Each month BBC History Revealed asks a historical expert for their take on what might have happened if a key moment in the past had turned out differently. This time, Jonny Wilkes talks to Marc Morris about what England might have been like had Harold Godwinson triumped over William ofContinue Reading
Before carrying passengers, America’s most iconic airlines hauled the mail. It was one of the riskiest jobs around. The U.S. aviation industry got its start in the early 20th century not by transporting people, but by moving America’s mail. At first, airmail pilots flew in flimsy open-cockpit planes through everyContinue Reading
To mark HistoryExtra’s 1,000th episode, Dan Jones takes us on a whistlestop tour through the last millennium of British history, touching on some of the most memorable moments and reinterrogating the familiar stories we tell about our national past. Dan Jones is the author of Crusaders: An Epic History of theContinue Reading
On 14 April 1471, the very same day that Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick was meeting his end just north of London at the battle of Barnet, Henry VI’s wife Margaret of Anjou and his son Edward of Westminster were arriving back in England from exile in France. After landingContinue Reading
AUDIO The Director of School Choice at the Reason Foundation, Corey DeAngelis, joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss DeAngelis’ new report, which investigates the rate of school reopenings amid the pandemic against funding in each district. DeAngelis’ report, “Are School Reopening Decisions Related to Funding? Evidence from Over 12,000 DistrictsContinue Reading
Professor Matthew Restall tackles popular search queries and listener questions about the central American civilisation. Where did the Maya live? What did they eat? And did they really predict that the world would end in 2012? Matthew Restall is the co-author (with Amara Solari) of The Maya: A Very ShortContinue Reading
Historian Sean McMeekin discusses his revisionist new history of the Second World War, which places Josef Stalin at the centre of the conflict. He shows how the Soviet dictator outmanoeuvred both enemies and allies to secure his own ends. Sean McMeekin is the author of Stalin’s War (Allen Lane, 2021)Continue Reading
Marxist thinkers believe that the major events of history were driven not by the actions of individual men and women but by strong, sweeping economic, social and political forces. Nothing contradicts the theory as powerfully as the life and career of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, the man who led the firstContinue Reading
Elaine Farrell shares the stories of incarcerated Irish women, from daily routines inside a convict prison to relationships with staff and contact with the outside world. She also asks what their experiences can tell us about the lives of working-class women in 19th-century Ireland more generally. Elaine Farrell is theContinue Reading
Although his roots were as royal as they come, Philip was considered a controversial choice of husband for Queen Elizabeth II. Prince Philip, the husband of Queen Elizabeth II, died April 9, 2021 at the age of 99. He married the future queen in 1947 and served steadfastly by her sideContinue Reading
