In this episode of Explaining History, Nick is joined by acclaimed author Anne Weber to discuss her new book Sanderling (Indigo Press, 2025) — a deeply personal and philosophical exploration of family, identity, and the shadow of Germany’s past.

Through the story of her great-grandfather Florens Christian Rang — a theologian, lawyer, and close friend of figures such as Walter Benjamin and Martin Buber — Weber examines four generations of her family to ask profound questions:

• What does it mean to be German, then and now?
• How can one man’s moral convictions coexist with his son’s later embrace of Nazism?
• How do history and guilt pass through families and nations alike?

Weber and Nick discuss Rang’s life and writings, the moral tensions of Germany’s unification and imperial period, and how Weber’s narrative approach — blending travelogue, reflection, and history — reveals how the past extends into the present.

The conversation also turns outward: to Europe’s shared colonial legacies, the persistence of national myths, and the uneasy balance between remembrance and denial.

“It’s a little bit like discovering your father was a serial killer,” Weber says, describing the weight of Germany’s historical consciousness. Yet through her writing, she transforms that burden into a journey of understanding — and of reckoning.

📖 Sanderling is published by Indigo Press on 4 November 2025.

Find it in independent bookshops or directly from the publisher.

Also available from Indigo Press: Weber’s earlier book Epic Annette, the true story of a French resistance fighter and doctor who defied two wars and two empires.

🎧 Listen now for a moving discussion about history, identity, and the limits of inherited guilt.

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Author Mark Beatty joins to explore three Victorians who shaped their era in very different ways yet rarely get the spotlight. We trace Grace Darling’s 1838 sea rescue and the birth of tabloid celebrity; Josephine Butler’s fearless campaign against the Contagious Diseases Acts and for raising the age of consent; and George Biddell Airy’s half-century as Astronomer Royal, standardising Greenwich Mean Time for a world on the move. It’s a conversation about media, morality, science, empire—and how private grief and public purpose can collide.

Mark’s trilogy on Darling, Butler and Airy is out now. If you can, please support independent bookshops or buy direct from the publisher.

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Who was John Dee—the Tudor polymath who advised Elizabeth I, mapped the heavens, spoke (he believed) with angels, and penned a landmark preface to Euclid? Historian and writer Rachel Morris joins to unpack Dee’s strange, brilliant world at the fault line between Renaissance “natural magic” and the birth of modern science. We explore why astrology was respectable, what “as above, so below” meant to learned magi, how printing turned libraries into engines of ideas, the hazards of practicing magic in an age of heresy trials, and why Dee still feels uncannily modern. We also touch on his years in Prague, his uneasy return to England, and the beautiful—if perilous—idea that the cosmos is alive with meaning.

Rachel’s new book The Years of the Wizard: The Strange History and Home Life of Renaissance Magicians (Duckworth) is out now. Please support independent bookshops or buy direct from the publisher.

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In 1945, weeks before the Western Allies arrived in Hitler's capital the Red Army controlled the city and began to quietly impose a new generation of German communists. Amid the ruins and devastation, ordinary Berliners, aware of their country's crimes, began to rebuild. This episode draws on Berlin by Sinclair McKay.

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In the mid-1930s, with the shadow of one great war still looming and the threat of another growing darker, Britain faced a vexing national crisis: should it rearm? This episode delves into the complex political, economic, and social debates that defined this critical period.

We explore the profound public anxiety shaped by the memory of World War I and the terrifying new prospect of aerial warfare, as seen in newsreels from Guernica and Nanjing. Drawing on Daniel Todman's Britain's War, we unpack the immense financial cost of building a deterrent force and the fierce political arguments it ignited. Why was borrowing for defense seen as acceptable while spending on social welfare was not?

Join us as we examine the clash between Winston Churchill's thunderous calls for urgent, state-led industrial mobilization and the Baldwin-Chamberlain government's cautious approach, which feared destroying Britain's export economy for a war that might never happen. From the inter-service rivalries and industrial bottlenecks to the ingenious "shadow factory" scheme that would prove vital in the Battle of Britain, this is the story of a democracy grappling with the monumental challenge of preparing for a war it desperately wanted to avoid.

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Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share.

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In this episode of Explaining History, we delve into the intricate web of diplomacy, ambition, and betrayal that led the Ottoman Empire into the Great War. Drawing from Eugene Rogan's "The Fall of the Ottomans," we explore the Empire's precarious position in the years before 1914, caught between the competing interests of Europe's great powers.

Discover Germany's strategic "Weltpolitik," which saw the Ottomans as a key partner to challenge British and Russian dominance, leading to ambitious projects like the Berlin-to-Baghdad railway and the controversial appointment of a German military mission to modernize the Ottoman army. We'll unpack the diplomatic crisis that this provoked with Russia, which viewed Istanbul and the Straits as its own sphere of influence.

