The Rest Is History

What are the origins of Britain’s original bad boys, The Rolling Stones? Where did they all come from and how did they meet? What was it about the 1960s, with its air of sexual liberation, newly elected Labour government, and rising youth culture that allowed them to burst onto the musical scene? Who was Brian Jones, the band's troubled founder? And, what made the Rolling Stones, even from the earliest stages, so much more controversial than The Beatles?

Join Dominic and Tom as they discuss the rise of one of history’s greatest, sexiest, and most suavely devilish bands, and the glaring light they shed upon the tumultuous 1960s.

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Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett + Aaliyah Akude

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

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What happened in the aftermath of the Battle of Hastings? What horrors did William the Conqueror have to inflict upon his Anglo Saxon subjects in order to consolidate his new realm? And, what role did castles, the Harrowing of the North, and the Doomsday Book play in the creation of a new England?

Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss William the Conquerer's new reign in the wake of the Battle of Hastings, and the true nature of the Norman Conquest.

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Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett + Aaliyah Akude

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

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Following King Harold Godwinson’s climactic victory at the Battle of Stanford Bridge, and the death of Harald Hardrada, what did he do when news reached him that William of Normandy’s army had landed further south? How did the two armies finally come together for one of the most totemic clashes of all time, on the morning of the 14th of October 1066? What exactly unfolded during the infamous Battle of Hastings? And, how did Harold truly meet his grisly end?

Join Tom and Dominic as they unfold, in spine-tingling detail, the build up to and events of one of history’s greatest collisions: Harold Godwinson vs William of Normandy at the Battle of Hastings.

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Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett + Aaliyah Akude

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

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In the tumultuous climax of 1066, why was Harold’s very own brother Tostig the first of the mighty foes he had to face? How did Harald Hardrada then launch his invasion of England, and how much resistance did he initially receive? And, what unfolded at the bloody battle of Stamford Bridge, in which Harold Godwinson and Harald Hardrada, two terrible kings, faced off at long last?

Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss the Battle of Stamford Bridge, the last great clash between vikings and Anglo Saxons, for the English throne…

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Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett + Aaliyah Akude

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

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Why is 1066 the most important year in English history? Who were the three main candidates vying for the English throne on the eve of Edward the Confessor’s death? And how did the coronation of one of them on the 14th of October 1066 trigger one of the most famous invasions of all time?

Join Tom and Dominic as they launch into the dramatic series of events, at the dawn of 1066, that sparked the build up to the Battle of Hastings…

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Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett + Aaliyah Akude

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

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Harald Hardrada; exiled prince of Norway and mercenary, has landed in the greatest city on Earth: Constantinople. There he joins one of the most prestigious military organisations in the world, the Varangian Guard, charged with protecting the Emperor. Almost the next ten years of Harald’s young life are spent at war protecting the city from enslaving raiders. But then, he becomes embroiled in the dark and complex political intrigues and plots of the Byzantine court. Zoe, the formidable wife of the recently deceased Emperor Michael IV, who had been exiled by her husband’s successor, recruits Harald to help her seize the throne. Wealthy, influential and renowned in the world’s most glittering city, things have never seemed better for Harald. But then, does he overreach and embark upon a dangerous affair with the empress herself? Imprisoned for his crimes, Harald manages to slay the terrible serpent haunting his prison cell, and escape at last back to Kyiv. But his ambitions still lie further north, in Norway, and the throne he is determined to reclaim…

Join Dominic and Tom and they discuss Harald Hardrada’s astonishing time as a Varangian Guard in Constantinople, his hair-raising escape back to Scandinavia, and his fight for the throne of Norway, on the road to the dramatic climax of his epic life: the Battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066.

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Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett + Aaliyah Akude

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

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“I swear I will not flee from this fight. I will triumph, or I will die!”

In the 1066 game of thrones for the crown of England, the most extraordinary of the three contenders is arguably Harald Hardrada: viking warrior, daring explorer, emperor’s bodyguard, serpent slayer, alleged lover to an empress, King of Norway, and legend of Norse mythology. How did this titan of a man come to cross the North Sea with his army, and take on Harold Godwinson, in the titanic showdown of Stamford Bridge? His story before this point is so colourful that it may be one the most exciting lives in all history. Fighting from the age of twelve, Harald was born to a petty regional king of Norway, in a Scandinavia of competing religions and kingships. As a teenager, he would then join his fearsome brother Olaf, the man who united Norway but later fell foul of King Cnut, and subsequently sailed the seas and mysterious waterways of Russia, in a mighty battle to take back Norway. Their defeat was terrible and absolute, leaving the young Harald wounded and on the run. A journey of horrors and hardship would then lead him at last to the awe inspiring city of Kyiv, where he would serve as mercenary for the Grand Prince. But still hungry for wealth and glory he then travelled on to the most remarkable city in the world: Constantinople, where his life would take an even more dramatic turn…

Join Dominic and Tom as they describe the electrifying early life of Harald Hardrada. From Scandinavian prince, warrior, and would-be usurper, to Baltic mercenary, and member of the elite Varangian Guard, in the glittering Constantinople or Miklagard - Asgard on earth. The stage is set for the greatest adventure of his life so far. But will Harald ever seize his ultimate destiny and become a king?

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Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett + Aaliyah Akude

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

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In the triumvirate of 1066, William of Normandy, Harald Hardrada, and Harold Godwinson, the latter has above all endured as one of the great heroes of English history. But how did he become the short-lived King during that tumultuous year? The answer lies in his formidable family, the Godwins. Often symbolised as the last of the Anglo-Saxons, their stratospheric rise to power was engineered by Godwin, an obscure Thaine from Sussex, in a striking case of social mobility. Making himself integral to Cnut, he was made Earl of Wessex to help him run his new kingdom. But Godwin was also cunning and conniving, constantly shifting sides to ensure the maximum advantage to his family. Even Edward the Confessor, who hated the Godwinsons, had no choice but to promote Harold and Godwin’s other sons, and marry his daughter, Edith. But, with his hatred mounting and the couple childless, the fortunes of the Godwins would soon change…in September 1051, with tensions reaching boiling point, they went into exile. It would not last, and their return would see them catapulted to even greater heights of influence. Meanwhile, just as Edward’s life was dwindling, Harold’s star was rising, and across the channel William of Normandy’s prowess was also mounting. What would happen when, in a remarkable turn of events, the two men finally met? What fateful oaths were taken that day…?

Join Tom and Dominic as they lead us to the brink of 1066, and discuss the family behind it all: the Godwins. How would their hold on England see Harold crowned King of England, and turned oath-breaker?

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Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett + Aaliyah Akude

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

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Born into a world of treachery, violence and death, William of Normandy defied all expectations, forging a legacy that lasts to this day. Born out of wedlock and dismissed as an upstart, he was originally known as William the Bastard. Inheriting the Duchy of Normandy at just eight years old, William was faced with betrayal, bloodshed, and anarchy. From the restless Normans, who expanded across Europe as mercenaries and horsemen, to the growing threat of Anjou, the early years of his reign were blighted by power struggles. Following the brutal murder of his guardians, and with Normandy on the brink of collapse, William was forced to survive in a world without loyalty, where ambition was the ultimate currency. Meanwhile, across the Channel, the English throne was in turmoil, as the sons of Æthelred the Unready fought for survival and power…

Join Tom and Dominic as they trace William’s rise from a vulnerable child to a formidable young duke, setting the stage for the ultimate confrontation: his claim to the English crown.

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Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett + Aaliyah Akude

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

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Following the bloody St Brice’s Day Massacre, of the 13th of November 1002, which saw King Æthelred brutally exterminating the Danes from England, the Vikings were hungry for revenge. None more so than the terrifying Scandinavian King, Sweyn Forkbeard. Having capitalised on his famous father, Harold Bluetooth’s unification of Norway and Denmark, through his aggressive christianisation of the formerly pagan peoples there, Sweyn had built up a formidable force. It was this power that Æthelred had unwisely taunted, underestimating the might of the Danes. He would pay the price only a few short months later when Sweyn’s terrible fleet landed at Wilton Abbey in Wessex - one of the greatest symbols of the House of Alfred the Great - to bleed England dry, and destroy her King. Time and time again, from this date onwards, Sweyn’s Danish raids would devastate England, even going so far as to lock the Archbishop of Canterbury in a cage…by 1013 Æthelred’s reign was essentially over, his family having fled to Normandy, and England under Danish rule. But then, the death of Sweyn Forkbeard would change everything, setting in motion another titanic war of succession, this time pitting the Scandinavian Cnut against Æthelred’s son Edmund Ironside. Who would triumph in this climactic clash of would-be kings?

Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss the revenge of the vikings and the rise of Cnut, as 1066 and the Battle of Hastings loom into view...

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Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett + Aaliyah Akude

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

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The Norman Conquest of 1066, culminating in the legendary Battle of Hastings, is perhaps the greatest turning point in the history of the English nation. It was a year that changed the fate of England forever, forging empires, and settling continents. And yet, despite its infamy and significance, the true nature of those totemic events are often forgotten. So what happened in the build up to the Battle of Hastings? The dramas of 1066 were set in motion by a succession crisis in 975 AD, following the death of King Edgar. England by that time was the wealthiest and best run government in Northern Europe, a kingdom of united English speaking peoples, established by Alfred the Great and his successors. Following the mysterious death of Edgar’s first son, Edward, his second son, Æthelred - later known as ‘The Unready’ - took the throne. For many years his kingdom flourished, until disaster struck: the Vikings returned to reign terror upon the Anglo-Saxon people, under the leadership of the terrifying Olaf Tryggvason, King of Norway. With his coffers straining, his people enslaved, and his lands shrinking, Æthelred, now wed to the foreign Emma of Normandy, finally decided to take drastic action, and weed the Vikings out once and for all. So it was that with the dawning of the millennium, a terrible, bloody massacre began….

Join Tom and Dominic as they set out upon one of greatest narratives in all English history, with the build up to 1066 and the Battle of Hastings. Would England survive the wrath of the Vikings?

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Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett + Aaliyah Akude 

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

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The second revolution that engulfed France over the course of 1792 reached its climax in December, with an astonishing, world-changing spectacle, which held all the eyes of Europe spellbound: Louis Capet, formerly King Louis XVI of France, was on trial for his very life. A guilty verdict would undermine millennia of thought and tradition, ripping apart the longheld inviolability of the king, still held sacred in some quarters of France, and setting a dangerous precedent for the other monarchs of Europe. For the revolutionary leaders, then, this was a cosmic strike against tyranny, unpicking the very foundations of French society. The trial would serve to proclaim the institution of the new regime; a ritualistic rebirth born of the death of the king. It would last a month. Then, on the 15th of January, a verdict was finally reached: Louis was found guilty, and condemned to death by guillotine. With the former king’s day numbered, was there any way the judgement could be overturned? And if not, what would the consequences of this seismic event be for the future of France, Europe, and the world…?

Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss the climax of the French Revolution - itself one of the most important moments of all history - with the extraordinary trial and death sentence of King Louis XVI. Would the sacrificial spilling of his royal blood cleanse the world of monarchy, and launch a new dawn for the Republic of France, once and for all?

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Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett + Aaliyah Akude

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

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“From this place and from this day forth commences a new era in the world’s history, and you can all say you were present at its birth!”

By September 1792, the Prussians, under the leadership of the formidable Duke of Brunswick, were closing in on revolutionary Paris. There, the streets roiled with the clanging of church bells, thousands of volunteers, patriotic songs and slogans, and of course; the dead bodies of all those killed during the September Massacres. It was against this feverish backdrop that on the 20th, the new National Convention - the most democratic of the assemblies yet, with unlimited powers to remake the nation - met at the famous Riding School. And though it was riven by internal rivalries under the contentious three headed triumvirate of Danton, Marat and Robespierre, remake the nation it did. Voting to abolish the monarchy once and for all, the Convention declared the institution of a new world and a new beginning for France, with all state documents from that day forth bearing the immortal words, ‘Year One’. But, with their Prussian enemies baying at the gates, would revolutionary France survive to see more than one year? A great military reckoning was approaching, which would decide the fate of the new Republic and perhaps, universal liberty. As the armies of France and Prussia met for what would prove to be one of the most ideologically significant battles of all time, political tensions were mounting in Paris…

Join Dominic and Tom for this crucial, tremulous episode of the French Revolution. With Prussia closing in, bodies littering the streets, and the revolutionary leaders hungry for each other's blood, would the Revolution survive?

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Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett + Aaliyah Akude

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

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In the summer and Autumn of 1792 - with the Prussians bearing down on Paris, the streets thronged with the stirring swell of the Marseillaise, but also the rotting bodies of those brutally killed during the September Massacres - the French Revolution bore a new symbol of optimism and hope: Liberty. Embodied by a female figure, later known as Marianne, and famously enshrined in Eugène Delacroix’s iconic painting, she was an important reminder that the revolution was about more than just violence, but also the dream of a brighter future, in which all the people of France would have a steak. Marianne was the new Republic personified, and manifested all those virtues most desired by the new order; freedom, equality and reason. But, did this new symbol have any resonance for the actual women of the revolution? Certainly, they had played a major role in bringing the King and Queen back to Paris from Versailles in 1789, helping patriots who stormed Tuileries in 1792, and were keen spectators to the febrile politics of the revolution. For this, women were enshrined as ‘mothers of the nation’, a vital mass of humanity thought to be inspired by an animating emotional power. And yet, unlike their male counterparts, few women save Marie Antoinette, at whom sexualised misogyny was constantly hurled, have stood the test of time. So who were the women at the very heart of the French Revolution? And what did they do to change the course of history?

Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss the evolving ideology of the French Revolution - one of the most decisive moments of world history - and some of the women at the centre of it all from the very start.

Watch 'A Thousand Blows’, a new original series, now streaming on Disney+ globally and on Hulu in the US

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Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett + Aaliyah Akude

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

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‘Still more traitors, still more treason…"

It is 1792 and France has been at war since April; it is not going well. In Paris, the Tuileries Palace has been stormed, and the royal family imprisoned. Meanwhile, tensions are rising between the main political factions of the Revolution, the Girondins and the Montagnard, led by the icy Maximilien Robespierre. The streets of Paris teem with armed young men - the Federes and the Sans-Culottes - responsible for the brutal slaughtering of the Swiss Guard earlier that year. They have arrested and imprisoned thousands of people. It is into this progressively febrile atmosphere of paranoia and fear that terrible news arrives: the Prussians, hungry for vengeance, have taken the fortress of Verdin. Rumours swirl of treason and betrayal from deep within Paris itself, and a new, chilling idea is raised to wash the city of counter revolutionaries once and for all: cleanse the prisons. So it is that on the 2nd of September, a group of Prisoners being escorted from one prison to another is stopped, and methodically hacked to death. The survivors face an impromptu tribunal before receiving the same treatment. Over the next few days, all prisoners across Paris are likewise judged, and many similarly damned and mutilated. A tide of bloodshed is rising, which will soon flood the streets of Paris, taking thousands of lives with it. Who will survive the massacre?

Join Dominic and Tom for the next series of the French Revolution, as they pick up this epic story - one of the most resounding and complex historical events of all time - with arguably the most horrific episode of the whole revolution: the September massacres…

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Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett + Aaliyah Akude

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

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“Anyone who even thinks of abandoning this mission will be cut up into a thousand pieces…I am the wrath of God!”

At the height of the age of exploration, during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, one story in particular gripped the imagination of European colonialists: El Dorado, a legendary city of gold, hidden in the very heart of the South American Rainforests. But no kingdom sought this prize more furiously than the mighty Spanish Empire. Determined to restore their fortunes with El Dorado’s treasures, they sent countless expeditions in search of the golden city, to no avail. Then, in 1559, the authorities in Lima assembled a new expedition, bigger and better than ever before, under the leadership of the knight Pedro de Ursula. The group he mustered to go with him would prove ill chosen indeed. Among them was his famously beautiful mistress, Dona Inez, and more ominously still, a fierce eyed, limp-footed man by the name of Lope de Aguirre. Little did his companions know that they had a devil in their midst. Aguirre would prove to be one of history’s strangest and most unsettling characters, and one of the great villains of the Spanish conquests of the New World. Cruel and psychopathic, he would eventually violently usurp Ursula’s command, and lead his companions not in search of El Dorado, but further and further into the Amazonian interior, enacting a regime of paranoid terror as they went. It would prove to be one of the strangest, most gruesome, and also the most horrific journeys of all time, replete with murder, betrayal, treason, and above all, madness….



Join Tom and Dominic, as they discuss the iniquitous Spanish conquistador Aguirre, and his journey both into the heart of the South American wilderness, but also into human madness. It is a story of mystery and adventure, gold and greed, horror and death.

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Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett + Aaliyah Akude 

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

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In Tudor England, during the reign of Elizabeth I, there lived in the very heart of her court a magician, alchemist and polymath, bent upon conversing with the angels of heaven and other supernatural beings. His name was John Dee, and he would prove to.be one of the most remarkable men of his age, living long enough to witness both the dying days of the reign of Henry VIII, and the succession of Elizabeth’s heir. Throughout it all, he existed near the very epicentre of English royal power and religious controversy, dabbling with both treason and heresy, and the gruesome punishments for both, on multiple occasions. His life therefore holds a tantalising mirror up to the tumultuous periods through which he lived, and features some of the great stars of Tudor England. From the religious persecutions of Bloody Mary, when Dee came closest to destruction, to the rise of Elizabeth I, a learned scholar in her own right, who looked to him to explain the signs of the universe to her, and the birth of the British Empire - with Dee one of its earliest champions. His obsession with reading the divine language of heaven and thereby understanding the very deepest secrets of the universe, would see him scrying in mirrors to read the future at the risk of his immortal soul, travelling to Prague - Europe’s bastion of magic - and forging his famous relationship with the wily Edward Kelly. But, was it angels or demons who lured Dee across Europe, and into the very deepest depths of the occult..?

Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss England’s very own Merlin; John Dee, and his extraordinary life as the court magician of Elizabeth I, during a time of dawning empires and clashing religions.

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Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett + Aaliyah Akude

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

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“The horror! The horror!”

