Stretch your understanding of time back 2000 years - to the time of Jesus and Augustus. Now go back another 1300 years. If you can even imagine such a vast expanse of history, then you might be able to see more than ruins, stones and statues in the reign of the great Pharaoh Ramesses II of Ancient Egypt. At that time, he was more ego than Trump, stronger than Arnold, more god than man - and yet, you can visit him, the actual shrunken, wizened, leathery body of this extremely old person, at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. This is the Blind History of Ramesses II… brought to you by Taylor Blinds & Shutters. Taylor Blinds & Shutters

His reputation has been downplayed by both the Nationalist Afrikaner regime that succeeded him, and the free South Africa that succeeded that, but for those prepared to dig a little deeper, Jan Smuts may well have been one of the greatest people to emerge from our continent. A brilliant mind, a close friend of Churchill, and an internationally respected politician and military strategist; we also owe the foundation of the United Nations to Jan Smuts. Find out more by taking this short journey into the past of South Africa in this episode of Blind History - brought to you by Taylor Blinds & Shutters. Taylor Blinds & Shutters

Marcus Aurelius was the archetypal philosopher-king, a man of extraordinary talent and ability. He also had those rare qualities of introspection and self-awareness. He ruled when the Roman Empire was at its most powerful and after him, the world fell to pieces. Next time you see some profound thing on a fridge magnet, it might well have been something Marcus Aurelius first said - and his legacy is very much with us today. Join Gareth and Anthony as they take a closer look at one of the Ancient World’s most interesting people. Taylor Blinds & Shutters

Edward III was England’s greatest medieval king. When you think of King Arthur’s round table, jousting, feasts, battles, armour and castles - Edward had all of that, but he also had a dark side, and a reign filled with tragedy... including the Black Death which killed millions of his people. Gareth and Anthony look into some of the more private troubles of this great man, and his long reign. Taylor Blinds & Shutters

John F Kennedy is one of the most well-known and best loved Presidents of the United States. Most people know more about his assassination than anything else, but he had a really incredible (and unlucky) family, many affairs and a crisis or two of global proportions to deal with during his short term in the Oval Office. Find out from Anthony and Gareth about some of the less obvious things JFK got up to in this episode of Blind History - brought to you by Taylor Blinds and Shutters. Taylor Blinds & Shutters

Shaka kaSezangakhona was Africa’s first imperialist. Before Shaka, there were tribes... after Shaka there was a kingdom. In this episode we trace the story of Shaka the warrior, the madman and the leader - because he was all three and more. The soil of our country is stained with the blood of his conquests, and the province of KwaZulu-Natal decorated with the glories of his achievements. You might love or hate him by the end of the episode, but you won’t be able to ignore him. Taylor Blinds & Shutters

If you feel like an underachiever, compared to Alexander, you are. Before he had even turned 30, he had conquered all of the known world. A military genius, divinity, tyrant, poet and alcoholic, his story is full of surprising twists. Find out about his horse, his lovers, and his death on this episode of Blind History, where Alexander III of Macedon became known to history as Alexander the Great. Taylor Blinds & Shutters

Blind History is a crash course in getting to know history’s greatest men and women - and by great we don’t always mean good.

Hosted by Gareth Cliff and Anthony Mederer from Taylor Blinds, this series will tell you what the history books sometimes leave out - the sordid stories, the less well-known details, some of the stuff they didn’t teach you at school.

Each person will help you put a piece of the puzzle in place, and bring history to life in 15 conversational minutes.

Brought to you by Taylor Blinds & Shutters. Taylor Blinds & Shutters