In October 1950 the Americans are racing to the Yalu river, trying to bring the war in Korea to a decisive close. Unknown to them a huge Chinese army has been sent to oppose them and the forces meet at the Chosin Reservoir.  Both sides have to fight not only each other but the appalling cold as the Chinese try to surround and annihilate the Americans.

Hampton Sides' book On Desperate Ground is an absolutely gripping account of the battle and I'm unsurprised to see it has 5 stars on Amazon. In today's podcast he talks about some of the key moments. 

 Everyone has heard of the Silk Road but this is The Silver Way. It is the story of the Manilla galleons, massive ships that sailed annually for 250 years from 1565 to 1815. Silver from Spanish South America in exchange for Chinese goods with the exchange taking place in Manilla in the Philippines. It was the first true globalisation linking the economies of China and Europe.  Our discussion ranges far and wide - history, economics, memory, currencies, sea battles and plenty more.

The story of the siege of Constantinople in 1453 is a rich one. Roger Crowley tells the story absolutely brilliantly here. So many fascinating (and at times heartbreaking) stories within the bigger story. A city with an unbroken history of over a thousand years faces its deadliest enemy.

And don't miss Roger's book on the subject. Narrative history at its finest.

In the year 617 the Roman Empire stands on the brink of extinction. In the West the empire is long gone. And now the Persians have conquered much of what is left and have arrived outside Constantinople where the emperor Heraclius is reduced to begging to be allowed to keep his throne. The Persians turn down the deal, the war continues and Heraclius leads a desperate counter attack. James Howard-Johnston told the story brilliantly in his book The Last Great War of Antiquity. For non specialists it is a little known episode but the war, which lasted for some 25 years, was  an existential crisis and a forerunner of the struggles with Islam that began only a few years later. It was a great pleasure to welcome James to the podcast.

Stephen Greenblatt wrote a fascinating book The Swerve about the rediscovery in 1417 of a work of philosophy from antiquity. The Nature of Things was written by Lucretius a few years before the birth of Christ. It provides an account of the world profoundly at odds with religion - atomism and epicureanism. Stephen's thesis is that over time the implications of this work changed the course of history. 

We start the story at the Council of Constance. Christendom has three popes and is figuring out how to reduce this to a more manageable number. An employee of one of the losing popes, one Poggio Bracciolini, now has time on his hands and spends it hunting for old manuscripts in remote monasteries . . .

In 1889 a woman calling herself Pearl Hart holds up a stagecoach in Arizona. In this episode John Boessenecker talks about Pearl Hart and his book Wildcat. Pearl's life from poverty to prostitution to stage coach robbing and prison sounds miserable. But the woman herself was beautiful, smart, full of life and hard not to admire. In fact the whole family and in particular her sister Katie led fascinating lives. Highly recommended.

Edward Watts startled me with his claim that the Western Roman Empire didn't fall in AD 476. And he has other revisionist takes on Roman history. (Domitian a much better emperor than Trajan??) I love Roman history and enjoyed this episode hugely. His book The Eternal Decline and Fall of Rome: The History of a Dangerous Idea is absolutely terrific. A superb balance between the detail and a sweeping narrative.

Zareer is a a renowned historian and broadcaster. Clive of India is out of fashion these days but Zareer remains an admirer. In this episode Zareer rises to my challenge of a 5 minute history of India from the days of Alexander, talks about Clive's life, achievements and gruesome death and hits back at recent attempts to portray Clive as some kind of sociopath.

Laurence Bergreen threads the needle for me. He tells Magellan's story in a way that is exciting and moves with pace but leaving in all the 'maybes' and 'buts' that a story like this needs. His book Over the Edge of the World: Magellan's Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe is an absolute pleasure.

It is hard to describe Peter Henderson's adventures without lapsing into cliche. Hair raising, eye popping and so on. A news cameraman and reporter (and latterly an entrepreneur) in some of the world's most notorious hotspots of the last few decades he has found himself in appalling danger again and again. The stories are great fun to listen to but for many of them I am glad it was him and not me.

If you enjoy the podcast I really recommend you buy Peter's book Bigger Than Me.  Apart from the amazing stories 100% of the proceeds go to the Rory Peck Trust. The Trust provides practical and financial support to freelance journalists and their families worldwide, assisting in times of crisis and helping them to work more safely. I think once you have listened to the podcast you will understand just how difficult and how dangerous the work can be so it is a really good cause.