Joseph Conrad’s ‘Heart of Darkness’ - the inspiration for Francis Ford Coppola's ‘Apocalypse Now’ - is one of the most celebrated literary works of all time, though now increasingly contentious. Based on Conrad’s own terrible journey into the Congo in 1890, and the horrors he beheld there while it was under the sway of King Leopold of Belgium’s monstrous regime, the novella, published in 1899, delves into man’s capacity for evil - the primal beast lurking beneath the surface of all humans - and has long stood as the preeminent cultural representation of European colonialism. It tells the story of Mr Kurtz, a great ivory trader who has disappeared deep into the African interior, and appears to have lost his mind, having penetrated some terrifying, ancient truth. Initially, Conrad’s disturbing account was viewed as the ultimate attack on imperialism, though aspects of the novella have also invited accusations of racism and imperialism, in part owed to Conrad’s own sympathy for Empire. So what is the truth at the heart of 'Heart of Darkness'? And who was Joseph Conrad himself? What horrors did he behold to have inspired such a poignant account of the nightmares within and without…?

Join Dominic and Tom as they discuss Joseph Conrad, ‘Heart of Darkness’ and the real life events that inspired it, and the long term reverberations of the novella in culture and literary criticism today.

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Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett + Aaliyah Akude

Editor: Jack Meek

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

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Exposing the dark pit of human suffering, cruelty and corruption that had long been secretly festering in King Leopold’s Congo, would reveal one of the greatest abuses of human rights in all history, and instigate a human rights campaign that would change the world. Having established it as what was essentially his own private colonial fiefdom in 1885, Leopold had grown rich off the vast quantities of rubber and ivory that his congolese labourers reaped and transported in unimaginably brutal conditions. The man to finally discover the horrendous scheme, and Leopold’s personal corruption, was Edmund Dene Morel, a young shipping clerk who noticed something deeply suspicious about the exports being sent back to the Congo from Belgium. With the backing of a wealthy tycoon, and in tandem with extraordinary individuals such as the magnetic Roger Casement who had personally experienced the horrors of the Congo, Stanley would for the next decade and more of his life embark upon an excoriating attack on Leopold and his regime. He interviewed countless first hand witnesses, published an outpouring of articles detailing the truth of what was going on, spoke convincingly at public gatherings, and set up an influential organisation, all of which served to attract much popular support and attention to the campaign. Soon, the question of the Congo had become an international political affair. But would it be enough to quell the horrific treatment of the Congolese people and discredit Leopold once and for all?

Join Dominic and Tom as they describe the discovery, expose, and excoriation of King Leopold’s appalling human rights abuses in the Congo, resulting in one of the most important human rights campaigns of all time. Did it succeed? And, with some of Europe’s major colonial powers clamouring to condemn Leopold, what were the long term implications for European imperialism overall?

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Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett + Aaliyah Akude

Editor: Jack Meek

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

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“A secret society of murderers with a king for a ringleader”.

In 1885 King Leopold of Belgium; an awkward, ruthless, selfish man, was recognised as the sovereign of the Congo. Long determined to carve out his very own private colonial domain, he had alighted upon the Congo - Africa’s vast and unplundered interior. With the help of the explorer Henry Morton Stanley, who had found a way to circumnavigate the Congo’s formerly insurmountable rapids, he concocted a cunning scheme to legally make it his own, while casting himself as a civilising saviour. Yet, despite his ostensibly philanthropic motivations, Leopold’s goal was always profit. More specifically, ivory, and later rubber, and before long a thriving hub of industry had been established in the Congo, bustling with soldiers, traders and missionaries. Meanwhile and most significantly, tens of thousands of Congolese people were being beaten, coerced and essentially enslaved into harvesting and carrying the riches of their land for their European oppressors. Their treatment was barbaric, the conditions in which they were made to live grotesque, and their suffering unimaginable. It was there, in King Leopold's Congo, that for years some of the worst violations of human life in all of human history were perpetrated. A terrible, secret heart of darkness, Until, at last, a young shipping clerk in Antwerp stumbled across something that would change the course of history forever...

Join Dominic and Tom as they discuss Western history’s most brutal and barbaric colonial conquest: King Leopold’s exploitation of the Congo Free State and her people.

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Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett + Aaliyah Akude

Editor: Jack Meek

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

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The story of King Leopold of Belgium’s brutal regime in the Congo Free State, during the late 19th century, is one of the darkest and most important in global history. It is a story of horror - the murky depths of the human soul pushed to its primal limits, European colonialism and the first Scramble for Africa, royalty and politics, celebrity, and modernity. From that pit of depravity, in which the Congolese people endured unimaginable suffering at the hands of their dehumanising western drivers, the first human rights campaign was born, and one of the most seminal novels of all time. So, how was it that the Congo, Africa’s as yet unplundered, un-impenetrable, and deeply mysterious core in the late 1870’s, became the private financial reservoir of one ambitious monarch, while Europe looked on? What occurred during the reign of terror he unleashed there, and why? And, who was King Leopold himself, the troubled, cunning and utterly twisted individual behind it all?

Join Dominic and Tom as they lead us - following in the footsteps of Henry Morton Stanley, the explorer who first pierced the shadowy veil of the Congo in Africa’s interior, and let it bleed into the hands of King Leopold himself - deep into the heart of darkness. As the curtain is lifted from the Congo’s formerly obscuring unknowability, her people's grotesque future of abominable exploitation is revealed, along with man’s capacity for evil, and the demonic greed of one man in particular…

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Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett + Aaliyah Akude

Editor: Vasco Andrade

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

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Following the bloody assassination of the twenty-eight year old Emperor Caligula, Rome found herself without a leader. Who then should fill the enormous power vacuum left by the death of an emperor? Should Rome return to a Republic? Then, one overlooked candidate - a scion of the hallowed family of Augustus long lurking in the wings of imperial power - unexpectedly rose to the fore: Claudius, Caligula’s uncle. Famed as a drooling idiot all his life, Claudius’ apparent shortcomings had kept him safe from the ruthless ambitions of his family and enemies. But his life of anonymity would now be brought to an abrupt end, with a shocking coup led by the Praetorian Guard. The Praetorians, one of the most potent forces in Rome, feared the loss of the emperor’s patronage, and so pulled him out from the curtain behind which he had been hiding, carried him to their camp, and declared him emperor. The reign that ensued - described in gory, glistening, salacious detail by the Roman historian Suetonius - would see Claudius dismantle his mask of imbecility to reveal himself clever and studious, but easily duped by his advisors, freemen, and wives alike. It would see him claim the conquest of Britain, increase the strength of the Roman army, fall foul of the senate, play cuckold in one of the most famous sexual scandals of all time, and marry his niece. All the while, the shadows of Nero’s rise to supreme power were lengthening…

Join Tom and Dominic for the mighty conclusion of their journey through the lives of Rome’s first Caesars, as described in rich, technicolour by Suetonius, climaxing with the epic reign of Rome’s most unexpected emperor: Claudius.

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Pre-order Tom Holland's new translation of 'The Lives of the Caesars' here:

https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/279727/the-lives-of-the-caesars-by-suetonius/9780241186893

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Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett + Aaliyah Akude

Editor: Jack Meek

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

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"Enough of the Princeps, what remains to be described, is the monster..."

The Roman emperor Caligula endures as one of the most notorious figures in not only Roman history, but the history of the world. Famed as a byword for sexual degeneracy, cruelty and corruption, the account of his life written by the Roman historian Suetonius has, above all, enshrined him as such for posterity. Throughout the biography there is a whiff of dark comedy, as Caligula is cast as the ultimate demented caesar, corrupted absolutely by his absolute power and driven into depravity. Born of a sacred and illustrious bloodline to adored parents, his early life - initially so full of promise - was shadowed by tragedy, death, and danger, the members of his family picked off one by one by the emperor Tiberius. Nevertheless, Caligula succeeded, through his own cynical intelligence and cunning manipulation of public spectacle, to launch himself from the status of despised orphan, to that of master of Rome. Yet, before long his seemingly propitious reign, was spiralling into a nightmare of debauchery and terror….

Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss the most notorious emperor in Rome: Caligula, a man said to have slept with his sister, transformed his palace into a brothel, cruelly humiliated senators, and even made his horse into a consul. But what is the truth behind these horrific legends? Was Caligula really more monster than man...? 

Pre-order Tom Holland's new translation of 'The Lives of the Caesars' here: 

https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/279727/the-lives-of-the-caesars-by-suetonius/9780241186893

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Twitter:

@TheRestHistory

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett + Aaliyah Akude

Video Editor: Jack Meek

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

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The Roman historian Suetonius’ biography of the controversial Emperor Tiberius is one of his most shocking and salacious, condemning Tiberius to infamy. But was Tiberius really the perverted monster Suetonius would have us believe? Born of Rome’s most illustrious family and a sacred bloodline - the Claudians - Tiberius’ mother Livia was unceremoniously taken from his father while she carried him, to marry the great Emperor Augustus. So it was that Tiberius grew up in the very heart of imperial power, proving himself intelligent, and a superb military commander. But, following the unforeseen deaths of Augustus’ young heirs, he found himself primed to become the next caesar of Rome. The reign that ensued would prove largely peaceful, prosperous and stable, though Tiberius himself was increasingly plagued by paranoia and fear. While the last of Augustus’ bloodline were wiped out one by one, he retired to Capri, much to the horror of the Roman people. Before long, rumours had begun percolating of the heinous deeds, sick proclivities, and vile abominations Tiberius was practicing on his pleasure island…

Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss Tiberius, the impressive though widely lambasted second emperor of Rome. What is the truth behind the sordid myths and mysteries of his reign…?

Pre-order Tom Holland's new translation of 'The Lives of the Caesars' here:

https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/279727/the-lives-of-the-caesars-by-suetonius/9780241186893

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Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett

Editor: Aaliyah Akude

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

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The Roman historian Suetonius’ The Lives of the Caesars, written during the early imperial period of the Roman Empire, is a seminal biography covering the biographies of the early emperors of Rome, during two spectacular centuries of Roman history. Delving deep into the personal lives of the caesars and sparing no detail, no matter how prurient, pungent, explicit or salacious, it vividly captures Rome at the peak of her power, and those colourful individuals at the heart of everything. It is an unsettling yet fascinating portrait of the alien and the intimate, that sees some of history’s most famous characters revealed as almost modern men, plotting a delicate line between private and public, respectability and suspicion. From the showmanship of Augustus, the first Caesar, and his convoluted family melodramas, to Tiberius, a monster in the historical record famed for his sexual misdeeds, to Caligula, who delighted in voyeuristic moral degeneracy, and the looming shadow of Nero; all will be revealed…

Join Tom and Dominic as they launch into Suetonius and the lives of Rome’s most infamous emperors, illuminating a world of sex and violence that both venerates, deifies and condemns absolute power. When the curtain is lifted, what deprivation lurks behind the majesty of Rome? And who was the real Suetonius, the man laying it all bare?

Pre-order Tom Holland's new translation of 'The Lives of the Caesars' here.

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Producer: Theo Young-Smith

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Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

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How did a Russian spy manage to infiltrate the upper echelons of London and New York society? Was Anna Chapman really an old fashioned Russian honeytrap or was she underestimated by the world's press? What was life like for wealthy Russians in "Londongrad" in the early 21st century? 

The year is 2001 and the 18-year-old daughter of a Russian oligarch is partying in London. She meets a handsome young man at a warehouse rave and her passport to a new life in Western Europe glistens before her very eyes. What could possibly go wrong? Join David and Gordon as they take us back to the height of Londongrad and what happens when a Russian spy tries to infiltrate high society. 

To hear the full episode, search The Rest Is Classified wherever you get your podcasts or click here to discover the episode on Spotify.

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The story of Wojtek - the bear who took on the Nazis - amidst the death and devastation of the Second World War, and more specifically Poland's heroic resistance, is a flicker of redemption amidst an otherwise deeply depressing period of history. His is a life that exemplifies not only Poland’s struggle in microcosm, but also the global nature of the war overall. Discovered by a young boy as a tiny cub, his mother dead, he was sold to Polish officers travelling to Palestine in the hills outside Tehran. The soldiers nursed and fed the young bear with milk from a vodka bottle, treating him like one of their own. Later, he was even purported to keep them warm at night, drink beer, delight in wrestling and showers, and both march and salute. When the Polish forces were finally deployed to Europe, ‘Wojtek’ as he had been named, went with them; a mascot and morale booster to the men. There he was given military rank, and actively participated in the Italian campaign, carrying ammunition and artillery crates. But with death and destruction on all sides, what would be his fate?

Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss Wojtek, one of history’s most extraordinary animals, and his life in the army - an emblem of hope and resilience in the face of the horrors of the Second World War.

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Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett + Aaliyah Akude

Editor: Jack Meek

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

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The Nazi invasion of Poland is one of the most harrowing episodes of the Second World War, which saw terrible scenes of abuse take place. Though long threatened, Poland was in no way prepared to face Hitler’s war machine when it finally attacked. Replete with tanks and planes, his would be a new kind of warfare. So, on the 10th of September 1939, Warsaw became the first capital in Europe to face relentless bombing raids, with Hitler - delighted by war - a spectator to the whole thing. The breaking point came when Stalin, whose troops had been fighting in Japan, agreed to send in his Red Army into Poland to reinforce the Germans. Before long, and despite their heroic resistance, the Poles had been decimated by German machinery, and nine days later the Nazis entered Danzig in triumph. With Warsaw an apocalyptic wasteland, Nazi occupied Poland became a hell of random brutality, discrimination, and horrific violence, particularly for the Jewish members of the population.

Join Dominic and Tom for the tragic conclusion of their journey into the dark depths of the fall of Poland, including the invasion of the German war machine, Russian participation, and Poland's inspiring defence.

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Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett + Aaliyah Akude

Editor: Jack Meek

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

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By the 11th of April 1939, Adolf Hitler and his Nazis were in the process of drawing up a plan of attack for Poland, the Poles having resisted Germany’s attempts to make them hand over Danzig and turn themselves into a satellite state. Now, with a new military alliance between France, Britain and Poland established, the time has come for Hitler to throw the dice and cast Europe into the long predicted war. Yet, at this most crucial and long awaited moment of his career, Hitler found himself in a state of emotional distress. Uncertain of whether France and Britain would join the war upon his invasion of Poland, and aware of Germany’s economic turmoil, the stakes had never been higher. He therefore decided to make a deal with his greatest ideological enemy - Joseph Stalin - forming an alliance with Russia, with the intention of dividing up Poland between them. Then, on the 1st of September, Hitler gave a landmark, excoriating address at the Reichstag, declaring war on Poland and tearing up his naval pact with Britain. War, it seemed, had become truly inevitable.

Join Dominic and Tom as they discuss the build up to Hitler’s invasion of Poland, one of the darkest episodes of all time, and the moment that the Second World War truly began.

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Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett + Aaliyah Akude

Editor: Jack Meek

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

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Following the Munich agreement of September 1938, Nazi troops marched into Czechoslovakia and ruthlessly claimed it as a German protectorate. Still, even following his annexation of Czechoslovakia, Hitler’s determination to make Germany the greatest power in Europe was far from sated. Thus, hungry for war and keenly conscious of Germany’s fast imploding economic situation, his mind had turned by the beginning of 1939 to his next unfortunate target: Poland. And it was not only defeat that he envisaged this time, but Polish liquidation. But, with both the Poles and British becoming increasingly wary of Germany's growing assertiveness and militarism, in March 1939 they and France forged a military alliance. Enraged by this, Hitler finalised his plans for the conquest of Poland. In an unexpected turn of events, he also went in search of an unlikely ally of his own to counter the new alliance from which he was smarting: Russia’s Joseph Stalin, the Nazis’ ideological antagonist…

Join Tom and Dominic for the appalling story of the build up to Hitler’s genocidal war on Poland. Was it possible that even at this inflamed juncture, war could still have been prevented?

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Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett + Aaliyah Akude

Editor: Jack Meek

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

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On 17th September 1938, in Munich, one of the most extraordinary meetings in history took place. Neville Chamberlain launched an extraordinary and unprecedented diplomatic coup. Boarding a plane, he set off to meet Adolf Hitler in a desperate attempt to prevent war over Czechoslovakia, following the Nazis’ territorial incursions into Czechoslovakia. Little did he know that Hitler was already planning to launch a full blown war on the first of October - just two weeks later. Chamberlain, in his own mind the man of the hour, boldly wrestling the fate of Europe back under control, left with the goodwill of the British public behind him. Arriving at the Berghoff, Hitler’s fabled eerie, the two men talked and debated for three hours. Finally, Hitler agreed not to precipitate military action while Chamberlain discussed the situation with his Cabinet. Ominously, both men were delighted by the turn of events. Upon returning home, Chamberlain declared himself convinced of Hitler’s reliability, despite knowing full well of the atrocities he had already committed. Finally, in September 1938, another totemic emergency meeting of the main European powers took place in Munich, and an agreement - the consequences of which would change the world - was reached. Chamberlain would return to Britain a hero, but given the war that would follow, should he instead have been cast as a traitor?

Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss the Munich Agreement: one of the most discussed, and infamous diplomatic instances in history, which has forever since shaped the way that Western nations have addressed international affairs. Had Neville Chamberlain delayed war with Germany, or inevitably doomed Czechoslovakia and Poland to the ruthless ravages of Adolf Hitler and his Nazi party?

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Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett + Aaliyah Akude

Editor: Jack Meek

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

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Throughout the course of the 1930s, Adolf Hitler’s Nazi party has overwhelmingly, terrifyingly seized power in Germany. Now, Hitler’s vile ambitions have turned to Czechoslovakia. On the 12th of September 1938 at the Nazi Party Congress in Nuremberg, he rabidly defended the supposed interests of the German speaking minority in Czechoslovakia, claiming that they had been ravaged and tortured by their cruel Czech overlords, but not so. In reality, Hitler is preparing the ground for the invasion and dismemberment of Czechoslovakia - what he sees as a crucial step towards the creation of a new German dominion in central and eastern Europe. In so doing, he is setting Europe upon the road to an increasingly imminent Second World War. With Nazism driven above all by the shattering experience of the First World War, a hunger for war burns at the very centre of the Nazi’s ambitions. For Hitler, it is personal - the German economy is in meltdown and with it, his frayed mental and physical state. Was it possible, then, that at this crucial juncture in 1938, the outcome of war could be prevented? Certainly, Britain’s Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, was determined to make it so…

Join Tom and Dominic for the opening episode in their next series on the Nazis’ road to the Second World War. With European politics in turmoil, Adolf Hitler hungry for war, and Neville Chamberlain desperate to appease him, will there be peace in our time? At Munich, one of the most controversial diplomatic instances in history, the fate of the world will be decided.

