The Fall of France in the summer of 1940 upended many lives. One of those who lost their status and safety was the wealthy Jewish heiress, Béatrice de Camondo.

In this episode James McAuley tells Béatrice's tragic story, a story that ultimately ended with her deportation east to Auschwitz. Along the way he explains the early twentieth century world that Béatrice came from: a world of art, style and grace.

Looking back at the art collections that once belonged to Jewish families like the de Camondo, McAuley questions the meaning of them. What were these collections for? What do they tell us about the people that assembled them now that they have gone? 

As ever, much, much more about this episode – including a fascinating colourised image of Nissim de Camondo, Béatrice's elder brother - is to be found at our website tttpodcast.com.

James McAuley is the Paris Correspondent of the Washington Post. His debut book, The House of Fragile Things, is newly published by Yale University Press.

Show Notes

Scene One: 16 July, 1942. Paris. The Vel d’Hiv roundup of Parisian Jews.

Scene Two: 5 September, 1942. The forest of Ermonville. Béatrice de Camondo writes a letter to a childhood friend.

Scene Three: The night of December 5, 1942. Neuilly-sur-Seine. Béatrice de Camondo arrested with her daughter, Fanny.

Memento: The library of Theodore Reinach at the Villa Kerylos, ransacked by the Gestapo during the War.

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Presenter: Peter Moore

Guest: James McAuley

Reading: Nadia Fontaine

Producer: Maria Nolan

Titles: Jon O

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In Berlin the winter of 1939/40 was bitterly cold. People were full of anxiety for what the future held. In this episode the Number One Bestselling novelist Simon Scarrow takes us on a fascinating walking tour of the Nazi capital to see three of its most revealing buildings.

We have two hardback copies of Simon Scarrow’s Blackout to give away to our listeners. All you have to do to be in with a chance of winning one of these is "like" our Facebook page. (deadline Sun 28 March 2021 - winner notified by message)

As ever, much, much more about this episode – including a period map of Berlin that shows the three locations, and a range of contemporary photographs - is to be found at our website tttpodcast.com

Show notes

Scene One: Anhalter station – December 1939 – Dusk

Scene Two: Reich Main Security Office – December - Day

Scene Three: Hotel Adlon -December - Evening

Memento: A propaganda poster

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Presenter: Peter Moore

Guest: Simon Scarrow

Producers: Maria Nolan

Titles: Jon O

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Few crimes can be said to be as sinister and perplexing as the ‘Mystery of the Parsee Lawyer.’ In this episode the journalist and Sunday Times bestselling author, Shrabani Basu, takes us back to the dramatic plot of a crime that captivated Edwardian Britain and involved the creator of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

To WIN a hardback copy of Shrabani Basu's The Mystery of the Parsee Lawyer, all you have to do is "like" our Facebook page. (deadline Sun 21 March 2021 - winner notified by message)

As ever, much, much more about this episode - including photographs of the Edaljis, a colourised image of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and a map of the location of Great Wyrley - is to be found at our website tttpodcast.com

Show notes

Scene One: January 1907: Arthur Conan Doyle makes a trip to Great Wyrley and visits the scene of crime. He visits the vicarage, the locals and his last stop is at the house of Captain Anson.

Scene Two: Shortly after. George Edalji gets a free pardon after ACD's piece is published in the Daily Telegraph. But he is not given any compensation, which leaves ACD incensed. He decides to reveal the true identity of the Wyrley Ripper. The game is afoot.

Scene Three: September 1907. ACD is on his honeymoon. A crucial lead comes through. He feels he has solved the mystery and has the final proof. But does he?

Memento: George Edjali’s coat.

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Presenter: Peter Moore

Guest: Shrabani Basu

Producers: Maria Nolan

Titles: Jon O

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The historian Margarette Lincoln takes us back to 1688 - an oddly neglected year in English history - to see the Glorious Revolution play out in three telling scenes.

In London there's tension, riots, a royal escape and a surprise invasion. Brought together, they combine change the political and religious character of the nation.