As the clouds of war gathered over Europe in the summer of 1914, the Ottoman leadership desperately sought a powerful ally to protect its vulnerable territory. We'll follow the fascinating, and ultimately failed, attempts to forge an alliance with Britain and France. Learn about the final act of betrayal—Britain's seizure of two newly built Ottoman dreadnoughts—that served as a national humiliation and pushed the wavering Empire into a secret alliance with Germany, a decision that would seal its fate and reshape the Middle East forever.

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As an international aid flotilla approaches the shores of Gaza, sailing directly towards an Israeli naval blockade, strikers in Italy have forced the government there to send warships to escort them (much against the official policy of the far right Meloni government). This shows us the power of solidarity and strike action.

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Who really built the global economy? Traditional history books tell a story dominated by men—inventors, industrialists, and financiers. But what if this narrative is missing half the picture?

In this eye-opening episode, host Nick is joined by Dr. Victoria Bateman of Gresham College to discuss her hugely ambitious new book, Economica: A Global History of Women, Wealth and Power. Dr. Bateman challenges the very foundations of economic history, arguing that our understanding of wealth creation is fundamentally flawed because it has systematically ignored the contributions of women.

This conversation travels from the Stone Age to the present day, shattering one of history's biggest myths: that women were simply housewives until the 20th century.

In this episode, you will discover:

• The Unseen Engine: How unpaid care work, performed overwhelmingly by women, underpins the entire global economy—equivalent in value to the US, Chinese, and EU economies combined.
• Beyond the Stereotypes: The surprising history of women in traditionally "masculine" jobs, from brewers in medieval London to pyramid builders in ancient Egypt.
• Boom and Bust: How labour shortages, such as those following the Black Death, created economic opportunities for women, while periods of high population often saw them pushed out of the workforce.
• Revolutionary Women: The forgotten female activists who were at the forefront of major historical events, including the 1917 Russian Revolution.
• The Power of Choice: Why a flourishing economy depends not just on women working, but on their freedom to choose their work and keep the rewards.

At a time of renewed debate about gender, work, and equality, this episode provides a crucial historical perspective, revealing that the story of the economy is a story that cannot be told without understanding the central role of women.

Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share.

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Join host Nick as he welcomes back acclaimed journalist and author Joanna Lillis to the Explaining History podcast. Seven years after her last appearance to discuss her book on Kazakhstan, "Dark Shadows," Joanna returns to shed light on the enigmatic nation of Uzbekistan, the subject of her new book, "Silk Mirage."

This episode delves into the complexities of a country that was, for 25 years, one of the world's most brutal dictatorships and is now navigating a period of reform dubbed the "Uzbek Spring." Lillis, drawing on two decades of experience living in and reporting on Central Asia, provides a nuanced and insightful look into Uzbekistan's past, present, and future.

In this episode, we explore:

• The core themes of "Silk Mirage," including Uzbekistan's political evolution, economic reforms, and the challenges of emerging from a dictatorship.
• The geopolitical significance of Uzbekistan, a nation positioned between the great powers of Russia and China, and its role in China's Belt and Road Initiative.
• The impact of the long war in neighbouring Afghanistan on Uzbekistan's security and foreign policy.
• The potential for economic transformation as Uzbekistan leverages its strategic location and young population.
• The cultural landscape of Uzbekistan, from its famous silk industry to a surprising and vast collection of avant-garde art hidden in the desert.
• The improving relations between Central Asian states and the region's growing presence on the world stage.

Whether you're a history enthusiast, a follower of international affairs, or simply curious about a little-understood part of the world, this conversation with Joanna Lillis offers a captivating and essential guide to the fascinating and strategically important nation of Uzbekistan.

Joanna's new book, "Silk Mirage," will be published by Bloomsbury on November 13th and is available for pre-order now. Support independent bookshops or order directly from the publisher where possible.

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Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share.

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In this episode, The Explaining History Podcast explores the dark and complex evolution of genocide during the Second World War. Drawing on the foundational research of Nikolaus Wachsmann in his seminal work, "KL: A History of the Nazi Concentration Camps," and the broader "functionalist" school of historical thought, this episode traces the path to the Holocaust.

The discussion will move away from a simplistic view of a pre-meditated plan for mass extermination and instead delve into the radicalization of Nazi policy over time. Listeners will learn how the concentration camp system, initially designed for political opponents, horrifically transformed into a network of death camps. The episode will examine the key turning points and bureaucratic momentums that led to the "Final Solution," highlighting how a series of escalating decisions and the brutalizing logic of the war itself culminated in the systematic murder of millions.

Join us as we unpack the complex and often chillingly rational processes that led to the unimaginable, providing a nuanced and deeply researched perspective of one of the Holocaust's key moments of radicalisation.

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Explaining History helps you understand the 20th Century through critical conversations and expert interviews. We connect the past to the present. If you enjoy the show, please subscribe and share.

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