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Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett + Aaliyah Akude

Editor: Jack Meek

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

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Ludwig Van Beethoven, like his precursor and possible acquaintance Mozart, is one of the most famous figures in Western musical history. With his wild hair and furrowed brow, his was a genius marked not by flamboyance and flare, but dark, bombastic gravity. Like Mozart, though, his musical talents also emerged at a young age. Born in Bonn, Germany, in 1770, he was initially taught by his father. Finding his home life dysfunctional however, he eventually moved to Vienna at the age of twenty-one. There he would study musical composition under the great composer Haydn, and garnered a reputation for being a talented pianist. By 1800, his symphonies were being performed to much acclaim. But, as music’s first true star and with the world seemingly before his feet, a terrible shadow was hanging over Beethoven - his encroaching deafness, which saw him becoming more and more anti-social. How was it, then, that in spite of this terrible affliction, he came to write some of his best known works during the height of his deafness? And what became of him?

Join Tom and Dominic at the Royal Albert Hall, featuring the Academy of St Martin in the Fields and the Philharmonia Chorus, conducted by Oliver Zeffman, as they delve into the life of Beethoven, one of the most venerated figures in the history of music. With his unkempt appearance, ferocious reputation, and famously ill-fated deafness, what was the truth behind the legends of this extraordinary man? And how did he come to write some of the most iconic pieces of classical music of all time? 

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Academy of St Martin in the Fields

Orchestra

Philharmonia Chorus

Chorus

Oliver Zeffman

Conductor

Stephanie Gonley

Leader & Violin Soloist

Mishka Rushdie Momen

Pianist

Nardus Williams Soprano

Katie Stevenson

Mezzo

Andrew Staples

Tenor

William Thomas

Bass

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Twitter:

@TheRestHistory

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Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producers: Tabby Syrett + Anouska Lewis + Aaliyah Akude

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

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In 1756 a musical prodigy was born in Salzburg, Austria: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Thanks to the efforts of his exacting father, Mozart's genius was exhibited and celebrated in some of the greatest courts of Europe from a young age. At four years old he wrote his first keyboard concerto, at six he was performing for the empress Maria Theresa. Soon he and his father were touring Europe, and the young Mozart's exploits proved increasingly lucrative for his overbearing parent. But, like all young men, Mozart was growing up and becoming increasingly uncontrollable. Feeling stifled and professionally frustrated, he began to disobey his wealthy patrons and went freelance, risking financial security and the favour of his family. Yet, it would also see him falling in love, and writing some of his most glorious works. Nevertheless, time and life was running out for the young composer, as he began to write the powerful Requiem, which may prove to be for his own death...

Join Tom and Dominic at the Royal Albert Hall, featuring the Academy of St Martin in the Fields and the Philharmonia Chorus, conducted by Oliver Zeffman, they explore one of the most famous musical figures of all time: Mozart. What was the origin of his genius? What are the stories behind some of his most famous works, such as The Magic Flute and Don Giovanni? And, what is the truth behind his tragic and much mythologised death, young and penniless? 

Academy of St Martin in the Fields

Orchestra

Philharmonia Chorus

Chorus

Oliver Zeffman

Conductor

Stephanie Gonley

Leader & Violin Soloist

Mishka Rushdie Momen

Pianist

Nardus Williams

Soprano

Katie Stevenson

Mezzo

Andrew Staples

Tenor

William Thomas

Bass

_______

Twitter:

@TheRestHistory

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett + Anouska Lewis

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

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“And from that moment on, he was addressed as emperor and Augustus!”

The coronation of Charlemagne on Christmas Day 800 AD, is one of the landmark moments in all world history. More than three centuries after the fall of the Roman Empire in the West, the emperors had returned once more, and a Caesar ruled in Rome. But how did this legendary event come to pass? For many years Charlemagne, though a formidable figure, had been but one power player in the game of empires, competing with the emperor of Constantinople and the new Pope in Rome. Then, in 797 a spectacular crisis struck Constantinople. The cruel and politically feckless emperor, Constantine VI, was ruthlessly usurped by his mother, Irene, who became the first and only ruling empress in the whole sweep of Roman history. In the West though, her rule as a woman was not acknowledged. To Charlemagne, then, it seemed the perfect opportunity to claim the vacant throne. What unfolded after this would see Rome and Constantinople lock horns in a terrible power struggle, involving blindings, mutilation and political scheming. With Charlemagne acting as arbiter between them, would he take the ultimate step and become, for the first time since 476 AD, the emperor in Rome?

Join Tom and Dominic for the climax of their epic series on Charlemagne: the Frankish king turned emperor, who transformed the western world forever. What would become of his mighty empire, faced with Saracen pirates, vikings and division?

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Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett

Editor: Aaliyah Akude

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

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“Here was a program to wet the ambitions of warlords as well as scholars, and to send men into battle beneath the fluttering of banners, the hiss of arrows, and the shadow of carrion crows…”

The year is 777 and Charles the Great - Charlemagne - has ruled as joint king of the Franks alongside his brother, Carloman, for nine years. Now though his brother and greatest impediment to sole authority has died under mysterious circumstances. The sole successor to the mighty Carolingian dynasty, then, Charlemagne behaves differently from all the Frankish warlords that have come before him. In the aftermath of the once great Roman Empire, he seems to have modelled himself on the image an Augustus, pushing the already formidable kingdom that he has inherited towards greater and greater dominion. In his sights now are the Saxons, long growing fractious in Germany, and also the terrifying Lombards. The campaigns that ensued would be more ruthless than any before, with Charlemagne himself personally leading his men into battle. But his regime is not only one founded upon the blade of a sword and militaristic might, it is also a religious and educational revolution. It would utterly transform the west forever, introducing widespread writing and learning, and Christianising vast swathes of Europe - poor and elite alike. But Charlemagne’s total dominion of the West was still incomplete. What would happen next?

Join Tom and Dominic as they delve deeper into the rise of the mighty Charlemagne: his transition to sole ruler of the Franks, his violent militaristic conquests, and a Christian regime that would change the world. 

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@TheRestHistory

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Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett

Editor: Aaliyah Akude

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

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The Frankish king, Charlemagne the Great, is one of the titanic figures of European history, simultaneously renowned and shadowy. His rise to supreme power is a staggering story of warring religious empires, betrayal, battle, blindings and brutal conquest. How, then, did this one time Frankish interloper become the father of Europe, progenitor of a Holy Roman Empire whose descendants would rule right up until the time of Napoleon, and Emperor of the West? It begins in 741 AD when, following the death of the Frankish leader Charles Martel - ‘The Hammer’ - his two sons, Carloman and the pious by ruthless Pepin were forced to look to the Pope in Rome, then a subsidiary to the Byzantine empire, to buttress their authority. The Pope too was increasingly embattled at that time, struggling against invasions by the ferocious Germanic Lombards from the north of Italy. Desperate, he called upon Pepin for aid. So it was that, after his brother’s abdication, Pepin was officially anointed by the Pope as the sole King of the Franks, before crossing the Alps and smashing Lombardy. After his death, he would leave his kingdom the foremost power in Western Europe, and in the hands of to his own two sons: Carloman and Charles, later known as Charlemagne. A terrible power struggle would ensue…

Join Tom and Dominic for this next instalment of their mighty series on the Franks and the rise of Charlemagne. How would Charles’ and Carloman’s battle for power play out?

_______

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Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett

Editor: Aaliyah Akude

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

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By 711 Europe and the Frankish warlords were facing a graver threat than ever before. Bands of Northern African, nominally Muslim raiders had begun a steady incursion throughout the West, loosely unified under the banner of the Umayyads. Having already taken and plundered the Christian territories of the Goths, their eyes now fell upon the Frankish kingdom in Gaul, by now the greatest power in Europe. It would be a formidable prize if taken. But fortunately for the Franks, their leader was the greatest of their warlords since the rise of Clovis I: the mighty Charles Martel. Finally, the two great hosts - Charles with his allies from Aquitaine and the Umayyads under the leadership of Abd al-Rahman al-Ghafiqi. A world shaking, spear shattering, blood-letting battle would ensue, the outcome of which would come to determine the future of Europe.

Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss the build up to, climax, and aftermath of the Battle of Tours - one of the most important battles in Western history, which would prove the making of the Franks, and pave the road to the ascent of Charlemagne.

_______

Twitter:

@TheRestHistory

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Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett + Aaliyah Akude

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

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Following the death of the legendary Frankish King Clovis, his son Clothar I divided the mighty realm his father had hacked out from the warring warlords of Europe between his four sons. But peace was not to reign…the most ambitious of his brood - Chilperic - seized Paris, his brother’s domain, following his death. Drawn to his swelling power, a seemingly humble yet beautiful slave girl, Fredegund, rose up from obscurity to become Chilperic’s mistress. Little did he know what a ruthless force of nature he had invited into his bed. Before long, she had persuaded him to cast aside his first wife, Audovera. His second, Galswintha, was not so lucky. Soon after their marriage she was found strangled to death, and Fredegund - her probable murderer - was crowned queen in her place. Meanwhile, Galswintha’s equally merciless sister, the intelligent Queen Brunhilda of Austrasia was plotting the gruesome downfall of her sister’s killer, hungry for revenge. The terrible and enduring feud between these two remarkable women had begun…

Join Tom and Dominic for this most unbelievable of stories in the second instalment of their series on the rise of the Franks, as they unveil the clash of two indomitable warrior queens, drenched in blood, violence, vengeance, scheming, and witchcraft. The outcome of their civil war would reshape the face of the West. 

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Twitter:

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Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett + Aaliyah Akude

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

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The Rise of the Franks - a mighty host of warlords; forefathers of the western world and forgers of medieval civilisation, under the totemic leadership of history’s most glorious King: Charlemagne. It is a tale rich in fantasy and myth, transporting us into a distant age and the dark debris of a crumbling Roman empire; landscapes scarred by ruins, clashing queens, poisonings, sorcery, bloody battles, ice castles, and axe-wielding warriors, more reminiscent of King Arthur, Game of Thrones and the Lord of the Rings than real life. Once insignificant, terrifying barbarians from the peripheries of Gaul, with flaming red hair and formidable moustaches, they would emerge from the ashes of the Roman Empire in the 4th century AD, and become the heirs of the Caesars. But how? The answer lies in warring barbarian strongmen, the collision of old gods and the new, a mighty Christian martyr, a mysterious ancient bloodline born of perhaps Jesus Christ himself, the emperors of old, and a sea monster; and a battle to determine dominion of the West… 

Join Tom and Dominic as they launch into one of the greatest stories in all of European history: the rise the Franks. Europe’s mightiest warriors, warlords and kings, whose legacy would reshape the world forever. 

_______

Twitter:

@TheRestHistory

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Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett + Aaliyah Akude

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

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In as early as 5000 BC the vast and spectacular city of Uruk - replete with towering walls, glistening temples and complex irrigation systems - lay sprawled across the face of Southern Mesopotamia. Not only is Uruk the oldest city in the world, but it is arguably one of the most consequential, having facilitated one of the great turning points of human civilisation. Here, in this mysterious metropolis lay the origins of urbanisation, making Uruk the predecessor and antecedent of every modern city today. It was the cradle of formidable trading networks, sophisticated craftsmanship, agricultural prosperity, the earliest examples of writing, and even home to the very first person in human history to be named. Yet, by 700 AD this once great wonder of the ancient world had been abandoned, leaving nothing behind but haunting ruins and two burning questions: firstly, how did this marvel of urbanisation come to exist, and secondly, what led to its ruin? Was it colonisation, climate change, or conquest…?

Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss Uruk, the first city in the whole of world history and the mother of modern urbanisation, revealing the remarkable tale of its discovery, its mysterious origins, and equally enigmatic decline.

_______

Twitter:

@TheRestHistory

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Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

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The 1st of August 1798 saw the British fleet sailing towards Alexandria into a land of classical history and mythology, the sun setting like blood over the River Nile and French flags flying over the city. The scene could not be more perfectly suited to the cataclysmic battle that would soon take place there, in which Horatio Nelson would guild his legend forever. Charged with leading a squadron of fourteen ships into the Mediterranean to find Napoleon Bonaparte and his vast fleet, Nelson had chased him all the way to Alexandria which the French had seized along with the rest of Egypt. At last, lookouts spot the masts of Napoleon’s ships - a moment of near transcendent excitement for Nelson and the men of his fleet. At last, it seemed, the moment had come for their battle of total annihilation in all its gore and glory. Wary of this, the French commanders urged Bonaparte to withdraw, but in his hubris the French general refused. So it was that the greatest naval battle of the 18th century began, to the thunder of cannons, screaming sailors, and the chaos of gun smoke, soot, splinters and blood….

Join Dominic and Tom as they describe one of the most decisive and dramatic moments of both naval history and Horatio Nelson’s life: the Battle of the Nile.

_______

Twitter:

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Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

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In the wake of the Battle of Cape St. Vincent in 1797, Horatio Nelson, though a much acclaimed public hero for his bravery during the battle, is in the doldrums. Having led a harebrained attack on Tenerife, Nelson must now contend with the loss of his arm. Upon returning to England, famous and lauded, Nelson declared his intention to retire to a cottage in the countryside to recover. However, carrying on the tide from France came murmurings that that the French were amassing an enormous force of soldiers and ships. The supreme commander of this formidable host: a Corsican by the name of Napoleon Bonaparte. It seemed that at last, the monumental struggle for which Britain had been grimly preparing up for so long - a total struggle of apocalyptic proportions - was in the offing. And with it, Nelson, the man of the hour, was given command of the squadron charged with finding the vast French fleet and hunting down the formidable Napoleon. Nelson’s hour of glory had finally arrived. 

Join Dominic and Tom as they discuss the aftermath of the Battle of St. Vincent, Nelson’s burgeoning legend and emotional turmoil, and his thrilling hunt for Napoleon Bonaparte.  

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Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com

_______

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Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

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Valentine’s day, 1797: the British Royal Navy are hoping for a decisive clash with the Spanish enemy, off the coast of Portugal, at Cape St. Vincent. Nelson has already narrowly avoided capture at the hands of the Spanish, after sailing through their fleet unnoticed, thanks to the auspicious cover of thick fog. But the British are outnumbered, and the Spanish fleet has at its head the largest warship in the world, the Santísima Trinidad. The stakes couldn’t be higher: if the Spanish aren’t stopped, they could head North towards the western coast of France and join forces with the French, the consequences of which would be terrible. Indeed, the French would then reign supreme over the Channel, offering them the perfect conditions to invade Britain. But after a disastrous start to the battle for the Royal Navy, all seems lost for the Royal Navy, until a single British ship breaks formation, and takes on the Santísima Trinidad. But who could possibly be behind such an insane manoeuvre?

Join Tom and Dominic in the third part of our series on Lord Nelson, as they dive into the chaos and carnage of the Battle of Cape St. Vincent, and look at how Nelson’s incredibly daring charge saved Britain…

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*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*

If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.

Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com

_______

Twitter:

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@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

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It is 1793 and France has declared war on Britain, meaning that the British navy must serve as both sword and shield to Europe. Horatio Nelson is at this time a slim and sickly 34 year old captain who nevertheless burns with the zeal to serve his king and country, and has recently taken over command of the impressive Agamemnon. Meanwhile, the British navy has taken Toulon by the summer of 1793 through diplomatic means - its foothold in the Mediterranean - but is struggling to hold it. Upon arriving in the city Nelson is shocked to find it besieged by the French, under the leadership of one Napoleon Bonaparte - the first time that these two titanic rivals of history will brush shoulders, but not the last. At last the city falls to the French, and the British must go in search of another Mediterranean base. They settle upon Corsica - Bonaparte’s homeland. It is there, on the morning of the 12th of July that during the siege of Calvi that Nelson is struck in the face by a spray of stone and shrapnel, severely blinding his left eye forever more. Will this critical injury prematurely end his promising career? Just as a great armada of Spanish and French ships gathers on the horizon, heralding the coming one of history's bloodiest naval battles...

Join Dominic and Tom as they discuss the Siege of Toulon, Nelson’s heroic early forays into the Mediterranean, and the dramatic aftermath of his first near fatal injury.

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LIVE SHOWS

*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*

If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.

Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com

_______

Twitter:

@TheRestHistory

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@dcsandbrook

Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

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It’s 1758 and Britain’s greatest naval commander has just been born. The young Horatio Nelson has inherited his father’s love of god and his mother’s hatred of the French. At age 12, he leaves Norfolk for a life on the high seas. As a teen, Nelson narrowly avoided death on multiple occasions. He survives a nasty encounter with the Sultan of Mysore, the blistering cold on a failed expedition in the North Pole, a nasty bout of Malaria contracted in India, and far more besides. Propelled by his excellence and bravery, he rose quickly to become a captain.This brings us to 1788 where Nelson, now a married man in his thirties and back in his childhood home, learns that England is going to war with France. Without hesitation, he swaps the simple domestic life for the thrill of the high seas once more… 

Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss Nelson's early life and adventures, as he sets out along a path that would eventually enable British domination of the seas; and the world.

_______

LIVE SHOWS

*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*

If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.

Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com

_______

Twitter:

@TheRestHistory

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

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“Nixon now! Nixon now! More than ever we need Nixon now!”

It's the 5th of November 1968, and Richard M. Nixon is on tenterhooks, alone in his dark hotel room. He watches as the final states are called in the presidential election. Will he fall at the same hurdle as he did in 1960? Off the back of losing to JFK eight years prior, Nixon is running as the Republican presidential candidate. This time not only does he face Democrat Hubert Humphrey, but the independent segregationist candidate George Wallace threatens to split Nixon’s votes. A west coast outsider who embraces modern media, Nixon aims to capture the hearts of Middle America. But will he succeed this time around?

Join Dominic and Tom for the final instalment of our series on America in 1968, as they dive into the political campaign that would go on to become the prototype for all future campaigns, as traditionally blue states turn red…

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*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*

If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.

Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com

_______

Twitter:

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Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

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The Democratic National Convention is in Chicago, and the incumbent president, Lyndon B. Johnson, has pulled out of the race. Anti-war protestors are flooding the streets of the city, and Johnson continues to press on with the war in Vietnam. Bobby Kennedy’s assassination has turned the Democratic candidacy contest into a two-horse race between Hubert Humphrey and Eugene McCarthy. And while they’re battling inside the convention for delegates, the real fight is taking place on the streets. Dope-smoking youth activists known as the “Yippies” have called for a protest against the Vietnam War, and their threats made in the name of the ‘politics of play’ have been taken seriously by Chicago police, who react with brutal force. Flowers and poems meet truncheons and guns. As DNC votes are being counted, images of these confrontations are broadcasted on newsreels across the nation.

Join Tom and Dominic to discuss a Democratic National Convention that saw Chicago descend into violence and chaos. Listen as they explore what led to one of the most anarchic political conventions, and how it impacted a divided America.

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*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*

If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.

Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com

_______

Twitter:

@TheRestHistory

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

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“Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever!”

George Wallace, Governor of Alabama, was one of the most successful third-party presidential candidates in American history. In 1968, he ran a populist campaign pitching himself against the Civil Rights movement. He pushed to uphold formal structures of white supremacy in the South, forever employing racist dog whistles at his rallies and in the media. He may not have won the presidency, but his approach paved the way for a new, incendiary brand of politics, which permeates American society to this day...

Join Dominic and Tom to discuss George Wallace’s 1968 campaign. They explore the legacy of his political career, how it shaped the modern Republican party, and why the Alabama Governor could be considered the precursor to Donald J. Trump.

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*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*

If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.

Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com

_______

Twitter:

@TheRestHistory

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

_______

*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*

If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.

Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com

_______

Twitter:

@TheRestHistory

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis + Alice Horrell

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

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“What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence and lawlessness, but is love, and wisdom, and compassion toward one another”

As Attorney General during JFK’s presidency, Bobby had often played second fiddle to his older brother. But by 1968, Robert F. Kennedy had become a distinct political leader dedicated to social justice. In March he declared he would run in the primaries to become the Democratic presidential candidate. He galvanised support amongst marginalised communities, young people, and anti-war voters, and in the immediate aftermath of Martin Luther King’s assassination, he gave an emotional impromptu speech to a predominantly Black crowd, mentioning his own brother’s assassination for the first time in public. On the evening of June 4th, it was announced that Bobby had won the California primary. With bleeding palms from shaking so many hands along the campaign trail, he gave a victory speech to a crowded room of supporters in the Ambassador Hotel. But the joy was to come crashing down as tragedy struck the Kennedy family once more…

Listen as Dominic and Tom discuss another of 1968’s American assassinations, and the build up to the moment when Bobby Kennedy died in the arms of a seventeen-year-old kitchen busboy.

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*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*

If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.

Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com

_______

Twitter:

@TheRestHistory

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The peaceful figurehead of the Civil Rights movement in the early 1960s, Dr Martin Luther King had inspired hundreds of thousands to demand equal rights for African Americans. But by 1968, the once uniting leader seemed to be losing popularity, both amongst activists and in the press. As he grappled with being hunted and threatened by the FBI, he was also contending with a new generation of more militant activists who felt that his nonviolent approach was not working. Downtrodden but not defeated, King plans a new Poor People’s Campaign to combat poverty in America. As part of this new focus, he visits Memphis to support striking sanitation workers. The day before his final moments at the Lorraine Motel, he preaches to a crowd, ‘I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land.’

Join Dominic and Tom as they discuss the tragic assassination of Martin Luther King, including the public outcry that ensued, and his more recent legacy as a secular saint in the USA with a dedicated national holiday.

_______

*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*

If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.

Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com

_______

Twitter:

@TheRestHistory

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

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"Tonight I want to speak to you of peace in Vietnam and Southeast Asia.”

On the night of Sunday, 31st of March 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson, after announcing an end to the bombing of North Vietnam, stunned the world by revealing he would not seek the democratic nomination for that year’s presidential election. The seemingly never-ending Vietnam War had already made LBJ hugely unpopular with his progressive base. But now, facing challenges from Eugene McCarthy, the ambiguously anti-war senator from Minnesota, and Robert “Bobby” Kennedy, heir to the Kennedy throne, Johnson had decided to bow out. And so, as the war slowed for a moment, the Democrats would have to decide on the best candidate to take on a certain Richard M. Nixon… 

Join Tom and Dominic in the first episode of our six part series on America in 1968, as they look at the stories of Lyndon B. Johnson, Eugene McCarthy, and how the Vietnam War would come to define them both.

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LIVE SHOWS

*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*

If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.

Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com

_______

Twitter:

@TheRestHistory

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

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“Let us march! Let us march! May impure blood water our fields!”

Written after the declaration of war against Austria in 1792, “La Marseillaise” was born in the provinces of France, away from the Parisian metropole, and immediately became popular as a unifying rallying cry against foreign invaders, and the enemies of the Revolution. It was the “fédérés” from Marseille, instrumental in the storming of the Tuileries Palace, who had first brought the song to the streets of Paris. But how did this uncomprimising, gruesome tune come to resonate with all the various factions within revolutionary France?

Join Tom and Dominic in the final part of season two of The French Revolution, as they uncover the origins of the most famous war song of them all: La Marseillaise.

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*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*

If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.

Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com

_______

Twitter:

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@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis + Aaliyah Akude

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

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The war between revolutionary France and the allied powers of Prussia and Austria has reached fever pitch, and in early August 1792, the latter party threaten a terrible vengeance on Paris should harm be done to the French royal family. But far from calming tensions, this threat puts the King, Marie Antoinette and their children in terrible danger. They’ve been kept in the Tuileries Palace since their failed escape, and on the 10th of August, a frenzied crowd, led by National Guards and “fédérés” from Marseille, storm the palace, massacring the Swiss guards defending the Royal family, as they tear through the halls, in search of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette…

Join Tom and Dominic in the fourth instalment of season two of the Fetch Revolution, as they dive into the chaos and carnage of the storming of the Tuileries.

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Looking for all of our episodes on the French Revolution? Check out The Rest Is History’s French Revolution playlist

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX6W9e1zgsgaG

_______

LIVE SHOWS

*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*

If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.

Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com

_______

Twitter:

@TheRestHistory

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

During the "Ancien Regime", royal executioners held an unholy status, and would strike up fear in the crowds as they walked the streets of Paris. But with the Revolution, the role of executioners in society was reformed, and whilst they lost some of their privileges, they were ushered into to a new, universalist France. And as the Revolution brought forward more and more enemies of the state, executioners were faced with more victims than the axe could handle. This, combined with an ever growing debate around the humanity and dignity of executions, would lead to the invention of a killing machine still used by the French state more than 150 years later…

Join Tom and Dominic in the third part of our second season of the French Revolution, as they look at gruesome methods of execution under the French monarchy, the changing role of executioners, how the Guillotine came to loom so large over the fate of so many…

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Looking for all of our episodes on the French Revolution? Check out The Rest Is History’s French Revolution playlist

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX6W9e1zgsgaG

_______

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*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*

If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.

*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*

Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.

Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com

_______

Twitter:

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Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis + Becki Hills

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

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“You have shaken off the yoke of your despots, but surely this was not to bend the knee before a foreign tyrant…”

It’s January 1792, and one of the largest factions in revolutionary France, the Gironde, is calling for war against Austria. The French people’s hatred of Marie Antoinette has always fuelled suspicion of the Austrians, and at the same time, there has been constant, treacherous correspondence between the French royal family and their European cousins. And so, when one of the prominent members of the Gironde calls to arms in early 1792, little does he realise that the war he wants will haunt Europe for the next 25 years, totally redrawing its map, and costing millions of lives…

Join Tom and Dominic in part two of our second season of the French Revolution, as they dive into the first of many wars to come between Revolutionary France and its European rivals.

_______

Looking for all of our episodes on the French Revolution? Check out The Rest Is History’s French Revolution playlist

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX6W9e1zgsgaG

_______

LIVE SHOWS

*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*

If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.

*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*

Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.

Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com

_______

Twitter:

@TheRestHistory

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis

Editor: Ross Buchanan

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

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Welcome to Season 2 of The French Revolution!

Revolutionary fervour threatens to engulf the streets of Paris, as demonstrators have gathered on the Champ de Mars to sign a petition demanding the removal of the King. Two days prior, the National Assembly had decreed that Louis XVI would remain King under a constitutional monarchy, even after his failed escape to Varennes, an inexcusable betrayal of the French people. The crowd has begun to swell on the Champ de Mars, and two men have already been lynched by the mob. The National Guard, with Lafayette at its head, has been sent to disperse the demonstrators, and a bloody, violent face-off erupts…

Join Tom and Dominic in the first part of our second Season of the French Revolution, as they break down the events of the Champs de Mars Massacre.

_______

Looking for all of our episodes on the French Revolution? Check out The Rest Is History’s French Revolution playlist

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX6W9e1zgsgaG

_______

LIVE SHOWS

*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*

If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.

*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*

Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.

Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com

_______

Twitter:

@TheRestHistory

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis + Aaliyah Akude

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the aftermath of Boudicca’s uprising, the Romans felt they could not withdraw from the British Isles. They sent their most competent fighters and leaders to suppress the indigenous Britons in the south. As the Druids of Wales were defeated, and the resistant Caledonians were massacred, the process of Romanisation in Britain began. London became the urbanised imperial capital, and the Roman love of hot springs saw the development of Bath. And, forty years after their arrival, they finally reached the Highlands, conquering lands as north as Orkney.

Listen as Tom and Dominic discuss how the Romans circumnavigated the British Isles, colonised its lands and returned to Rome as heroes.

_______

LIVE SHOWS

*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*

If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.

*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*

Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.

Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com

_______

Twitter:

@TheRestHistory

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

“Two cities were sacked, eighty thousand of the Romans and of their allies perished, and the island was lost to Rome. Moreover, all this ruin was brought upon by a woman...”

Few figures have statues dedicated to them in the towns they incinerated. But Boudicca was no ordinary figure. With a name that means “she who brings victory”, Boudicca was Rome’s supervillain. She was a freedom fighter who stood up to the greatest imperial power in the world. In 60 AD, Boudicca led her Iceni army to attack Colchester and London, cities left bare and vulnerable without fortifications. But the Romans would not accept such defeats without taking revenge…

Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss the life of the first vivid personality in British history, a fierce tale of a warrior queen.

_______

LIVE SHOWS

*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*

If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.

*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*

Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.

Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com

_______

Twitter:

@TheRestHistory

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Viewed as an idiot by those around him, Claudius felt the need to prove himself. In the century since Caesar had invaded Britain, the mythology surrounding the island had taken hold in Roman imaginations. Stories of sea monsters, terrifying Druids, and human sacrifice by barbarians, instilled fear into the imperial legions. But Claudius was determined, and launched a two-pronged attack on the southeastern coast to immortalise his name as a victor. Accompanied by German mercenaries, Roman soldiers forced their way across the Medway in Kent and headed up the Thames to London. British elites had two options: resist or collaborate… 

Join Tom and Dominic as they piece together, coin by Roman coin, how Claudius conquered Britain in 43 AD.

_______

LIVE SHOWS

*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*

Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.

*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*

If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York. 

Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com

_______

Twitter:

@TheRestHistory

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis

Editor: Aaliyah Akude

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Julius Caesar saw the Britons as brutal savages. Yet the Romans romanticised their lack of civilisation, deeming them as untainted by Mediterranean luxury. In 55 BC, after sending scouts along the Kentish coast, Caesar launched an invasion of the island as part of his Gallic Wars campaign. After a disastrous first attempt marred by storms, the “menacing horde of barbarians” of the English Home Counties asked Caesar for help and he returned with a bigger, stronger army to support their prince. Will this campaign succeed?

Join Tom and Dominic as they explore Caesar’s invasion of Britain and how it entered the orbit of the great imperial power.

_______

LIVE SHOWS

*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*

Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.

*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*

If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York. 

Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com

_______

Twitter:

@TheRestHistory

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis

Editor: Aaliyah Akude

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After lying in state in an open casket, Evita’s corpse is taken down to a secret laboratory in the basement. And as the Argentinian Victor Frankenstein, Dr Ara, busily embalms her body, her ghost continues to haunt the nation. Sightings of her face are reported in obscure places all over the country.

With Evita gone, Colonel Perón embarks upon an affair with a much younger girl and has a creepily paternal romantic relationship with her. Meanwhile, as Perón’s sparkle starts to fade amongst the public, Evita’s body vanishes…

Listen as Dominic and Tom explore the final and most bizarre chapter in the extraordinary story of Evita Perón.

_______

*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*

If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York. 

*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*

Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.

Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com

_______

Twitter:

@TheRestHistory

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The workaholic mother of a nation, Evita’s health deteriorates and she faints at a public event. A self-proclaimed martyr, she seems to be willing to die for Perón and Perónism, and her supporters see her passion. As she continues her public work, her supporters call for her to run as Vice President in the upcoming election - a position of power no woman on Earth has yet held. Evita’s supporters seem to outnumber Colonel Perón’s, with unions organising mass meetings that bring up to 2 million people to the city streets.

As the couple look out at the crowds from the balcony, they get the sense that they have created a monster of a movement that they may have lost control over…

Listen as Tom and Dominic discuss the growing public frenzy that snowballs in Argentina towards the end of Evita’s life.

_______

*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*

If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York. 

*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*

Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.

Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com

_______

Twitter:

@TheRestHistory

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

“There is only one man who can lead any worker’s regime.”

Together, Eva and Colonel Perón built a political movement powered by operatic rhetoric. Perónism promised genuine benefits for the working class, denouncing violence and emphasising ritual and spectacle. Eva embodied the working-class migrant to Buenos Aires that Perón sought to attract, and she increasingly entered the role of his partner both at home and in government.

Ostentatiously flamboyant in her dress sense, how did Evita become a woman of the people who also wore Christian Dior?

Listen as Tom and Dominic unpack how Eva became Evita, the most powerful woman in global politics.

_______

*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*

If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York. 

*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*

Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.

Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com

_______

Twitter:

@TheRestHistory

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett + Anouska Lewis

Editor: Becki Hills

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

An admirer of Hitler and Mussolini, Colonel Perón rose through the ranks during the 1943 military coup in Argentina. Following a disastrous earthquake in 1944, Perón crossed paths with Eva at a fundraising event. Now a successful radio actress, Eva was 20 years his junior but became completely infatuated with him and swiftly removed her romantic rivals. And despite the relationship being unpopular amongst his army comrades, the two grew closer. Meanwhile Peron gathered support amongst trade unions through his rousing, dramatic speeches, and began his journey toward ultimate political power…

Listen as Dominic and Tom discuss how Eva became Perón’s mistress and gradually rose to be seen by his side in the public imagination.

_______

*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*

If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.

*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*

Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.

Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com

_______

Twitter:

@TheRestHistory

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

“Don’t cry for me Argentina, the truth is I never left you.”

Few political figures have been both hailed as a saint and immortalised through an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical. The mythology of Evita Perón continues to permeate through Argentinian society, but what’s the real history of her life?

Eva and her siblings were born out of wedlock and subsequently shunned by the community in her rural village. Losing her father in a car crash at a young age, she grew up with a terrible sense of hurt and a desire for a better life. Cinema was a welcome distraction and soon had a significant influence on Eva. Despite not being the most talented actor, her emotive and monotone voice suited the hugely popular soap operas on the radio in Argentina. But she sought total stardom, and she was willing to move to the capital to find it…

Join Dominic and Tom as they discuss Eva’s escape from a childhood of resentment to the bright lights of Buenos Aires with her sights set on making it as an actor.

_______

*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*

If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.

*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*

Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.

Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com

_______

Twitter:

@TheRestHistory

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It’s August 1944: the Liberation of Paris is underway, and France appears to slowly be extricating herself from Nazi control. But, on the French western shores, in Saint-Malo, the deafening sounds of artillery fire continue to punctuate daily life, with the Germans making a last-ditch attempt to hold the coastal town. And when the U.S. Army arrive to lay siege to the German positions, the last person expected to be among the Allied forces is a photographer, let alone a female one… Until the publication of The Lives of Lee Miller in 1985 by her son, Antony Penrose, very little was known of the woman who forced her way into occupied Europe, and documented the true horrors of the Nazi campaign. Her photographs capturing Nazi evil went around the world, exposing the atrocities of the Holocaust and the harrowing aftermath of the death of Hitler.

Now, her incredible story is being told in a new film, LEE, with Kate Winslet taking on the role of the formidable title character. From a marriage to a man famed for dying himself blue, to a staged photoshoot in Hitler’s bathtub, Join Tom and Dominic as they explore the extraordinary story of Lee Miller.

Joining Winslet is Andy Samberg playing Life Magazine photographer David E. Scherman; Alexander Skarsgård playing English Surrealist painter, photographer, poet and biographer Roland Penrose; Marion Cotillard playing Solange D’Ayen, the fashion director of French Vogue and close friend of Miller’s: Josh O’Connor playing Tony, a young journalist and Andrea Riseborough playing British Vogue Editor Audrey Withers. Only in cinemas from Friday 13th September, book tickets now - https://www.leefilm.co.uk

As always we appreciate your feedback on The Rest Is History to help make the podcast better: https://forms.gle/GymJghf56DFzZ8rAA

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LIVE SHOWS

*The Rest Is History BOOK TOUR*

To celebrate the launch of our second book, “The Rest Is History Returns”, Dominic and Tom will be appearing onstage in both Oxford and Cambridge in September!

*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*

Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.

*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*

If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York. 

Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com

_______

Twitter:

@TheRestHistory

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

“I like an Englishman to look like an Englishman, and beards are foreign and breed vermin. Also depend upon it, they will lead to filthy habits.”

Europe has had a love-hate relationship with facial hair since the Late Middle Ages. In the eleventh century, beards were celebrated as an expression of fertility caused by men’s “hot breath”. Yet by the turn of the twentieth century, a clean shaven man represented the youth and vigour celebrated in corporate culture. But how did the Reformation impact opinions on beards? Why did Peter the Great instate a tax on beards in Russia? How did the Crimean War lead to the popularity of the Victorian beard? And why did The Beatles end up bearded?

Join Dominic and Tom as they discuss the evolution of the modern beard. With a cast of hairy and hairless characters including the bearded witches of Macbeth, Winston Churchill, Jeremy Corbyn, George Best, W. G. Grace, Charles Darwin, and Lord Kitchener…

_______

*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*

If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.