The storylines and characters that appear in this episode feature in Lincoln's new book, London and the Seventeenth Century, which is recently issued in hardback by Yale University Press.

For much, much more, as ever, head to our website: tttpodcast.com

Show notes

Scene One: 29 June Westminster Hall, a packed courtroom as seven bishops are put on trial for refusing to carry out the King’s demands.

Scene Two: 10 December, James II flees London leaving chaotic scenes of anti-Catholic rioting and fires behind him.

Scene Three: 18 December, the forces of William of Orange enter London, as part of the peaceful transfer of power.

Memento: One of King William III’s spurs – because it is ambiguous, it could symbolize progress – spurring the nation into a new phase, but could also suggest cruelty – the new regime would be imposed by military force in Ireland and Scotland.

People/Social

Presenter: Violet Moller

Guest: Margarette Lincoln

Production: Maria Nolan

Podcast partner: Colorgraph

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In this sweeping tour of Renaissance century Italy, Mary Hollingsworth takes us to see the most powerful figure of the age: the King of Spain, Archduke of Austria, the Lord of the Netherlands and the soon-to-be-crowned Holy Roman Emperor - Charles V.

To WIN a hardback copy of Mary Hollingsworth's beautifully designed and written new book, Princes of the Renaissance, just 'like' our new Facebook page.

For much, much more, as ever, head to our website: tttpodcast.com

Show notes

Scene One: Bologna, 24 February 1530, Pope Clement VII crowns Charles V as the Holy Roman Emperor, the last Pope to do so, marking the end of an 800-year tradition that stretched back to Charlemagne.

Scene Two: Mantua, 2 April 1530. Charles V is staying with Federigo Gonzaga at his beautiful court, they play a game of real tennis before sitting down in the great dining hall surrounded by Guilio Romano’s erotic frescos to enjoy an elaborate banquet.

Scene Three: Florence, 15 April 1530 (Good Friday). Imperial forces surround the city of Florence, leaving just one access point into the city at Empoli. Inside the gates, the situation is getting more desperate, food supplies are very low, but the spirit of the Florentine Republicans remains undimmed.

Memento: A piece of Florentine plaster daubed with the words “Poor but Free!”

Further reading: Geoffrey Parker, Emperor: A New Life of Charles V, 2019 (Yale University Press)

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Presenter: Violet Moller

Guest: Mary Hollingsworth

Production: Maria Nolan

Podcast partner: Colorgraph

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In this episode the author and journalist Philip Stephens takes us back to a crucial month in post-war British politics. December 1962, he explains, set Britain’s relationship with the rest of the world for the next half century.

Featuring in this episode is the elderly British prime minister, Harold Macmillan; the charismatic US president John F Kennedy; and the trenchant French statesman Charles de Gaulle. In this one month these three men would set out their contrasting visions of what kind of country Britain would be.

The scenes, characters and storylines in this episode of Travels Through Time all feature in Philip Stephen’s new book, Britain Alone: the path from Suez to Brexit (Faber)

For much, much more, including the chance to win a hardback copy of Britain Alone and to see a fascinating colourised picture of JFK, head to our website: tttpodcast.com

Show Notes

Scene One: 5 December 1962. Dean Acheson’s speech to the cadets of the Military Academy at West Point, New York.

Scene Two: 15 December. Macmillan's visit to Rambouillet to meet with Charles de Gaulle.

Scene Three: 19 December 1962. Macmillan travels to the Bahamas to meet President John F Kennedy.

Memento: The text for Dean Acheson’s ‘West Point Speech.’

People/Social

Presenter: Peter Moore

Guest: Philip Stephens

Producers: Maria Nolan

Titles: Jon O

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In Britain the winter of 1962/3 was astonishingly cold. The snow began to fall on Boxing Day and it did not thaw until Easter. In this episode the writer Juliet Nicolson takes us back to this white, frosty world.

Against a backdrop of snow and ice Nicolson describes the personal stories that were playing out at that time. There was the desperation of Sylvia Plath in London, the magical music of the Beatles in Liverpool and the political shock of the Profumo Affair.

