Dan Snow's History Hit

In 9 AD, the rebel chieftain Arminius and his confederation of Germanic tribes ambushed three Roman legions in the Teutoburg Forest. For days the Romans were relentlessly stalked through the woods and pounced on by their pursuers. All told, up to 20,000 Romans were killed in the chaos, and only a handful were able to escape. The battle proved to be one of Rome's most devastating defeats, and left a scar in the Roman psyche for generations to come.

In this Explainer episode, Dan explores the historical context for the battle and its profound consequences for Roman strategy and expansion. He's helped by Dr. Simon Elliott, who provides deeper insights into how the Roman military worked, and where its vulnerabilities lay.

Warning: this episode contains accounts of violence that some listeners may find disturbing.

Written and produced by Dan Snow, and edited by Max Carrey.

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In the dead of winter, 1944, the frozen forest of Ardennes erupted in chaos. In a desperate, last-ditch attempt to turn the tide of the war, Hitler threw his armoured divisions at the thinly spread Allied frontline. The battle that followed was the bloodiest fought by the Americans in the war, and their determined defence helped to seal the fate of Nazi Germany.

For the latest instalment in our 'D-Day to Berlin' series, Dan is joined by Professor John C. McManus, author of 'Alamo in the Ardennes'. They delve into this fierce German winter offensive in terms of its strategic significance, and the tenacity of the American soldiers that thwarted Hitler's plans.

Written by Dan Snow, produced by James Hickmann and edited by Dougal Patmore.

To hear more of our 'D-Day to Berlin' series, you could check out:

1. Operation Market Garden - https://shows.acast.com/dansnowshistoryhit/episodes/operation-market-garden
2. The Battle of Arnhem with Al Murray - https://shows.acast.com/dansnowshistoryhit/episodes/the-battle-of-arnhem-with-al-murray
3. The Other D-Day: The Eastern Front - https://shows.acast.com/dansnowshistoryhit/episodes/the-other-d-day-the-eastern-front
4. The Falaise Pocket: WWII's 'Corridor of Death' - https://shows.acast.com/dansnowshistoryhit/episodes/the-falaise-pocket-wwiis-corridor-of-death
5. D-Day: The Land Invasion - https://shows.acast.com/dansnowshistoryhit/episodes/d-day-the-land-invasion

Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.

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May 1453 saw the siege that would lead to the fall of the Eastern Roman Empire. It was the culmination of an age-long struggle between Christianity and Islam for control of the Eastern Mediterranean. The Ottoman leader Mehmed II had dreamed of possessing the city since he was a boy, and now the shining light of Christian civilization, which had lasted 1100 years, fell into the hands of Ottomans. 

In this episode of Gone Medieval, Matt Lewis is joined by Prof. Marc David Baer to delve into this epochal moment in medieval history.

This episode was edited and produced by Joseph Knight and Rob Weinberg. The senior Producer was Elena Guthrie.

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Today we dig into the history of Istanbul, the city at the crossroads of East and West. Across thousands of years, the city has survived the rise and fall of empires, weathered sieges and Crusades, and remained a centre of world religion, trade and politics.

With us is Jonathan Harris, Professor of the History of Byzantium at Royal Holloway and author of 'Constantinople: Capital of Byzantium'. He tells us all about the key moments that transformed the Eastern Roman capital of Constantinople into the modern-day city of Istanbul.

Produced by James Hickmann and edited by Dougal Patmore.

If you want to learn more about the Byzantine Empire, you could listen to our episode on its most famous leader, Emperor Heraclius - https://shows.acast.com/dansnowshistoryhit/episodes/emperor-heraclius-rome-vs-persia.

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Just as Scrooge wanders London's streets on a cold Christmas night, Dan Snow follows the ghosts of Charles Dickens' past to discover the city that inspired his greatest works. With London-born tour guide David Charnick, they slip down hidden alleyways to find the old debtor's prison that the Dickens family once called home; a place that haunted a young Charles for the rest of his life. They find the old counting houses and graveyards that inspired the creation of Ebenezer Scrooge and the locations that appear in A Christmas Carol. With David's masterful guidance and atmospheric readings, this immersive episode takes you to the fireside of a London coaching inn as the sun sets outside on a late December afternoon.