*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*

Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.

Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com

_______

Twitter:

@TheRestHistory

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What did Marcus Aurelius, Jesus, and Ragnar Lothbrok all have in common? Apart from their notorious and symbolic deaths, all three men boasted luscious beards. Throughout history, beards have posed quite the conundrum for all those able to grow them. While some Roman emperors chose to outlaw beards in retaliation to the Greek penchant for hipster stubble, others chose to grow them long and strong to demonstrate their machismo and sexual prowess. The question of “to beard or not to beard” is one which has puzzled men (and women!) over the course of civilisation, leading to hairy battles and questionable postiches but, in this miniseries, Tom and Dominic settle the great debate once and for all.

Join our clean shaven hosts as they wade through the long and scraggly history of the beard. From Alexander the Great’s ingenious beardless marketing strategy to the chinstrap beards of Ancient Egypt, prepare to have your mind blown by the remarkable power of facial hair.

_______

*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*

If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York. 

*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*

Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.

Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com

_______

Twitter:

@TheRestHistory

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

St Crispin’s day, 1415: Henry V stands victorious, after a tremendous defeat of the French forces at the Battle of Agincourt. He is just about to make a historic speech which will be retold by Shakespeare nearly two centuries later. There are mounds of bodies, too many dead for the chroniclers to count. Those who escaped the bloodshed have been taken prisoner back to England, including the young Duke of Orleans, on the day before his twenty-first birthday. And a month later, across the Channel, the Count of Armagnac comes to power in Paris, and rules so brutally that the residents of the French capital start to hope for an English invasion. Henry V is taking no time to rest, and begins planning his next offensive…

Join Tom and Dominic in the fourth instalment of our series on the Hundred Year’s War, as Henry V considers his next move after his triumph at Agincourt.

_______

*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*

If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York. 

*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*

Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.

Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com

_______

Twitter:

@TheRestHistory

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

“We few, we happy few, we band of brothers”.

The Battle of Agincourt in 1415 endures as perhaps the most totemic battle in the whole of English history. Thanks in part to Shakespeare’s masterful Henry V, the myths and legends of that bloody day echo across time, forever enshrining the young Henry as the greatest warrior king England had ever known. So too the enduring idea of the English as plucky underdogs, facing down unfavourable odds with brazen grit. And though the exact numbers of men who fought in the two armies is hotly contested, the prospect was certainly intimidating for the English host looking down upon the vast French force amassed below them the day before the battle. Hungry and weary after an unexpectedly long march, and demoralised by the number of French that would be taking to the field, the situation certainly seemed dire for the English. One man amongst them, however, held true to his belief that the day could still be won: Henry V. An undeniably brilliant military commander, he infused his men with a sense of patriotic mission, convincing them that theirs was truly a divinely ordained task, and therefore in this - and his careful strategic planning the night before the battle - he proves a striking case of one individual changing the course of history. However, the French too had plans in place for the day ahead: total warfare. In other words, to overwhelm the English in a single devastating moment of impact, sweeping the lethal Welsh archers aside. So it was that dawn broke on the 25th of October to the site of King Henry wearing a helmet surmounted by a glittering crown and bearing the emblems of both France and England, astride his little grey horse, and riding up and down his lines of weathered silver clad men, preparing them to stride into legend…then, as the French cavalry began their charge, the sky went black as 75,000 arrows blocked out the sun. What else would that apocalyptic day hold in store?

Join Tom and Dominic as they describe the epochal Battle of Agincourt. From the days building up to it, to the moment that the two armies shattered together in the rain and mud of France. It is a story of courage and cowardice, kings and peasants, blood and bowels, tragedy and triumph. 

_______

*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*

If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York. 

*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*

Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.

Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com

_______

Twitter:

@TheRestHistory

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On the 11th of August 1415, King Henry V of England - an austere, pious, thoughtful and terrifying warlord in only his late-twenties - set sail for France. He embarked in the largest ship ever built on English soil at the head of some 15,000 ships, his nobles, brothers and hordes of Welsh longbow-men in tow. Two days later, they made land, and their target: the Port of Harfleur, a nest of state-sponsored pirates. Henry’s intention was to use it as a spring-board to a wider campaign in France, capitalising on the chaos that raged there, before eventually annexing Normandy. The assault on Harfleur that followed was bloody and brutal. The first Norman town to be pulverised by artillery, the English canons created a hellish scene of smoke and fire. However, the siege went on longer than Henry had hoped, inflicting terrible devastation upon the city and his forces. Furthermore, large numbers of his men were falling sick and their supplies growing thin. Finally, after four long weeks of terrible siege warfare, the city fell. However, a massive French force was now assembling to recapture the fallen city, potentially undermining all the money and men that Henry had already spent on the campaign. With the clock ticking for the English towards the end of 1415, what would Henry’s next move be? First, in a daring move of legendary chivalry, he challenged the portly French Dauphin to a duel, to no avail. So it was that he decided to march right across France and take Calais; a bold public proclamation of his right to the whole of France. Would Henry’s plan prove overly ambitious, or would he get the decisive battle he craved…?

Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss Henry V’s first bloody forays into France, enacting his claim to the French crown that he truly believed was his by divine ordination, and thereby reigniting the tumultuous Hundred Years’ War….

_______

*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*

If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.

*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*

Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.

Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com

_______

Twitter:

@TheRestHistory

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

“Once more unto the breach, dear friends. Once more, we'll close the wall up with our English dead […] And upon this charge, cry God for Harry, England and St. George!”

Such was Henry V’s call to arms at the siege of Harfleur, as written by Shakespeare. The son of the Usurper King, Henry V has decided to take up the English claim to the French throne, thereby putting an end to the truce that had marked a pause in the Hundred Years’ War. And so, in the late summer of 1415, Henry has decided to lay siege to the massive port of Harfleur, in Normandy, a renowned nest of state-sponsored pirates. The English king has waited a long time for this moment, and the odds may never again be so favourable to him:  a civil war looms in France, as the formidable Burgundians, led by John the Fearless, jostle for power with their sworn enemies, the Armagnacs. The powerless French king, Charles VI, and his son, the Dauphin, can do nothing but watch the infighting unfold…

Join Tom and Dominic in the first part of their return to the story of the Hundred Year’s War, as Henry V takes up a decades-old claim to the French throne…

_______

*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*

If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in New York, San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., and Boston.

*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*

Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.

Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com

_______

Twitter:

@TheRestHistory

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The year is 1403, and the Usurper King, Henry IV, faces a seemingly insurmountable challenge to his rule. He has been brought the news that his old friend, Harry “Hotspur” Percy, has betrayed him, and plans to lead his army against the King. Meanwhile, to the West, the revolt in Wales continues, at its head the formidable welsh king Owain Glyndŵr. And even in Scotland, where Henry IV thought he’d settled things down by silencing the terrifying Earl of Douglas, there is more trouble: a kitchen boy is claiming to be Richard II. And having made it halfway up to Scotland with his army to quell the newfound unrest, Henry IV must turn around, and march his men towards Wales, to face Hotspur at Schrewsbury...

Join Tom and Dominic as they dive into the biggest revolt against Henry IV’s rule, the making of his son and heir, Prince Hal, and the fate of the real Sir John Falstaff, abandoned by his dear friend Hal.

_______

*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*

If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York. 

*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*

Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.

Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com

_______

Twitter:

@TheRestHistory

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

"Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown…”

Henry IV has been portrayed as both a shadowy, obscure figure, and a strong king who was loved by his people. Prior to ascending the throne, Henry, the son of John of Gaunt, was admired for his glamour, clemency, courage and strong faith, but these sympathies quickly turned to suspicion when he became a ruling regicide. Indeed, after a failed rebellion in 1388 against Richard II, Henry led a second coup against the king, and successfully usurped the throne in 1399. Once king, keen to gain legitimacy, he delivered his claim to the throne in English, and vowed to respect the will of the people. But he had inherited a divided country, which was surrounded by enemies in France, Scotland and Wales. And, despite being elected to the throne by his peers, and, as some sources claimed, prophesied by Merlin and selected by a greyhound, Henry quickly lost popularity, and himself faced violent rebellions. When the brewing uprising in Northern Wales finally erupted in the autumn of 1400, with the Scots following suit not long thereafter, Henry would need all his allies to stand firmly by his side…

Join Tom and Dominic as they explore the life and reign of Henry IV, an epic tale of plunder, rivalry and jealousy.

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*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*

If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York. 

*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*

Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.

Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com

_______

Twitter:

@TheRestHistory

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The unexpected evolution of Italian food can serve as a tantalising doorway into some of the greatest moments of Italian history: from medieval monarchs, murdered popes, and the Renaissance, to secret societies, and Mussolini’s fascist propaganda. Yet the history of Italian food is also riddled with myths and ambiguities, particularly the rustic, romantic idea of it as deriving in the homes of rural peasants. In truth, though the distinctive culinary identity of different Italian cities endures - rising and falling with the fates of their cosmopolitan foundations - the beloved Italian staples of today bear little resemblance to their historical antecedents. For instance, Venetian food was once renowned for its Middle Eastern spices, and an alarming quantity of eels, sweetbreads and sugar is recorded from a feast in Renaissance Ferrara. When was it, then, that Italian food developed its unique identity and reputation? Can it in any way be traced back to the food of the Roman Empire? Did pasta really originate in China before being brought to Europe by Marco Polo? And, does margarita pizza really originate in the whims of a famous 19th century queen?

In today’s episode, Dominic and Tom are joined by historian John Dickie to indulge in a colourful journey through the piquant history of Italian food, dispelling and corroborating a few enshrined myths and legends as they go…

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*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*

If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York. 

*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*

Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.

Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com

_______

Twitter:

@TheRestHistory

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In Sussex, in 1912, men quarrying in a gravel pit near Piltdown village turned up a human skull. According to Charles Dawson, a lawyer and amateur archeologist with a remarkable track record for finding ancient treasures, it belonged to a palaeolithic man, possibly millions of years old, and was therefore the earliest trace of mankind ever found in England. Greater still, Piltdown man as he came to be known, seemed to be the ‘missing link’ between apes and men. The discovery inflamed and delighted British society, confirming and buttressing dearly held beliefs about the evolution of modern Europeans, and radically transforming understandings of the origins of humanity. In the wake of the find and the widespread corroboration of its authenticity by some of the best academics of the age, further digs were conducted in the area, which unearthed even more wondrous discoveries - a jawbone, primitive tools, and strangest of all, a cricket bat; perhaps the first hint that all was not as it seemed…was the greatest discovery of all time nothing more than an audacious and extraordinarily skilful hoax? And if so, who was the culprit in this grand mystery? 

Join Tom and Dominic, as they describe the most mystifying archaeological discovery in English history, and one of the most unscrupulous tricks of all time, revealing as they do the truth behind the history of mankind.

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*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*

If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York. 

*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*

Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.

Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com

_______

Twitter:

@TheRestHistory

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Twelve months after the dramatic Women’s March on Versailles, the Revolution proper was well into its stride, and while Paris overflowed with a sense of unbridled political freedom, the King and Queen were little more than prisoners in their echoing palace. For the past year Louis XVI had feigned cooperation with the National Assembly, all the while torn by his profound Catholicism and frozen by indecision about how to overcome his predicament. Then at last, following a traumatic experience over the easter of 1791, something changed and the contingency plan formulated several months earlier, was put into action. With the help of a disguised Axen Von Fersen, the royal couple and their children would flee to Belgium in an enormously ostentatious carriage. The date for their escape was set for the 20th of June, but before leaving Louis poured his hatred of the revolution into a letter, which if found would surely spell his political doom…that night the royal family, replete with accomplices, deceptions and disguises, set their audacious plan into action. What ensued was a heart-racing cat-and-mouse thriller of near misses, foolhardy naivety and extraordinary encounters, with appalling consequences…

Join Dominic and Tom for the thrilling conclusion to their astounding series on the early years of the French Revolution. With the King and Queen of France on the run from the nightmare their lives have become, will they make it across the border to freedom? Or, will they get caught and devoured by the ravenous hoards of the Revolution? 

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Looking for all of our episodes on the French Revolution? Check out The Rest Is History’s French Revolution playlist

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX6W9e1zgsgaG

_______

*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*

If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.

*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*

Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.

Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com

_______

Twitter:

@TheRestHistory

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

By the summer of 1789 the different sections of the Revolution were at loggerheads, and the recently created National Assembly riven in two. Both factions, the radicals on the left and the more moderate revolutionaries on the right, upheld different interpretations of how the new system of governance, so firmly rooted in the idea of ‘la nation’, should be organised, particularly as concerned the authority of the King and the power of his veto. Tensions mounted, with many opposed to the idea of even a constitutional monarchy, and disgusted by the National Assembly’s willingness to treat with Louis XVI. None more so than the citizens of Paris, who progressively came to embody an amorphous but growing sense of ‘the people’. By July, there was a widespread feeling that some sort of violence would inevitably break out in the city against the royal family, thanks in part to the rising bread prices. The form it took in October of that year would prove more dramatic than any could have foreseen. After a lavish banquet in Versailles, an outcry began building in the marketplaces of Paris, with a swelling contingent of peasant women decrying the hunger of their children, and blaming it upon the Queen and the vampires of the court. Then, in a move that would change the fate of France and particularly Marie Antoinette forever, the army of women marched on and entered the palace…

Join Tom and Dominic as they describe one of the most terrifying and savage events of the entire French Revolution: the Women’s March on Versailles, which saw the queen - barefoot and sobbing - hostage to a head-hacking mob that clamoured for her entrails.

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Looking for all of our episodes on the French Revolution? Check out The Rest Is History’s French Revolution playlist

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX6W9e1zgsgaG

_______

*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*

If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.

*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*

Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.

Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com

_______

Twitter:

@TheRestHistory

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

“Liberté, égalité, fraternité!”

Alongside violence, the French Revolution is a story of principles and values. It is the ultimate intersection of brutality and Enlightenment idealism, as epitomised by the Fall of the Bastille. So too the creation and implementation of the Declaration of the Rights of Man - a totemic manifesto for the French state, which seemingly embodied a shockingly overt rupture from the past. Not only one of the decisive moments of the French Revolution, the declaration would prove transformative for all world history, and galvanised France as the cradle of of modern nationalism. So, just as the walls of the Bastille were abolished, the words of the document tore down something just as old and once impenetrable: the taint of absolutism, handing sovereignty from the king to the nation. By the 4th of August 1789 this amorphous beast was gripped by a great hysterical, almost paranoid passion, and it was amidst this turmoil that the French Assemblée Constituante voted unanimously to abolish feudalism, in one fell swoop eliminating everything that had come before. What would this consciously manufactured new beginning hold in store for Revolutionary France, or was it merely a bombastic continuation of the past?

Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss the groundbreaking ideas behind the French Revolution, along with the deep history of the ideals its enshrined. So too the stories behind some of its most famous iconography, and the long-term repercussions of this transformative upheaval for the modern world.

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Looking for all of our episodes on the French Revolution? Check out The Rest Is History’s French Revolution playlist

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX6W9e1zgsgaG

_______

*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*

If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.

*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*

Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.

Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com

_______

Twitter:

@TheRestHistory

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

“It was violence that made the revolution revolutionary”.

The storming of the Bastille is viewed by many across the world as a moment of celebration, when the French people were liberated from the shackles of tyranny and royal despotism. Yet, it was also a moment of horrific violence and chaos, culminating in countless acts of blunt, bloody murder. With a widespread sense of social unrest throughout France at the beginning of July 1789, things finally reached a peak following the King’s dismissal of his finance minister, Necker, a great favourite of the people. The arrival of 20,000 troops into Paris to maintain order triggered even greater panic in the streets, with the already febrile atmosphere being whipped into a frenzy by firebrand orators. Finally, with fighting breaking out between the soldiers and the mob in the Vendome, and then spilling over into the Tuileries Gardens, the Royal Commander of Paris gave the order to evacuate the city entirely, leaving it in the hands of the rioters. It was then that the mob, in a final desperate effort to procure gunpowder for its plundered weapons, turned its sites on the Bastille, the ultimate monument to repression …

Join Dominic and Tom as they discuss the apocalyptic Storming of the Bastille fortress, and the truth behind the prison's famously grotesque reputation. Given the gory events that unfolded on that momentous day, was violence innate to the French Revolution from the very beginning - its driving force - and its bloody denouement therefor inevitable?

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Looking for all of our episodes on the French Revolution? Check out The Rest Is History’s French Revolution playlist

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX6W9e1zgsgaG

_______

*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*

If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.

*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*

Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.

Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com

_______

Twitter:

@TheRestHistory

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the summer of 1788, a monstrous storm swept across France, wiping out the crucial wheat harvest. With the nation already in the throes of political and financial calamity, this meteorological disaster - followed by an apocalyptic drought, and latterly the cruellest winter France had ever known - exacerbated the growing sense of catastrophe. With bankruptcy declared that August and unemployment record high, all eyes turned to Jacques Necker, the newly appointed finance minister. However, the amalgamation of political and financial crisis, the cultural atmosphere of virtue and passion, and the rising social unrest had already contrived to destabilise the situation permanently. By March there was food rioting, law and order had broken down in the countryside, and in April the bloodiest day of the revolution so far erupted in Paris. At last, in June, the Estates General met for the first time since 1614-15, and the mounting pressure to replace the traditional Three Estates with a single assembly resolved itself into the formation of the National Assembly; a body determined to take the fate of the nation into its own hands. With the elements gathering against them, what will Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette do? 

Join Dominic and Tom as they recount the dramatic series of calamities that unravelled the nation and spiralled into the infamous Tennis Court Oath of June 1789, and the Revolution itself. From natural disasters and bread riots, and financial ruin, to political instability, Dr Guillotin, and disreputable republican firebrands….

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Looking for all of our episodes on the French Revolution? Check out The Rest Is History’s French Revolution playlist

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX6W9e1zgsgaG

_______

*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*

If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York. 

*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*

Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.

Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com

_______

Twitter:

@TheRestHistory

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

With seismic antecedents such as the Glorious Revolution in England and the American War of Independence, what was it about the French Revolution that saw it become arguably the most important episode in all early modern political history? And what unique combination of factors converged to unleash this colossal, world-shaking event; the paradigmatic example of a people trying to reshape their society? By the start of the 18th century, France was the largest kingdom in continental Europe, and a powerhouse of agriculture, trade, and military might. But it was also a multilayered and very complex machine, still heavily founded in its ancient hierarchies and the dominion of the ancien régime. The King, Louis XVI, though in no way despotic and in some ways an enlightened man, did not have the strength to fix the creaking system he had inherited. And while the 18th century was an age of enormous dynamism, energy and modernity into which a new discourse of the self had been born, it was also a time of terrible violence in France, long before the revolution. The nation had also been running up stratospheric debts ever since the 1720s, and the poverty of the monarchy - the plight of every 18th century monarch - was exacerbated by its efforts to fund the American War against the British. Finally, the unravelling situation came to a head when, in 1786, Louis XVI was confronted with the news that the looming financial abyss had finally engulfed France, triggering a series of events that, from 1787, would unleash the doom-spiral of the revolution, and lead to his eventual overthrow…  

Join Dominic and Tom as they discuss the causes behind the French Revolution. From the innovative, enlightened culture of 18th century France, set beside its enduringly hierarchical and deeply violent society, the amiable but feeble Louis XVI with his clueless finance ministers, to the American Revolution, financial cataclysms, and angry mobs. 

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Looking for all of our episodes on the French Revolution? Check out The Rest Is History’s French Revolution playlist

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX6W9e1zgsgaG

_______

*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*

If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.

*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*

Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.

Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com

_______

Twitter:

@TheRestHistory

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In August 1785 a shocking affair came to light which would prove so detrimental to the reputation and standing of the French King Louis XVI, and more especially his already unpopular wife, Queen Marie Antoinette, that it would become a decisive moment in the rising tide of the French Revolution. It concerned a gaudy but incalculably expensive diamond necklace commissioned by Louis XV for his mistress, Madame du Barry. Embroiled in the affair was a young prostitute by the name of Nicole Le Guay d’Oiva with an uncanny resemblance to the Queen, a naive Cardinal named Louis-René de Rohan, desperate to return to Marie Antoinette’s good graces, an aristocratic confidence trickster, Jeanne de la Motte, and a Freemason occultist, Alessandro Cagliostro. The web of lies and deceptions that they wove - in many ways capitalising upon the simmering tensions of court life at Versailles - and the scandal that subsequently erupted, would inflame the entire nation.

Join Tom and Dominic as they divulge, gem by glittering, salacious gem, the twists and turns of the famous Affair of the Diamond Necklace. An intrigue of such devilish guile and duplicity, with so colourful a cast of characters, that it near bellies belief. But also, with repercussions for the French monarchy that would destabilise it forever….

_______

Looking for all of our episodes on the French Revolution? Check out The Rest Is History’s French Revolution playlist

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX6W9e1zgsgaG

_______

*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*

If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.

*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*

Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.

Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com

_______

Twitter:

@TheRestHistory

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The French Revolution is one of the great seismic events of global history. A devouring conflagration of bloodshed, violence and utopianism, it changed France and then latterly the whole of Europe forever. Yet, amidst the panoply of colossal, colourful names that defined this cataclysmic event, few have endured as iconically as that of Marie Antoinette, the Queen of France, who has in many ways come to embody the revolution in the popular imagination. Yet, from the moment of her arrival from Austria at the tender age of fifteen, Marie Antoinette was a contentious figure in France, with rumours circulating throughout her life of her insatiable sexual appetite and frivolity, her sapphic proclivities, and even her vampirism. But who was the real Marie Antoinette - voraciously decadent 'it' girl and snob or a well-meaning but naive scapegoat? Under what circumstances did she come to marry the Dauphin, the future Louis XVI, and to what extent did she truly spark the French Revolution, with her calls to “let them eat cake!”?

Join Tom and Dominic for the first instalment of their magnificent sweep through the outbreak and first years of the French Revolution, as they discuss the early life and character of one of its most celebrated and lambasted figures - an icon of style, a beacon of whimsical, bucolic giddiness, a rapacious monster - Marie Antoinette.

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Looking for all of our episodes on the French Revolution? Check out The Rest Is History’s French Revolution playlist

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX6W9e1zgsgaG

_______

*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*

If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.

*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*

Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.

Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com

_______

Twitter:

@TheRestHistory

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

“The lamps are going out all over Europe, we shall not see them lit again in our lifetime”

In the early days of August 1914, the British press has become increasingly vocal about the prospect of war breaking out amongst the great European powers. But the Kaiser still believes he can count on his ambassador in London, and his dear cousin, George V, to make sure Britain stays out of the war, giving the Germans an easy go at the French. And a telegram from the British capital apparently brings the best possible news: Britain declares itself neutral, and will make sure that France does the same…

Join Tom and Dominic in the final instalment of our series on the outbreak of the First World War, as the storm clouds of war finally reach Western Europe…

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LIVE SHOWS

*The Rest Is History BOOK TOUR*

To celebrate the launch of our second book, “The Rest Is History Returns”, Dominic and Tom will be appearing onstage in both Oxford and Cambridge in September!

*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*

Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.

*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*

If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York. 

Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com

_______

Twitter:

@TheRestHistory

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

“We have been forced to draw the sword”.

Following the expiry of Austria’s Ultimatum on Saturday 25th July 1914, the Kaiser and the Tsar - friends and cousins, long desirous of peace between their two nations - found themselves in a new and highly precarious situation. Even so, there was still a widespread sense across Europe that war could be avoided, with Sir Edward Grey determined to mediate between Serbia, Russia, Austria and Germany. His efforts would be frustrated when, a month after the assassination, emperor Franz Joseph finally signed the declaration of war on Serbia. That same afternoon the power brokers of St. Petersburg were urging a reticent Tsar to declare war. Then, in the early hours of the following day, there was a mighty explosion outside Belgrade, where a contingent of Serbians, embroiled in the assassination of the Archduke, had blown up a major railway bridge connecting Belgrade to Austria. Following this, there emerged from the darkness three Austro-Hungarian warships, their sights set on revenge….

Join Dominic and Tom as they describe the most dramatic day in the lead up to the First World War so far. With the world hovering on the edge of a gaping precipice, the British cabinet subsequently met again to discuss Germany’s next course of action, their thoughts inevitably turning to “plucky little Belgium”…

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*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*

If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.

*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*

Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.

Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com

_______

Twitter:

@TheRestHistory

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On the 24th of July 1914, in London, the Liberal British Cabinet met to hear the Foreign Secretary, Sir Edward Grey, read them the Ultimatum handed to Serbia by the Austro-Hungarian Empire the day before. The world held its breath, awaiting Serbia’s response. With Germany determined to stand by Austria, and the French against them, focus now turned turned to Britain. Historically a German ally despite their naval race in 1913, it had recently adopted a policy of “splendid isolation”, its enormous empire having in some ways been something of a millstone, forcing them into protective alliances with other powers with which they may not otherwise have aligned. Regardless, the cabinet’s response to the Ultimatum was one of unanimous shock, with Sir Grey himself - a man of languid superiority - especially worried by the situation simmering in Europe. How, then, would Britain and the other great powers of Europe respond to the Ultimatum? And graver still, what would Serbia do?

Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss the entangled web of European diplomacy in 1914, the British reaction to Austria’s Ultimatum, and the fascinating, comical and often deeply impressive cast of characters operating matters behind the scenes, as the countdown to war begun.

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*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*

If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.

*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*

Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.

Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com

_______

Twitter:

@TheRestHistory

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On the 20th of July 1914 the heads of state of two great European powers - France and Russia - met in St Petersburg. Little did they know, though they may have suspected, that the Austrians were simultaneously writing up an Ultimatum, and waiting for the departure of the French to hand it to Serbia. Russia, at that time a vast continental empire under the leadership of the conservative, nervous Tsar Nicholas II, posed a major threat to the Austrians. It had modernised quickly and was in a far more confident position than it had been ten years earlier. Moreover, it had invested interests in the Balkans - the axis of their grain reserves - and little sympathy for the Austrians and their assassinated Archduke. Meanwhile, France felt itself to be a country in decline, long the whipping boy of Europe, and threatened by Germany - the growing, encroaching industrial shadow on its border. The time had come to recover French prestige in the world, and a war in the Balkans, guaranteeing the intervention of their most useful ally, Russia, may have seemed the answer…So it was that in the wake of their summit, both powers parted having cemented their alliance, eager to drive Britain into the conflict with them, and determined take a firm hand with whatever broke out in the Balkans. Three days later, Austria delivered its Ultimatum to Serbia...

Join Dominic and Tom as they discuss the intrigues and interests of the formidable Franco-Russian alliance, their historical relationship with the Austrians, and the part they played in bringing the apocalyptic First World War to fruition. Also, the moment that Austria-Hungary finally dealt Serbia its inflammatory Ultimatum, and their response to it. With time ticking, the thunder clouds of war were closing in.

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LIVE SHOWS

*The Rest Is History BOOK TOUR*

To celebrate the launch of our second book, “The Rest Is History Returns”, Dominic and Tom will be appearing onstage in both Oxford and Cambridge in September!

*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*

Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.

*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*

If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York. 

Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com

_______

Twitter:

@TheRestHistory

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the wake of the cataclysmic assassination of Franz Ferdinand on the 28th of June 1914, in Austria, the long percolating question of what to do about Serbia, reached a climax. At last, they had been handed an opportunity to take decisive action. On Sunday 5th of July an emissary of the the old and embattled emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria, arrived in a deserted Berlin with letters for Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany. Their contents would change the course of world history forever. Originally received with uncharacteristic sanguinity and caution, the Kaiser returned from a hearty lunch that afternoon with a response to the emperor’s call for war against Serbia: Germany would back Austria absolutely, on top of which Wilhelm urged his ally to act with haste. What, then, were his motives? Was the Kaiser driven by a hunger for world domination, was it his hostility towards the British or was he spurred on by his personal sense of loss over the brutal assassination of his friend, and his wife? Whatever the case, Germany then issued Austria with the notorious Blank Cheque that would definitively set Europe upon the road to war.

Join Dominic and Tom as they plot out the events that followed from the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, and the first momentous steps towards a world war that even after the Austrian Ultimatum was finally handed to Serbia; none of the major players in that ruinous game, had any sense would take place…

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*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*

If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York. 

*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*

Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.

Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com

_______

Twitter:

@TheRestHistory

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

By the end of July 1914, the world hovered on the edge of a cataclysmic world war; Austria was at war with Serbia, Russia with Germany, and an ultimatum had been handed to Belgium. The July crisis had resolved itself in the most calamitous way possible. But how did this state of affairs erupt from the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, Sophie, in Sarajevo a month earlier? Even in the wake of their deaths war did not seem inevitable, with diplomats and politicians such as the British Foreign Secretary Sir Edward Grey manoeuvring to douse the flames kindled by the Serbian assassin Gavrilo Princip. The fires would, however, prove unquenchable, thanks to the implosion of of the Balkan powder keg beside a declining, desiccated Austro-Hungarian Empire, long fearful of Serbia, the rise of Germany under the eccentric Kaiser, as an industrious powerhouse to rival Britain, and the complex alliances and treaties that forbade the Great Powers any retreat from the coming inferno…

Join Dominic and Tom as they set out upon Europe’s road to the First World War - the War to End All Wars - and explain how that devouring conflagration, which would see the end of the world as people knew it before 1914, came to pass.

_______

LIVE SHOWS

*The Rest Is History BOOK TOUR*

To celebrate the launch of our second book, “The Rest Is History Returns”, Dominic and Tom will be appearing onstage in both Oxford and Cambridge in September!

*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*

Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.

*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*

If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York. 

Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com

_______

Twitter:

@TheRestHistory

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Archduke Franz Ferdinand has arrived in Sarajevo for a military inspection, alongside his wife, Sophie, on the 28th of June 1914. Unbeknownst to them, six assassins, including Gavrilo Princip, line the route of the motorcade, from Sarajevo train station to the town hall. Having completed the inspection, the Archduke faces a first assassination attempt on the way to the town hall, as a bomb, thrown at his car by one of the conspirators, narrowly misses, wounding more than 15 people. Although clearly perturbed by the assassination attempt, Franz Ferdinand decides to continue with his day as planned, thus sealing his fate…

Join Tom and Dominic in the final instalment of our series on the murder of the Franz Ferdinand, as they delve into the finals hours of his life, and look at the series of poor decisions that would lead to Gavrilo Princip completing his mission, and going down in infamy…

_______

*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*

If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.

*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*

Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.

Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com

_______

Twitter:

@TheRestHistory

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Archduke Franz Ferdinand, as heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, was one of the most important men in the world. But he was a lonely man, not helped by the fact that, in spite of custom and tradition, he had chosen for wife Sophie, an aristocrat who nonetheless was not noble enough to marry a Habsburg Archduke. Public humiliation, enforced by the Emperor himself, would plague them for the rest of their lives. In an attempt to show a Habsburg presence in the Balkans, Franz Ferdinand and Sophie had been convinced to undertake a military inspection in Sarajevo, amidst rising nationalist tensions in the area. And for once, they would be allowed to perform their public duties together, as a couple. But, after the electricity went down in his train on the way there, the Archduke could feel something sinister was in the making…

Join Tom and Dominic in the third part of our series on the assassination that sent millions of men to war, as they discuss how Archduke Franz Ferdinand became heir, his strained relationship with his uncle, the Emperor, shooting parties with Kaiser Wilhem II and George V, and why he went to Sarajevo with his wife, Sophie…

_______

*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*

If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.

*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*

Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.

Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com

_______

Twitter:

@TheRestHistory

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Gavrilo Princip, having been sent to school in Sarajevo, has become mixed up with the wrong crowd, and is now entangled in a secret Serbian nationalist organisation, the Black Hand. Hoping to be more involved in the struggle for a greater Yugoslavia, he’s left for Belgrade, and after a few years, sets in motion a plot, supported by his underground network. The Austro-Hungarian emperor is on his deathbed, and now is the perfect time to eliminate his heir, Franz Ferdinand, and spread chaos across the Balkans…

Join Tom and Dominic in the second part of our series on the murder that sent shockwaves through the world, as they look at the simmering tensions in the Balkans and the wider Habsburg Empire, the various nefarious groups conspiring for power and revolution, and the young man at the heart of it all.

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*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*

If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York. 

*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*

Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.

Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com

_______

Twitter:

@TheRestHistory

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to one of the world’s greatest empires, in June 1914, set in motion a series of events that would culminate in the First World War, where more than 15 million people would lose their lives. Franz Ferdinand’s assassin, Gavrilo Princip, did not share the same illustrious lineage. A Bosnian serb of humble origins who dreamed of a greater Yugoslavia, he was prepared to do anything to help advance his cause, and free his country from the clutches of the Austro-Hungarian Empire…

Join Tom and Dominic in the first part of our series on history’s most consequential assassination, as they dive into rural Serbia, early 1900s Sarajevo, and the life of Gavrilo Princip, a boy who would join the Black Hand, a sinister, mysterious underground organisation, and sow the seeds of world war with two shots of his gun.

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*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*

If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York. 

*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*

Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.

Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com

_______

Twitter:

@TheRestHistory

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

To coincide with the re-release of Dynasty in audiobook, now with Tom Holland himself narrating, we have the book’s introduction for you to enjoy.

Dynasty, the sequel to Rubicon, is a dazzling portrait of Rome's first imperial dynasty, tracing the full astonishing story of its rule of the world. Ranging from the great capital rebuilt in marble by Augustus to the dank and barbarian-haunted forests of Germany, it is populated by a spectacular cast: murderers and metrosexuals, adulterers and druids, scheming grandmothers and reluctant gladiators.

Dynasty’s re-released audiobook, narrated by our very own Tom Holland, is OUT NOW in the UK.

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Dynasty continues Rubicon's story, opening where that book ended: with the murder of Julius Caesar. This is the period of the first and perhaps greatest Roman Emperors and it's a colorful story of rule and ruination, running from the rise of Augustus through to the death of Nero. Holland's expansive history also has distinct shades of I Claudius, with five wonderfully vivid (and in three cases, thoroughly depraved) Emperors—Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero—featured, along with numerous fascinating secondary characters. Intrigue, murder, naked ambition and treachery, greed, gluttony, lust, incest, pageantry, decadence—the tale of these five Caesars continues to cast a mesmerizing spell across the millennia.

_______

*The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.*

If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York. 

*The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall*

Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history’s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven.

Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com

_______

Twitter:

@TheRestHistory

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

From the turn of the 20th century, election campaigns - though still replete with politicians behaving badly - have evolved. They have become less mass-participation events or festivals, and receded, with the majority of the population growing increasingly indifferent. Though, following Nixon and Kennedy’s presidential campaigns in the 1960’s, there seeped across the Atlantic a sense that elections were a “race”, which could actively alter the outcome of an election rather than merely acting as a summoning call to predetermined voters. However, the gaffs endured. For instance, Winston Churchill’s famously controversial speech in 1945, during the election that he later lost to the politically adept Clement Attlee; Harold Wilson’s large crowd of hecklers during his 1964 campaign, and John Major's infamous soap-box orations. Then, with the landmark election of 1983, Margaret Thatcher revolutionised campaigning strategy by capitalising on television. This trend has endured through the various campaigns of her successors, many in their way just as dysfunctional, derisory, and even comical as those of their early predecessors.

Join Dominic and Tom as, with a week to go until Britain enters the polls, they discuss the evolution of campaigning from the 20th century through to the present day. They reveal in glorious technicolour who have been the most effective campaigners of British politics; who the worst, and why. With a cast of characters including Clement Attlee and Winston Churchill, Margaret Thatcher and Harold Wilson, Tony Blair, Boris Johnson, Jeremy Corbyn and Ed Davey; they reveal some of the funniest, and most shocking election gaffs of all time....

EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal ➼ https://nordvpn.com/restishistory Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee!

*The Rest Is History LIVE in 2024*

Tom and Dominic are back onstage this summer, at Hampton Court Palace in London!

Buy your tickets here: therestishistory.com

Twitter:

@TheRestHistory

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

"Good God I am shot! I shall die!"

