With the British monarchy under intense scrutiny following an interview with Harry and Meghan conducted by Oprah Winfrey, Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook use the lens of history to analyse the significance of this event. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Has America taken over the world? Did the dollar and Hollywood enable the US to replace the British empire as the dominant international influencer? And is that power now waning? Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook discuss Americanisation on the Rest is History. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Comedian Al Murray joins Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook to discuss the history of comedy as well as the funny side of history. Has comedy changed through time? When and why are we not allowed to laugh at events? Al Murray has made a living out of making people laugh, while also frequently placing history at the heart of his humour. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook ask why Tutankhamun remains the best known of the Egyptian pharaohs. They examine the discovery of the tomb by Howard Carter in 1922 and discuss Tutankhamun’s relatives, in particular his father Akhenaten. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Suzannah Lipscomb joins Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook to discuss the history of witches and witchcraft. Why did society see witches as a threat and what is the modern equivalent of a witch hunt? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Is the age of empires over? And are they always a bad thing? Dominic Sandbrook and Tom Holland explore empires through history, examining the modern assumption that nation statehood is always the better way. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Everything you wanted to know about sex in the 18th and 19th Century but were afraid to ask. Hallie Rubenhold, author of The Covent Garden Ladies and the multi-award winning The Five joins Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook to discuss this fascinating subject. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Ecstasy, emails and economic stability. Dominic Sandbrook and Tom Holland discuss the 1990s, a decade which brought us Oasis, Tony Blair, Monica Lewinsky and Mr Blobby. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The Rest is History brings you the top ten strangest conflicts of all time. Obscure, little-known, downright strange. Dominic Sandbrook and Tom Holland choose five each. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
What is history’s take on the future? Oracles, prophecies, apocalypse, scientific projection. Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook discuss them all. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Broadcaster and historian Michael Wood joins Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook to discuss the world’s oldest civilisation. What were the great moments in Chinese history and why do the Opium Wars still feature so prominently in the modern Chinese school syllabus? The birth of the Chinese Communist Party and the complicated legacy of Chairman Mao all feature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
It remains the most romantic historical story of all time, but is the legend of King Arthur a myth? Was he even English? And will he rise again when the country needs him most? Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook take their places at the round table. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
England has long been divided by an invisible line somewhere north of Watford and south of the Mersey. But do northerners really have more in common with Scots and Welsh people than their fellow Englishmen in London? Dan Jackson, author of The Northumbrians and a former advisor to Cheryl Cole, joins southerner Tom Holland and midlander Dominic Sandbrook to try and decide if we should eat lunch then dinner, or dinner then tea. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
What is fascism and where did it come from? No one admits to being a fascist yet it continues to be a term of abuse hurled on a regular basis. Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook discuss the history of this most unacceptable of political models. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Pompeii Why does Pompeii continue to hold such a fascination for so many people? And which secrets are still to be uncovered from beneath the ashes? Dr Sophie Hay, a leading expert on the ruined Italian city, joins Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook to answer lots of listener questions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
From the Great Wall of China to the Berlin Wall, history is littered with the building of barriers aimed at keeping people out, and sometimes in. Do they work? Are they ever a good thing? Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook climb walls and explore borders as they investigate the history of separation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Is the author’s responsibility to the quality of the novel or the truth of history? What makes a great historical novel and which authors have contributed to our understanding of history. Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook range across literature in search of the best of historical fiction. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Stephen Fry is our guest on The Rest is History as he tells Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook about his enduring fascination with the Greek myths. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
History is littered with conspiracy theories, from Popish plots to JFK’s assassination. But what makes people believe in them and how do they gain currency? As strange stories continue to swirl around the coronavirus vaccine, Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook examine conspiracy theories through the ages. Oh and Dominic finally solves the question of who did kill JFK. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
As Britain leaves the EU, Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook look at the best & worst comparisons from history that have been made to Brexit. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Is Christmas an ancient ritual or was it invented by Dickens? Dominic Sandbrook and Tom Holland discuss the transformation of Christmas from public to private event and decide when it became a commercial rather than spiritual celebration. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Whose fault was it? Does the question even make sense? Are wars always somebody's "fault"? Was it really the first global war? And should Britain have fought, or stayed out? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Social media has colonised the world but is it really a new phenomenon? Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook debate the effects of technical innovations from the printing press to Twitter. Do they really make a difference? Or was Swift right when he said: “It is the folly of too many, to mistake the echo of a London coffee-house for the voice of the kingdom.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Can we truly learn from history? And if we can - do we? It’s one of the big questions this week as Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook roam through the centuries in search of certainty. Never get involved in a land war in Asia. That’s our starter for ten. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
It’s been described as the most legendary story ever told. But did the Trojan War actually happen? And was it really fought over a beautiful woman? Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook discuss an enduring tale that still resonates to this day. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
As a new series of The Crown arrives on Netflix, returning viewers to the 1980s, we look back at the year many Britons consider the worst in living memory. Rocketing unemployment, riots in major cities and a country governed by the most divisive prime minister in post-war British history made 1981 a year to forget. Amidst the gloom was the wedding of Prince Charles to Lady Diana and the greatest Ashes fightback England cricket fans had ever seen. So what can we learn from a closer analysis of 19...
Plague, pestilence and statue smashing are back in business. Has 2020 turned out to be the 17th Century in disguise? And if so, has Boris Johnson become the new Oliver Cromwell, determined to crack down on the excesses of Christmas? Dominic Sandbrook and Tom Holland suggest things now are not as bad as we thought. Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Recorded hours after Joe Biden was named President of the United States, we ask if Donald Trump is a modern day Caesar, willing to do anything to stay in power? Or is Trump the natural successor to the disgraced Richard Nixon? Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook draw parallels between the modern White House, the 1970s and ancient Rome. Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
What are the conditions needed for a civil war to start? Could we see a modern industrial nation turn upon itself again? Historians Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook explore examples from ancient history though to Spain in the 1930s and Yugoslavia in the 1990s to work out what it takes for neighbour to murder neighbour. Produced by Jack Davenport Exec Producer Tony Pastor *The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*: Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and...
How did certain people come to be called ‘the Great’? Is the notion of great men and women outmoded? Can anyone today be reckoned ‘great’? Historians Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook take a wide ranging stroll through the annals of time, from Nero to Nixon, with a bit of Trump thrown in for good measure. Produced by Jack Davenport Exec Producer Tony Pastor *The Rest Is History Live Tour 2023*: Tom and Dominic are back on tour this autumn! See them live in London, New Zealand, and Australia! Buy...
