...
375. Hitler and the Mitford Sisters
04 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The Mitfords were the most glamorous aristocrats on the London scene in the 1920s, with at their hea...
374. The Battle of Cable Street: Fascism Defeated
01 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
“You will never catch Sir Oswald admitting to anti-semitism - all he does is embody it!” Followi...
373. Oswald Mosley: Fascist Leader
27 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The fascists in Britain have found a leader known across the country: the sinister yet complex Oswal...
372. The Birth of British Fascism
24 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The cultural roots of fascism swirled around Britain at the turn of the 20th century, as medieval no...
371. The 1973 Chilean Coup: General Pinochet Seizes Power (Part 2)
21 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The U.S. have given up on ousting the socialist President Allende through democratic means, and shif...
370. The 1973 Chilean Coup: Allende, Nixon and the CIA (Part 1)
20 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In the midst of the Cold War, the 1973 coup against the socialist Chilean president Salvador Allende...
PAX: War and Peace in Rome’s Golden Age (Extract)
18 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In anticipation of the U.S. release of PAX, here’s the book’s introduction for you to enjoy, rea...
369. The Colosseum: Rome's Arena of Death
17 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
“Are you not entertained?!” The emblem of Rome, the Colosseum was the unsettling but glamorous...
368. The History Behind Hogwarts: Ancient Schools and Revolting Students
13 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
“To be a boy at one of these schools was to be alternately tyrant and slave.” More gruesome even...
367. The Real Harry Potter: Magic, Empire and Beastly Bullies
10 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Eclectic traditions, obscure codes and cryptic ancient languages: the world of Harry Potter has capt...
366. The Architect of Modern China
06 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
“Let us advance courageously, to change the backward condition of our country, and turn it into a ...
365. Le Marquis de Sade: Sex and Violence
03 Sep 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The father of sadism and a prophet of totalitarianism, the Marquis de Sade was a French aristocrat a...
364. Sixties Fashion: Swinging London (Part 2)
30 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In a swirling world dominated by miniskirts, feather boas, posh photographers, youth culture, Jimi H...
363. Sixties Fashion: The Teenage Revolution (Part 1)
27 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The Sixties is one of the only moments in history when Britain could claim to be the epicentre of wo...
362. The Taj Mahal: Love and Death
23 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
“The mutual affection and harmony between the two had reached a degree never seen between a husban...
361. The Lost Library of Alexandria
20 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
One of the greatest institutions of the ancient world, the Library of Alexandria was the embodiment ...
360. Fear City: New York in the 1970s
16 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
“A cloud of black, acrid smoke hung over the area. It was a scene from a warzone, a battlefield - ...
359: Martin Luther King's Dream
13 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
"Out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope.” Arguably the most celebrated speech of the 20th...
358: Viking Sorcery
09 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Warning! This one isn’t for the faint-hearted... A naked, torch-carrying man, who would walk backw...
357: Historical Love Island: The Sequel
06 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
“There’s a lot of severed heads at this villa!” The great TV sensation of the summer returns o...
356: The Blood-Drinking Bride of Christ
02 Aug 2023
Contributed by Lukas
A woman of immense influence on medieval Christendom, Catherine of Siena was one of the first female...
355: Roman Apocalypse: Pompeii 79 AD
30 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Mount Vesuvius' eruption in the autumn of AD79 remains one of the deadliest and best-known in histor...
354: Paris 1968: The Return of De Gaulle (Part 2)
27 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Charles de Gaulle was a war hero in the First World War, and, having refused to accept his governmen...
353: Paris 1968: The Students' Revolt (Part 1)
24 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
May 1968 saw underlying tensions reach a climax in France, resulting in a period of civil unrest col...
352: Amsterdam: Kings, Canals, and Coffee Houses (Part 2)
20 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
A city which played a fundamental role in the Dutch Golden Age and in the birth of the Dutch monarch...
351: Amsterdam: Miracles, Money, and Mud (Part 1)
17 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
A city built on water, Amsterdam has often set the tone of European modernity. It first gained promi...
350: The Triumph of George Washington (Part 4)
13 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
With the French and Spanish siding with George Washington’s revolutionaries, the game is up for th...
349: The Birth of the United States (Part 3)
10 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
“O ye that love mankind! Ye that dare oppose, not only the tyranny, but the tyrant, stand forth!”...
348: The Boston Tea Party (Part 2)
06 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
“Last night three cargos of tea were emptied into the sea. This morning a man of war sails. This i...
347: The American Revolution (Part 1)
03 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
“America, late the strength, now the foe to Britain, dismembered, torn, I fear forever lost to Eng...
346: The Mystery of the Holy Grail
29 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
“Who drinks the water I shall give him, will have a spring inside him welling up for eternal life....
345: Raiders of the Lost Ark
26 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The most important object in the universe, but also a somewhat invisible presence in the Bible, the ...
344: Oppenheimer: The Witch Hunt (Part 2)
23 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Following the use of the atomic bomb in Japan and the end of the Second World War, Oppenheimer pushe...
343: Oppenheimer: The Father of the Atom Bomb (Part 1)
22 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
“Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.” This was J. Robert Oppenheimer’s reaction to...
342: The Trials of Oscar Wilde: Downfall and Prison (Part 2)
19 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It’s 1895, and with the libel case brought against the Marquess of Queensbury having collapsed, Os...
341: The Trials of Oscar Wilde: Sex and Scandal (Part 1)
15 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
“The truth is rarely pure and never simple.” As his most popular work, "The Importance of Being ...
340: Hadrian and Antinous
12 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
A mysterious death on the Nile, an unconventional love affair, a Roman-Greek hero turned God - the s...
339: Ireland: The Easter Rising, 1916 (Part 4)
08 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The Easter Rising began in Dublin's General Post Office on Easter Monday, 24th April 1916, with Patr...
338: Ireland: Home Rule, Mutiny - and Civil War? (Part 3)
05 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The year is 1912. The bitter arguments about Home Rule for Ireland are reaching boiling point. But w...
337: Ireland: Union, Famine and Parnell (Part 2)
01 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
At the start of the 19th century, the kingdoms of Britain and Ireland were officially 'united' with ...
336: Ireland: Celts, Conquest and Cromwell (Part 1)
29 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
“In every generation the Irish people have asserted their right to national freedom and sovereignt...
335: The Freemasons: History's Greatest Conspiracy Theory
25 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
A grubby, secretive cabal of devil worshippers that run the world, or a fraternity of like-minded i...
334: Athens and the Birth of Democracy
22 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
What did "demos" really mean to the Athenians? Why were women such a crucial part of Athenian democr...
333: The Republic of Britain: Life under Cromwell
18 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It's 1649 and a new republic has been declared, the Commonwealth of England. It's an age of 17th cen...
332: King Solomon's Mines
15 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
In 1885, H. Rider Haggard’s brother offered him a wager: five shillings if he could write a book h...
331: American Witches
11 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It’s 1647, and in New England, where puritan settlers live in fear of God’s wrath and a hostile ...
330: Herodotus: The Birth of History
08 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Born on the Western edge of an empire that stretched all the way to India, Herodotus was a Greek his...
329: Coronations: Chaos, Ceremony and Empire (Part 3)
06 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
What was the most calamitous coronation of all time? Which ceremony does Tom think is the most borin...
328: Coronations: Sex, Holy Oil and Civil War (Part 2)
05 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Whether it’s London descending into a riot, a bad hangover with Samuel Pepys, or a royal lacking d...
327: Coronations: The Deep History (Part 1)
04 May 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The roots of the coronation ritual are fabulously ancient: certain elements of the ceremony are vest...