The colourful kaleidoscope of British elections from 1265 to their early 20th century incarnation, has seen some of the most critical, shocking, and downright farcical moments of western democracy. None more so than during the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, when, following the dawn of party politics in the 1690’s, violence and “treating” - a means of enticing voters with raucous, drunken, glutenous street parties - as tools of political persuasion, rose to the fore. Few episodes encapsulate this more admirably than the election of 1698, which saw Whig candidates driving down their Tory opponents with hordes of hired horsemen, cudgelling them as they went. In 1705 - a year that saw party politics truly take shape and the early shoots of the culture wars - the Tories had their revenge, marching on the Whigs of Coventry armed with halberd's…the madness continued into the Victorian era, despite the expanding franchise and a widespread sense of Gladstonian rectitude. In 1865, for example, a good humoured ruckus between a cheerful liberal and a keen conservative resulted in a fatal shot to the mouth. The murderer was partially pardoned on the basis that he had been suffering from “election fever”…these are but a few incidents in the colourful kaleidoscope of election madness.

Join Dominic and Tom as they discuss in titillating detail the highlights of history’s greatest, bawdiest and most bombastic pre-20th century elections. From murder, duelling MPs, hooliganism, and Hogarthian street carnivals, to cat throwing, pub invasions, mass kidnappings and charging grenadiers. Are there echoes of these episodes in the election antics of today? 

EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal ➼ https://nordvpn.com/restishistory Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee!

*The Rest Is History LIVE in 2024*

Tom and Dominic are back onstage this summer, at Hampton Court Palace in London!

Buy your tickets here: therestishistory.com

Twitter:

@TheRestHistory

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The image of Saint George astride his horse, sword and spear in hand, slaying a dragon, is one of the most iconic iconographical spectacles of all time. But what was the historical truth of this deeply mythologised figure? The conventional take on his story is well known: once, long ago, there lived a pagan king who refused to honour the one God. As punishment, a terrible dragon was sent to ravage his lands, and his daughter sent to supplicate the beast. Until, the saintly George rode up to save the girl and the king’s soul…herein lies an important feature of the historical George: his piety, with the earliest sources casting him as a Christian martyr from Cappadocia, gruesomely tortured and killed in the 3rd century BC. Over time the legend has changed and evolved; from the courts of English monarchs such as Edward I and Henry VIII, who celebrated his chivalry to buttress their regimes, to his many religious and ideological detractors. Throughout it all, though, George stands apart from the ranks of Christian saints. But why? 

Join Tom and Dominic as they trace the historical Saint George and his famous slaying of the dragon. From the earliest accounts of him in the Near East, to the cults of the medieval era, the reformation, Tudor pageantry, and the introduction of the St George’s flag. Fearsome 17th century dragons, mythical beasts, and miraculous resurrections all feature…

EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal ➼ https://nordvpn.com/restishistory Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee!

*The Rest Is History LIVE in 2024*

Tom and Dominic are back onstage this summer, at Hampton Court Palace in London!

Buy your tickets here: therestishistory.com

Twitter:

@TheRestHistory

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

"When dragons flew to war… everything burned. I do not wish to rule over a kingdom of ash and bone."

Dragons - the most compelling of mythical beasts - are one of the most vivid creations of all human imagination, and their enduring resonance is captivatingly displayed by their role in George R.R. Martin’s House of the Dragon and Game of Thrones. But how did the legend of the dragon, prominent across the world, evolve into the modern incarnation embodied by Rhaenyra Targaryen’s golden Syrax? And what is the difference between dragons, wyverns and wyrms, the traces of which persist in Damon’s reptilian Caraxes? 

Canonical dragons are the realisation of four main traditions: the serpents of the Greco-Roman World, the fortune-bringers of the Chinese emperors, the demonic beasts of the Bible, and the greedy gold-hoarders of Norse mythology, as seen in the tale of Beowulf. 

The most famous heir of this tradition is J.R.R. Tolkien’s avaricious Smaug, but as in Tolkien’s Middle Earth, the dragons in Martin’s Westeros represent the dangers of uncontrolled power and humans’ capacity to abuse it. Perhaps, then, they have long served as avatars for humanity’s deepest fears about the world, with their manifestation in every age and culture tellingly symbolic….

Join Tom and Dominic as they interweave the many myths and traditions surrounding that most spectacular of beasts: the dragon, and trace its fascinating progression from the wingless creatures of early antiquity, to the mighty, complex creatures who fight for mastery of Westeros alongside their Targaryen riders, in George R.R. Martin's House of the Dragon. 

Watch House of the Dragon season 2 on Sky. Go to sky.com to find out more.

Twitter:

@TheRestHistory

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

To coincide with the re-release of Rubicon in audiobook, now with Tom Holland himself narrating it, we have the book’s introduction for you to enjoy.

Rubicon is a story of incomparable drama. This was the century of Julius Caesar, the gambler whose addiction to glory led him to the banks of the Rubicon, and beyond; of Cicero, whose defence of freedom would make him a byword for eloquence; of Spartacus, the slave who dared to challenge a superpower; of Cleopatra, the queen who did the same.

Rubicon’s re-released audiobook, narrated by our very own Tom Holland, is OUT NOW in the UK.

 _____

The Roman Republic was the most remarkable state in history. What began as a small community of peasants camped among marshes and hills ended up ruling the known world. Rubicon paints a vivid portrait of the Republic at the climax of its greatness – the same greatness which would herald the catastrophe of its fall. 

It is a story of incomparable drama. This was the century of Julius Caesar, the gambler whose addiction to glory led him to the banks of the Rubicon, and beyond; of Cicero, whose defence of freedom would make him a byword for eloquence; of Spartacus, the slave who dared to challenge a superpower; of Cleopatra, the queen who did the same.

Tom Holland brings to life this strange and unsettling civilization, with its extremes of ambition and self-sacrifice, bloodshed and desire. Yet alien as it was, the Republic still holds up a mirror to us. Its citizens were obsessed by celebrity chefs, all-night dancing and exotic pets; they fought elections in law courts and were addicted to spin; they toppled foreign tyrants in the name of self-defence. Two thousand years may have passed, but we remain the Romans’ heirs.

*The Rest Is History LIVE in 2024* 

Tom and Dominic are back onstage THIS SUNDAY, at Hampton Court Palace in London! Buy your tickets here: therestishistory.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 972AD a princess of the Byzantine Empire was sent by her uncle, the Roman emperor in Constantinople, to marry the son of Otto the Great - Emperor of the Latin West. A tantalising and formidable figure, Theophanu became a major player in one of the most tumultuous and mysterious periods of history. At the end of the 10th century, the world was still reeling  from the cataclysmic implosion of the Roman Empire. Into the vacuum it left, three great powers reared their heads: the Empire of Islam, the Byzantines, and a Latin West in which barbarian kingdoms tussled to build themselves up over the rubble of Rome. It was also a time in which women had never wielded greater power, from behind the throne and even, before it. Following the death of her father-in-law, therefore, Theophanu - as the anointed wife of an emperor - became an Imperatrix Augusta, and in this capacity carved out a mighty new role for herself. As Rome’s heir’s battled for supremacy, Theophanu, with her competence and sophistication, would fight to see her son named the final, and much mythologised Emperor of Rome. Would she succeed?

Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss Theophanu: empress of the apocalypse. From clashing empires, warring queens, and lascivious Popes, to court politics and the invention of the fork; all in a time of armageddon.  

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*The Rest Is History LIVE in 2024*

Tom and Dominic are back onstage this summer, at Hampton Court Palace in London!

Buy your tickets here: therestishistory.com

Twitter:

@TheRestHistory

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

"His clothes seemed to melt into each other with the perfection of their cut and the quiet harmony of their colour. Without a single point of emphasis, everything was distinguished"

The suit has long served as the official attire of men in Britain, Europe and the Western World. Traditionally the uniform of the elites and an indicator of class, its purpose and design has evolved over time. Notably, in the great sweep of clothing throughout human history - from the Roman toga to the ancient Egyptian shendyt - the suit is unusual for the way that it hugs the body, rather than hanging off it. What then is the origin of this most venerable of fashions? And why has it conventionally been so much more constrained and less flamboyant than women’s clothing? The genesis of the suit dates back to 14th century Latin Christendom, a period of rapid innovation and evolution in clothing, though in England its symbolic resonance emerged during the Civil War, when the style of one’s dress became emblematic of ideology. Remarkably, however, the exact moment of its invention is recorded when, in the wake of the Great Fire of London, fears for God’s wrath and the economy, saw Charles I announce the introduction of a new design for his nobles. From this moment onwards the suit has been woven into some of the great ideological movements, moments, and characters of history.

Join Tom and Dominic as they travel through the glamorous, colourful and often adventurous history of the suit. From Chaucer’s England and the Black Death, fashion feuds between Kings, through the Napoleonic Wars, into the Highwaymen and Pirates of the 18th century; Beau Brummell and the rise of the dandy, the macaronis and the fop, right into the illustrious origins of Savile Row, and some of the suit’s famous contemporary champions…

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*The Rest Is History LIVE in 2024*

Tom and Dominic are back onstage this summer, at Hampton Court Palace in London!

Buy your tickets here: therestishistory.com

Twitter:

@TheRestHistory

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 1870 the German archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann - a man of remarkable energy, desperately fascinated with Helen of Troy - discovered in Turkey the burnt remains of what he claimed to be the legendary city of Troy, and with it, a horde of gold and treasure which he attributed to Helen. Following this breakthrough, he went in search of another, more obscure prize: Mycenae, one of the most powerful city-states in ancient Greece, and the dominion of Agamemnon, husband of Helen’s sister, Clytemnestra. A man whose family was dogged by incest, dark curses, vengeance and cannibalism, Agamemnon mercilessly sacrificed his daughter on the eve of the Trojan Wars. But this would unleash a terrible vengeance from Clytemnestra, and set in motion one of the great stories of Greek tragedy…

Join Tom and Dominic as they unveil the life of Clytemnestra, one of the most potent and blood-soaked women in Greek mythology, and tell the story of an amateur archaeologist’s hunt for her and Helen.

EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal ➼ https://nordvpn.com/restishistory Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee!

*The Rest Is History LIVE in 2024*

Tom and Dominic are back onstage this summer, at Hampton Court Palace in London!

Buy your tickets here: therestishistory.com

Twitter:

@TheRestHistory

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

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The story of Helen of Troy, her remarkable birth and her infamous love affair with Paris, the Trojan prince, resounds across the centuries. A figure of condemnation, pity and tragedy, her beauty set in motion the most legendary literary conflict of all time: the Trojan Wars. Yet, Helen’s story reaches far beyond Homer and the Iliad. From her godly parentage and the egg from which she hatched, to her marriage to the king of Sparta and her abduction to Troy, Helen crossed paths with the greatest figures of Greek mythology. But in a story told almost entirely by men, what then is the truth of Helen? Was her fabled life one of abuse and oppression, or was she the mistress of her own fate? And could it be that she did in fact really exist?

Join Tom and Dominic as they journey through the life of Helen of Troy, into worlds of myth and legend, and explore the significance of this most iconic of women - both for the world of the Ancient Greeks, and our world today. 

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"I will bury my heart, at Wounded Knee"

With Native American culture in free fall in the years following their triumph at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, the rise of the Ghost Dance - a form of spiritual expression that promised liberty from the oppression of 19th century American politics, modernisation and mass entertainment - brought a new hope to the Sioux. Even so, the once great war chieftain Sitting Bull, unable to see visions int the dance, and having allowed himself to be seduced by Buffalo Bill and the mass entertainment industry, found his authority in the Reservation waning. Meanwhile, a plan was being concocted to do away for him once and for all…his fate would set in motion a tragic chain of events that would culminate in a terrible, barbaric massacre at Wounded Knee Creek, where, amidst the bathetic winter snows, it seems that the Lakota had finally met their end. 

Join Dominic and Tom for the epic conclusion to their mighty saga on the Lakota Sioux and the American Indian Wars, as they discuss the fate of Sitting Bull, the Ghost Dancers, and their last stand at the terrible Wounded Knee massacre. 

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Following the tragic death of Crazy Horse and the ruthless cessation of the Sioux way of life, the last of the great Native American leaders were gradually picked off or repressed by the U.S. Government. Few though had so pitiful a fate as the once mighty Lakota War Chieftain, Sitting Bull. Having fled to Canada in search of peace from the relentless harrowing of his people, Sitting Bull finally returned and arrived at the Standing Rock Reservation in 1883. He was unprepared, however, for the changes wrought upon his people. With the explosion of railroads and the decimation of the already flailing buffalo populations, the Great Plains had been transformed into a desolate, barbed wasteland. While, the Native Americans within the reservations were increasingly coerced into Christianity by missionaries, or controlled by Federal agents. Then, news reached Sitting Bull and his people of a messianic figure from beyond the Rocky Mountains, who would come to liberate them from their plight. With him he brought the answer to their troubles: the Ghost Dance. Would it see the drums of war sound once more? 

Join Dominic and Tom as they discuss the life of Sitting Bull in the years following his victory at the Little Bighorn: the destruction of the Plains, his time with the infamous Buffalo Bill, and the birth of the mystical, incendiary Ghost Dance. 

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Though the Battle of the Little Bighorn seemed for the triumphant Lakota and their allies - the largest gathering of Plains Indians ever assembled - a miraculous victory, it was for them the beginning of the end. A great council was held near the battlefield in which they made the fateful decision to split up. Meanwhile, in Washington, Custer’s death and the military defeat of the army was being politicised, and the public rallied against the Lakota. Red Cloud, their political leader through so many of their struggles, was replaced with a puppet interloper. Then, during the winter of 1877, a contingent of ruthless and fiercely effective U.S. officers, including General Crook and General Miles, chased and harried the retreating Sioux contingents through the snows, leaving them starving, beleaguered and desperate. At last, in March 1877 the once formidable war chiefs Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull found themselves cornered, and their people left with little choice but to admit defeat. What then would be their fate?

Join Dominic and Tom as they discuss the annihilation of the Plains Indians and the dissolution of their extraordinary culture and nomadic way of life, along with the tragic death and downfall of one of the most mesmerising and mysterious characters of the entire story: Crazy Horse. 

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What happened between the moment that George A. Custer dispatched a trumpeter with his famous final plea for back-up, and the gruesome discovery of his forces at the Little Bighorn? Certainly, the morning of the 26th of June 1876 found the overwhelmed Major Reno and what remained of his men, along with Captain Benteen, gathered atop a hill, bloody, dehydrated, surrounding by putrefying corpses, and mystified as to the whereabouts of Custer. And the nightmarish ordeal of Reno's clash with the Lakota and their allies was not yet over. Gunfire, carbines and the whiz of arrows echoed in the distance, while below them fearsome Lakota warriors were unnervingly draped in the bloodied jackets and hats of Custer’s 7th Cavalry. Finally, at 3pm, the vast encampment of Lakota began moving off, and at dawn the next day they glimpsed a dust cloud in the distance: reinforcements at last. What they saw upon finally descending the hill, was a scene of such horror, that it would resound through the ages…

Join Dominic and Tom as they describe, moment by moment, the events of George Custer’s electrifying last stand at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, and its aftermath. What really happened, and what became of Custer, Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull? Above all, who was to blame for the events of that shocking day?

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“You and I are going home today, and by a trail that is strange to us both…”

The Battle of The Little Bighorn is one of the totemic moments of American frontier history. However, it is also mysterious, with the exact events of that blood-soaked day difficult to trace. On the 22nd of June, George Custer marched out with vague orders to drive the vast gathering of the Lakota and their allies, under the leadership of Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull, towards General Terry’s force, advancing from the South. Custer, keen as ever for a charge, was hoping to score a considerable defeat over the Native Americans in time for the 4th of July centenary. Then, on the evening of the 24th of June, Crow scouts reported that the Lakota’s trail had been found, and Custer launched into action. Marching his men through the night, they arrived at the encampment the following morning, shocked to discover a camp of thousands. At 3pm, the first force attacked, and the Battle of the Little Bighorn, in all its horror and gore, had begun…

Join Dominic and Tom they explore one of America’s most mythologised battles, separating fact from fiction, as they build up to George Custer’s last stand.

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The U.S. was cast into a spiralling panic following the economic depression of 1873, and waves of paramilitary violence swept through the south as the debates surrounding Reconstruction swirled on. Amidst this uncertainty, the government, under the leadership of Ulysses S. Grant and his chief advisors, began drawing up a cold blooded plan to strike into the heart of Montana and settle the issue of the Plains Indians once and for all. Meanwhile, the drumbeats of war were sounding amongst the newly united Lakota and Cheyenne themselves, spearheaded by their war chiefs Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull, as the pressures of white settlers and the railroads increased. Their numbers swelled in the wake of a failed winter campaign lead by General Crook, as swarms of refugees accumulated into Sitting Bull's village - the largest assembly of Lakota ever seen on the Plains. The stage seemed set for a mighty reckoning in the summer of 1876, as the Federal government geared up for another assault. Much to his delight George Custer, spared from the brink of disaster by his reckless impetuosity, was recruited to the 7th Cavalry marching on one of the armies closing in on the Lakota encampment near the Little Bighorn River…the Battle of the Rosebud that followed would see a six hour struggle of monumental violence.

Join Dominic and Tom as they discuss the events and battles that lead up to the Battle of the Little Bighorn; Grant’s eccentric generals, and Custer’s impulsive escapades in the build up to the final evening of his life…

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In the wake of the barbaric Washita River massacre, George Custer found himself drifting; addicted to gambling, at odds with his wife, and failing in his efforts to take advantage of the American gold rush in New York. Finally, Custer was sent to Kentucky to suppress the terrible post war fighting there, but again found himself alienated from many of his companions by his controversial views on Reconstruction. Restless and dissatisfied, the chance for danger and action finally came Custer’s way, thanks to the ambitions of the Northern Pacific Railway. With plans to build it right across Lakota territory, the venture was intended to and would fatally threaten their way of life, by spelling the death of the bison. With this threat on the horizon, the mighty Lakota war leaders, Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse lead violent raids against the survey party sent to prospect the land, hampering and halting their efforts. So it was that in 1873 another expedition was sent, and with it went George Custer, bringing him into contact for the first time with the two mighty warriors who would shape his destiny. A fearful, bloody game of cat and mouse would ensue, culminating in an epic confrontation…

Join Dominic and Tom as they discuss the evolution of Custer’s career leading up to his first legendary encounter with Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, the incremental creep of the Northern Pacific Railway, and the U.S. Government’s secret plan to defeat the Lakota Sioux, once and for all.  