In this episode Nicolson evokes all these stories and she also takes us back inside her primary school, where she was being taught by the most wonderful English literature teacher imaginable.

The scenes, characters and themes discussed in this episode all feature in Juliet Nicolson's new book, Frostquake, which is newly-published in hardback.

For much, much more, including a fascinating colourised picture of the snow in 1963, head to our website: tttpodcast.com

Show Notes

Scene One: January 1963. Juliet Nicolson’s school in London

Scene Two: 12th February, 1963. The McCann’s sitting room in Oldham after the Beatles concert at the Astoria ballroom

Scene Three: 22nd March 1963. Public Gallery in the House of Commons

Memento: The contemporary notes made by Penelope Fitzgerald for her novel  ‘Offshore’

People/Social

Presenter: Peter Moore

Guest: Juliet Nicolson

Producers: Maria Nolan

Titles: Jon O

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In this Valentine’s Day special of Travels Through Time we find out how women’s love lives were being transformed in the year 1966. 

Our guest is Professor Carol Dyhouse, a social and cultural historian and emeritus professor at the University of Sussex. Dyhouse takes us on a fascinating, uplifting tour of the sixties that ends with us sniffing fine perfume in a Scottish department store.

Dyhouse is the author of several books about women’s history from education and feminism to glamour and consumerism. Her most recent work Love Lives: From Cinderella to Frozen is soon to be published by Oxford University Press.

For much, much more, head to our website: tttpodcast.com

Show notes

Scene One: A visit to Gretna Green

Scene Two: Sitting in on deliberations of the Latey Committee on Age of Majority

Scene Three: Witnessing the opening of Brook Advisory Centre in Birmingham

Memento: Two bottles of scent from the perfume department at Jenners in Edinburgh. 

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People/Social

Presenter: Artemis Irvine

Guest: Professor Carol Dyhouse

Production: Maria Nolan

Podcast partner: Colorgraph

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This week we're heading to 1643 - a year of conflict and strife in the English Civil War.

Our guest is the distinguished historian of science, Professor John Heilbron. Heilbron opted to travel back to Royalist Oxford, a university city teeming with action.

Amid it all he finds a stranglely unstudied history lurking in the colleges. It's a story that is captured in a painting of a young scholar and his tutor, who sits beside a copy of Galileo's Dialogues. 

See the painting discussed in this episode here.

The characters and stories in this episode feature in JL Heilbron's new book, The Ghost of Galileo, which has been recently published by Oxford University Press.

For much, much more, head to our website: tttpodcast.com

Show notes

Scene One: Sir John Bankes arrives in Oxford, probably in February of 1643

Scene Two: Summer 1643. Young John Bankes arrives in Oxford to begin his studies at Oriol College

Scene Three: The painter Francis Cleyn comes to Oxford on business.

Memento: Three copies of the original edition of Galileo’s Dialogue (current market value $1m each)

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People/Social

Presenter: John Hillman

Interview: Violet Moller

Guest: Professor John Heilbron

Production: Maria Nolan

Podcast partner: Colorgraph

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The bestselling novelist Kate Mosse kicks off our new season of recordings with this dramatic trip back to sixteenth-century Paris.

The summer of 1572 was supposed to be a joyous one for Parisians. After years of strife a wedding was planned and the best was expected. The events of that August, though, would be remembered for quite different reasons.

Find out more with this conversation between Kate and Artemis. 

The material covered in this episode of Travels Through Time comes from Kate Mosse's new novel, The City of Tears, which is recently published in hardback by Macmillan

For much, much more, including a full transcript, head to our website: tttpodcast.com

Show notes

Scene One: Hôtel de Bourbon, Paris, June 1572, where the Queen of Navarre is lodging.

Scene Two: Catherdal de Notre Dame, Paris, 18th August, for the wedding of Maguerite de Valois to Henry de Navarre.

Scene Three: Rue de Béthisy in the early hours of 24th August, St Bartholomew’s Day, as the massacre begins.

Momento: A steel Huguenot cross. 

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People/Social

Presenter: Artemis Irvine

Guest: Kate Mosse

Producers: Maria Nolan

Titles: Jon O

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