A warning: this episode contains references to historical suicides.

Dickens' extracts are read by Robyn Wilson.

Produced by Mariana Des Forges and edited by Dougal Patmore.

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Folktales around the fire, gooding & mumping and the terrifying Hooden Horse are just some of England's winter folk traditions from history. In this episode, Dan explores the unlikely and often dark origins of some of our Christmas traditions that can be traced back thousands of years. He's joined by folklore historian Vikki Bramshaw, to discover what midwinter legends were brought over with the Anglo-Saxon invasion, the origins of the Yule log and some of the unusual ways people passed the long nights in rural England (fortune-telling chestnuts).

He also explores the New Forest, Hampshire, with local historian Richard Reeves to find out more about how medieval people survived the cold winters in the woods.

You can discover more in Vikki's book 'New Forest Folklore, Traditions and Charms'.

This is episode 4 of our 'Origins of Christmas' series. This December, Dan explores the history behind our Christmas traditions—from extravagant Tudor feasts and carolling to midwinter Solstice celebrations, the bawdy entertainment of the Georgians, and the family-focused customs of the Victorians.

Produced by Mariana Des Forges.

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After the death of Chinggis Khan, the founder and first Emperor of the Mongol Empire, the land became the largest contiguous empire in history.

The Horde, the western portion of the Mongol empire, was the central node in the Eurasian commercial boom of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries and was a conduit for exchanges across thousands of miles. A force in global development as important as Rome, the Horde left behind a profound legacy in Europe, Russia, Central Asia, and the Middle East, palpable to this day.

Marie Favereau, Associate Professor of History at Paris Nanterre University, joins Dan on the podcast. They discuss the Mongols as thinkers who constructed one of the most influential empires in history and how that empire continued to shape, incubate and grow the political cultures it conquered.

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Pantomimes, pleasure gardens, bare-knuckle boxing and political upheaval. Christmas in the 18th and early 19th centuries was a very different affair from the peaceful family celebration of the Victorian Age. Georgian Christmas was raucous and rowdy, and it was time for a bit of fun before heading back to work.

In this seasonal episode, Dan delves into the festivities of London's working classes with Footprints of London tour guide Rob Smith. From an 18th-century showman who would put two joints of beef under his arms and walk into an oven - cooking them and miraculously not himself - to Joey Grimaldi, the world's first clown, Christmas in Regency London was surprising, lewd and quite extraordinary.

You can book one of Rob's tours here: https://footprintsoflondon.com/live/guides/rob-smith/

Produced by Mariana Des Forges and Rob Smith and edited by Max Carrey Dougal Patmore.

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In the long and lamentable history of human conflicts, the Cod Wars have to be among the most bizarre. And what was the catalyst for them? You guessed it - fish. These 20th-century confrontations pitted hardy British fishermen and ships of the Royal Navy against the unwavering Icelandic Coast Guard. They involved medieval inventions and tactics like ships ramming each other, and even live fire. The conflict would shake the very foundations of NATO, and threaten to upend the balance of power in the Cold War between East and West.

William Reynolds is a Lecturer in Defence Studies at King's College London and joins us to explain these bizarre confrontations that came to shape maritime law and British-Icelandic relations.

Produced by James Hickmann and edited by Max Carrey.

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Dan is joined by the Defence Editor for The Economist, Shashank Joshi, to explore the origins of the brutal Syrian civil war that has left the country in ruin and with an uncertain future. They unravel the complex political and cultural history of the region to explain why we're seeing turmoil today and what sense it could give us about what might happen now that the Assad regime has fallen.

Written by Dan Snow, produced by Mariana Des Forges and edited by Max Carrey

Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.  

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.