Subject to Change

Mutilated and exiled (the Emperor Justinian II - part 1)

Justinian II becomes emperor at sixteen. Even allowing for the hostility of our sources the reign is not all plain sailing. I'm joined by Professor David Parnell to work through the first half o...

2026-04-20

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Buckingham: the most hated man in England

You don't have to be young and beautiful to get ahead in Stuart England but it really doesn't hurt. The is the story of 'gorgeous George' - that is to say George Villiers (later Du...

2026-03-31

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YEAR ZERO: Jonathan Clements on the First Emperor of China

Jonathan Clements returns to talk about his book on the First Emperor of China and the man who was sent to kill him: facts and fictions in Zhang Yimou’s movie Hero (2002), the evil mirror-universe ver...

2026-03-10

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The Big Hop of 1919

It is astonishing to me that we went from the first powered flight of a few hundred feet in 1903 to attempting to fly the Atlantic in 1919. The Daily Mail had offered a prize of £10,000 to cross the...

2026-02-17

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Martin Luther, serfdom and the German Peasants’ War

Lyndal Roper, Regius Professor of History at Oxford University is on excellent form to talk me through the German Peasant's War of 1524-25. Things I learned: - take Martin Luther seriously (but ...

2026-01-27

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World War I: The surprising victory of 1918

Today the thing we find mysterious is why WWI lasted as long as it did. Why continue a pointless slaughter. Comparisions with the war in Ukraine suggest an answer! My guess is is Professor David Stev...

2026-01-05

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Ed West on 1066 and all that

Ed West is a journalist and massively popular substacker - do check out his substack The Wrong Side of History. But he has a sideline in history so I got him on the show to talk about 1066 and the bat...

2025-12-15

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Edward I - a Great and Terrible King

A six-foot-two prince who loved tournaments, outfoxed a revolution, and nearly died on crusade returns to build castles that still dominate the Welsh coast and to bend Scotland to his will until Rober...

2025-11-24

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Empress Wu Zetian and the Age of Female Rule

“With the heart of a serpent and the nature of a wolf, she gathered sycophants to her cause and brought destruction to the just. She slew her sister, butchered her brothers, killed her prince, and poi...

2025-10-29

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Napoleon III Part 2: The Power of Lust

As promised in part 1 we started the podcast by talking about some of Napoleon III’s many mistresses. Women like Harriet Howard, the Brighton bootmaker’s daughter, Virginia de Castiglione, sent by th...

2025-10-06

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Napoleon III Part 1: The Lust for Power

From exiled prince to emperor, Napoleon III's rise to power reads like a political thriller too wild to be true. Edward Shawcross tells the story of Napoleon Bonaparte's nephew, a man who at...

2025-10-01

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From Eunuchs to Corsairs: The World of Islamic Slavery

Fourteen centuries of enslavement, from the Prophet Muhammad's day to modern Mauritania. Justin Marozzi's fascinating book "Captives and Companions" has as its subject the complex...

2025-09-02

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The Tokyo Tribunal: War Crimes, Justice, and Geopolitics

This episode looks at the courtroom drama that helped to shape Asia after World War II with Princeton University's Gary Bass. Far more than a simple account of justice served, the Tokyo War Crime...

2025-08-18

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The Pilgrimage of Grace: When England Fought the Reformation

When 50,000 northerners marched under their banners in 1536, England witnessed its largest rebellion since the Peasants' Revolt. The Pilgrimage of Grace wasn't just a protest - it threatened...

2025-07-28

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Byzantium and the First Crusade

The ever excellent Professor David Parnell (of Belisarius and Antonina fame) came on to talk about the First Crusade. And given his interest in the Eastern Roman Empire we spent a lot of time talking ...

2025-07-09

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Shattered Jewels - Japan's Path to War (3 and final)

What makes a nation launch an attack it cannot hope to win? Admiral Yamamoto, who planned the Pearl Harbor attack, warned Japan's leadership they would have only six months before America would m...

2025-06-19

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Manchuria to Pearl Harbor: Japan's Path to War (2)

How did Japan become embroiled in one of history's deadliest conflicts? The answer lies not in December 1941, but decades earlier. Jonathan Clements returns to unravel the forces that propelled J...

2025-06-11

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An Alien Game: Japan's Path to War (1)

The transformation of Japan from hermit kingdom to imperial power happened with breathtaking speed. When American Commodore Perry's "black ships" steamed into Tokyo Bay in the 1850s, th...

2025-06-03

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How England Nearly Conquered France & Why They Failed

The Hundred Years' War shaped medieval Europe's political landscape for over a century—but what really caused this epic conflict between England and France? In this illuminating conversation...

2025-05-02

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Imperial Twilight: How Trade, Tea, and Opium Led to War

The story of the Opium War is one of history's most consequential yet widely misunderstood conflicts. Professor Stephen Platt joined me to unravel the fascinating web of events that led Britain a...

2025-04-09

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Subject to Change

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