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"What would you do if your home was attacked? You would stand up like a brave man and defend it. That is our story." 

Following the bloody Fetterman Fight, which saw the Lakota warlord Crazy Horse and his warriors ambush and massacre American troops, the American public was left stunned, its government and civilian population hungry for revenge. In the wake of this a new treaty was signed, further restricting the Lakota Sioux’s freedoms, but nevertheless signed by their political leader, Red Cloud. Still, many would not be constrained to reservations, and instead sought war. Chief amongst them was Sitting Bull, a legendary, mythologised figure of the Great American Plains and the Wild West - the embodiment of a vanished age. Born into the Lakota Sioux, and a world of shifting allegiances, violent initiation rituals, and intransigent spiritualities, as a young man Sitting Bull’s herculean destiny was sung to him by an eagle. The career that followed in his war against the U.S. government would exceed even the greatest of epics. By 1860 he was paramount leader of the Sioux Nation, when news reached him of the imminent arrival of a survey party, lead by none other than George Armstrong Custer…

Join Dominic and Tom as they discuss Sitting Bull’s rise, his extraordinary upbringing, and his stand against the increasing encroachment of railroads into his homelands.

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Of all the great characters entangled in the story of George A. Custer and the American Indian Wars, few are as captivating as Crazy Horse. A mighty warrior of the Lakota Sioux, and a tremendous military tactician, he was a charismatic but enigmatic figure. The Sioux, of which the Lakota are a subculture, are groups of Native American tribes and First Nations people from the Great Plains. Their way of life was transformed by the introduction of horses to North America, but their nomadic lifestyle and dependence upon buffalo hunting was severely threatened by the imposition of telegraph lines, forts and then railroads upon their lands. So it was that, reluctant to be confined to the reservations outlined for them by the U.S. Government, they decided to fight back, under the joint leadership of the politically savvy Red Cloud, and the fated, fearless, tactically brilliant, Crazy Horse… 

Join Dominic and Tom as they plunge into the world of the Lakota Sioux, looking at the history of their people in the American plains, their rich, complex culture and often gory rituals, and the fascinating characters who would challenge George Custer and the U.S. Government. 

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With the American Civil War coming to a close in April 1865, George Custer, cavalry commander in the Union army, and a man of dubious political leanings for a unionist officer, was sent to Texas. Reckless, daring and bloodthirsty, the conclusion of the war came as a disappointment to him. Then, having allied himself with the new, anti-Reconstruction American president, Andrew Johnson, Custer alienated himself from one of the most important men in the country: Ulysses S. Grant. As such he found himself exiled to the murderous but dull post of Kansas. There, he and the 7th Cavalry were charged with handling the looming conflict with the Cheyenne; an indigenous people of the Great Plains, whose lives and culture had been radically jeopardised by modernisation, and the encroachment of the railroads into their lands. While some Cheyenne were inclined to negotiate with Washington, their more zealous warriors, the ‘Dog Soldiers’, were determined to fight and destroy the settlers, sending bloodthirsty raids into federal forts. The campaigns that followed saw acts of terrific violence, culminating in a terrible, brutal massacre…

Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss Custer’s first forays into the gruesome and tragic American Indian Wars: his political missteps, southern adventures, romantic rollercoasters, and battles with the remarkable horse-riding, buffalo hunting Cheyenne. 

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“Come on, you Wolverines!”

The story of the American Indian Wars of 1862-68 is an enthralling tale of hubris, politics, recklessness, and the merciless assault of industrialisation and modernity on an old world, nearly extinguished. An immense tragedy, it is also a story of great adventure, with formidable heroes and villains on both sides. No two figures encapsulate this better than the enigmatic, strategically brilliant Lakota war leader, Crazy Horse, and his foil on the side of the Unites States government, cavalry commander George A. Custer, whose daring, panache and egotism has immortalised him in the annals of American history. From the bloody battles of the American Civil War and the snake-pit of Reconstruction politics, to his ruthless campaigns against the Native American and First Nation peoples of the Great Plains, and his ensuing, mysterious demise, Custer’s life is a thrilling mix of heroics, brutality, madness and gore. 

Join Dominic and Tom as they delve into the thrilling American Indian Wars, and the life of George A. Custer. From his flamboyant and salacious youth, to his daredevil performance fighting for the Union army, and his entry into the fascinating world of nineteenth century American politics. 

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The Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, the Habsburg dynasty's mightiest ruler, was at once King of Spain, Archduke of Austria, Lord of the Netherlands and Duke of Burgundy. With a lineage supposedly stretching back to Noah’s Ark, and a name born in Ancient Rome, the Habsburgs are one of the most influential dynasties in all of European history, shaping and changing the course of nations and empires. The first great Habsburg, Rudolph, was made King of the Romans in 1273, though it was from 1500, through a series of tactical marriages, that their ascendancy truly began. Key among these was the marriage of Maximilian I, Charles V’s grandfather, to the powerful heiress Mary of Burgundy. The resulting gigantic Habsburg dominion would eventually split into two dynastic branches, located in Spain and Vienna, forging remarkable, multinational empires, that dominated central Europe until the twentieth century. But is there any truth to the claim that the Habsburg’s notorious proclivity for inbreeding resulted in genetic deformities that would see the downfall of the family?

In this week’s episode, Dominic and Tom are joined by none other than Eduard Habsburg-Lothringen, to discuss his illustrious family’s tumultuous history, its most famous members, strange death rituals, romantic legends, and the seven rules he’s derived from the stories of the House of Habsburg.

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"The First Emperor will die and his land will be divided….”

The First Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang, left behind him a monumental legacy: an Empire which would last millennia, the foundations of the Great Wall of China, and an eerie Terracotta Army - 8000 warriors who would protect the Emperor in the afterlife. His deeply autocratic reign, and the brutal tactics he used to conquer rival states and establish the Chinese Empire, have seen him cast as the archetype of the “bad emperor”. And when compared with Qin Shi Huang, Mao boasted that “when you berate us for imitating his despotism, we are happy to agree!”. But was Chinese unification under one empire inevitable, or did it need a ruthless figure to centralise power? And to what terrifying lengths did the first Emperor go to secure immortality…?

Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss the fantastical First Emperor of China - one of the world’s most powerful and formidable rulers. From warring kingdoms and ruthless suppressions, to necromancy, mythical beasts, doom-ridden prophecies, and even 20th century Chinese Communism. 

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Rumours surrounding Lord Byron’s scandalous divorce rippled throughout the world. Finally, he had no choice but to abandon England in disgrace and flee to Italy, an exile but still the most famous man in Europe. Then, in the summer of 1816 in Geneva, he met a young poet named Percy Bysshe Shelley, and one of the most iconic literary friendships of all time was sparked. A handsome republican with an enthusiasm for free-love, Shelley immediately attracted Byron’s admiration. With him, however, was his sister-in-law Claire, a former lover of Byron’s, pregnant with his child whom he detested. Also, Shelley’s wife, Mary. So it was that on a stormy night of ghost stories, another great masterpiece was born…However, as time passed and in the wake of a series of tragedies, the aging Byron grew increasingly isolated and restive, his thoughts turning once more to Greece, that ancient land of myth and legend. Approached by the London Greek Committee to help support the cause of Greek independence, Byron set off once more for Kefalonia. Was it doom or destiny that beckoned?

Join Tom and Dominic for the grand finale of their gripping journey through the life of one of history’s most darkly intriguing figures, Lord Byron. From his English exile, Italian sojourn and final love affair, to the greatest adventure of them all...

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Good God I am surely in hell!

Upon Lord Byron’s return to England and the publication of Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, he became one of the most notorious men in Europe and the world's first celebrity. The next period of his life would be rocked by shocking scandal, moral depravity and sexual outrage. Pale and sickly but devastatingly romantic, he attracted a dedicated fan base, the likes of which had never been seen. Chief amongst these was the eccentric and androgynous Lady Caroline Lamb, whose affair with Byron would inflame London society and push both to the brink of insanity. So extreme was Caroline’s obsession that upon the advice of her mother-in-law, the cunning and cruel Lady Melbourne known as "the Spider", Byron set out to find himself a wife. The woman he chose was an unlikely candidate: a mathematician, Annabella Milbanke, who Byron hoped would redeem his devilish disposition. Their marriage would be blighted by cruelty, immorality and a particularly pernicious breed of infidelity. For, one other woman now played a central role in Byron’s life: Augusta Leigh, his lover, and sister…

Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss Lord Byron’s tumultuous romantic love affairs and marriage; culminating in a scandal so shocking and sexually licentious that it would drive him from England. 

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By 1809, Lord Byron found himself untethered and debt-ridden. Disenchanted with politics, frustrated by his literary career and haunted by his illicit homosexuality, he abandoned an oppressive England and set out upon his legendary Eastern adventure. First plunging into a Europe torn asunder by the exploits of his hero, Napoleon Bonaparte, Byron decried the imperialist militarism of the raging Napoleonic Wars. Nevertheless, he delighted in the danger and excitement of his travels, absorbing and subsuming the cultures he encountered, and exploring a predilection for transvestism. From Portugal and the Peninsula War, Byron travelled to Albania where he fascinated the infamous Ali Pasha, and then later charmed the Sultan of Constantinople. In Greece, he found a land of exotic romanticism where his growing sense of destiny took root in the Greek’s fight for liberty. At last, in 1811 Byron returned to England and published his poem, Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage. Almost overnight he became the most famous man in London. Byromania had engulfed the nation…

Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss Lord Byron’s remarkable travels abroad - his encounters with some of the most famous men of the age, his confrontations with danger and destiny, and his untethered eroticism…

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Few lives from history can have contained as many strange and exciting strands as that of Lord Byron's, whose story reflects the great dramas of the Napoleonic era. A vampiric hero of devilish charisma; a martyr for liberty, a licentious lothario; Byron’s cultural and literary impact cannot be underestimated. The remarkable course of his life, and his mercurial nature can in part be explained by the dark events of his childhood, and the outlandish history of his own family. Born with a club foot - his “satanic mark” - to “Mad Jack” Byron, a former gigolo dogged by incest and financial ruin, and an unpredictable mother, a strange curse seemed to lie over the family. Impoverished before the inheritance of his title and a romantic ruin in Nottinghamshire, the plump and provincial boy would finally find solace at school and university, where he transformed into the glamorous rake he would become. There too would he discover the dubious sexual passions that would haunt his life…

Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss the diabolic history of the Byron family, and the young Byron’s birth, troubled upbringing, and controversial adolescence.

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Music for sex, dancing, and watching the straight world go by…

The explosion of Disco provides an extraordinary window into the tumultuous world of the 1970s, with its themes of sex, drugs, race and sexuality. By the start of the 1970s, America was a nation of dystopian gloom. The radical dream of the 1960’s had dissipated, with economic decline, Vietnam and Watergate polarising and disenchanting the public. Then, at a party in New York held by the DJ David Mancuso, something new was born: Disco. An intoxicating kaleidoscope of dancing and colour with an orgasmic new sound, it united disparate groups under the banner of music. An escape from the concerns of the day, it captivated the mainstream imagination with its idealism, open drug use, self-consciously flamboyant clothes, and acceptance of race and homosexuality at a time when the Civil Rights Movement was raging and gay rights still contentious. But, with its rising orthodoxy, Disco was also attracting a dedicated base of critics and detractors. They decried its hedonism, its debasement of traditional masculinity, and, with the Aids crisis swirling, its immorality.

Join Dominic and Tom as they discuss the rise and fall of Disco, culminating in the shocking night of Disco Demolition at a White Sox game on the 12th of July 1979. Could it survive this ultimate reckoning?

*The Rest Is History LIVE in 2024*

Tom and Dominic are back onstage this summer, at Hampton Court Palace in London!

Buy your tickets here: therestishistory.com

Twitter:

@TheRestHistory

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

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“We choose to go to the Moon. We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard…”

In his speech at Rice University, Texas, in September 1962, President John F. Kennedy reaffirmed America's commitment to an extraordinary, startling project: landing a man on the Moon by the end of the decade. Facing fierce competition from the U.S.S.R., it would take 11 missions of unimaginable danger to reach this goal, with Neil Armstrong first setting foot on the Moon’s rocky surface on July 21st, 1969. 

"That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind."

650 million people watched in awe that day, as Apollo 11 unfolded on live TV. In today’s episode, Tom and Dominic are joined by one of those people, very special guest TOM HANKS, actor, filmmaker and expert on all things Apollo-related, to discuss the epic saga of how humankind made it to the Moon and back. From the tragedy of Apollo 1 and the disaster of Apollo 13, to Buzz Aldrin's "religious moment" after the Eagle had landed, driving foldable cars on the Moon, and the arguments over who would get to take the first lunar steps, Tom Hanks, Dominic Sandbrook and Tom Holland look at the dangerous, daring, and incredible stories of the Apollo missions.

The Moonwalkers: A Journey with Tom Hanks is on at Lightroom, in King’s Cross, London, until the 13th of October 2024. 

Find out more here: https://lightroom.uk/whats-on/the-moonwalkers/ 

*The Rest Is History LIVE in 2024*

Tom and Dominic are back onstage this summer, at Hampton Court Palace in London! 

Buy your tickets here: therestishistory.com

Twitter:

@TheRestHistory

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

“I think there is not a devil left in hell, they have all gone into the peasants… smite, stab and slay all”. 

Following on from Martin Luther’s dramatic abduction by his powerful protector, Frederick III, he had been secretly kept safe at Wartburg. There, he abandoned his priestly garments for good, and violently wrestled against the devil, in unorthodox ways…Meanwhile, the religious revolution that he had ignited was sweeping through Europe, and setting everything aflame. A sense of apocalyptic flux saw waves of destructive violence unleashed upon all the old customs and idols, as rebellions erupted throughout Christendom. Luther’s reformation had taken on a terrifying new form of zealotry, which saw him transformed from radical to reactionary. His determination to destroy the new reformers enraged and infuriated many of his old followers. None more so than Andreas Karlstadt - the former chancellor of Wittenberg university against whom Luther unleashed a savage smear campaign - and Thomas Müntzer; an apocalyptic prophet who sought to discredit Luther’s reputation. Then, in May 1524, there exploded an uprising in Germany that would change everything, as militant evangelical peasants came up against their Catholic overlords. A religious war had broken out at last…

Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss the radical turn of Luther’s religious revolution and his efforts to quash it, the groundbreaking Peasants’ War, his unexpected marriage, and the colossal legacy of Luther's ideas, and the Reformation.

*The Rest Is History LIVE in 2024*

Tom and Dominic are back onstage this summer, at Hampton Court Palace in London! 

Buy your tickets here: therestishistory.com

Twitter:

@TheRestHistory

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

"I cannot and will not recant anything for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe.…Here I stand, I can do no other”

The Diet of Worms in April 1521 was one of history’s most dramatic confrontations, a clash of the old world and the new. It saw the celebrity professor Martin Luther summoned to the imperial free city of Worms by the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, to defend his radical beliefs. And though his life was guaranteed by the Emperor, Luther had never been in greater danger. He arrived in the city to huge, ecstatic crowds, like Jesus returning to Jerusalem from the desert. But would his rhetorical brilliance and passionate defence save him and the future of protestantism, or would he doom himself to a fiery fate?

Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss one of the most groundbreaking moments of western history: Martin Luther at the Diet of Worms in 1521, and the extraordinary twist of fate which saw the most famous man in Europe inexplicably vanish from the face of the earth. Defenestrated dogs, malevolent poltergeists and scatological furores abound... 

*The Rest Is History LIVE in 2024*

Tom and Dominic are back onstage this summer, at Hampton Court Palace in London! 

Buy your tickets here: therestishistory.com

Twitter:

@TheRestHistory

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Three years on from Martin Luther’s publication of the Ninety-Five Theses - a shocking attack on the corruption of the Catholic Church and the selling of indulgences - his radical new ideas and brilliant use of the printing press had unleashed chaos in Christendom. Still in Wittenberg under the Protection of Frederick III, Luther’s increasingly radical beliefs founded in his readings of Christian scripture, now sought to undermine the entire fabric of the Catholic Church and the theology that has shaped the Latin West for centuries. This culminated in his famous Reformation Moment, which saw his love affair with God raised to new heights of exultation. All the while, support for his outrageous ideas was swelling and Luther’s own celebrity growing. With it, the very real danger in which he placed himself, and the looming threat of excommunication. At last, in August 1518 Luther was summoned to Augsburg to meet with Cardinal Thomas Cajetan and have his beliefs examined…would he survive the reckoning to come?

Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss the raging fires of Luther’s radical revolution, his seminal Reformation Moment, and the great debate in Augsburg which would see his fervour put to the test. 

*The Rest Is History LIVE in 2024*

Tom and Dominic are back onstage this summer, at Hampton Court Palace in London! 

Buy your tickets here: therestishistory.com

Twitter:

@TheRestHistory

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Martin Luther is one of the few people to have genuinely changed the world, igniting a religious revolution that tore Christendom in two, and undermined European tradition in ways that still reverberate today. But along with Luther’s uniquely tortured psyche, three events contributed to his extreme transformation from young lawyer to fervent monk: the loss of a dear friend, a near fatal accident, and a cataclysmic thunderstorm. It was at the University of Wittenberg that Luther’s truly revolutionary understanding of God, theology and scripture began to evolve. His scorn for the state of the Church bubbled underneath the surface, until one day, a friar called Johann Tetzel rolled into Saxony, claiming to sell awesome indulgences, which would allow sinful locals to shorten their stay in purgatory. Such staggering corruption drove Luther to take drastic action, and, marching to Wittenberg Castle’s Church, he legendarily nailed his Ninety-Five Theses to the door. Or did he?

Join Tom and Dominic as they describe Luther’s tormented journey to priesthood, the events that lead up to the apocryphal nailing of the Ninety-Five Theses, and the truly radical nature of his newfound relationship with God and Christianity. 

*The Rest Is History LIVE in 2024*

Tom and Dominic are back onstage this summer, at Hampton Court Palace in London!

Buy your tickets here: therestishistory.com

Twitter:

@TheRestHistory

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Reformation, launched in 1517, stands as one of the most convulsive and transformative events of all time, shattering Christendom and dividing Europe for centuries. Its outcome determined the fates of Kings and Emperors, and saw the souls of millions consigned to the fiery pit of heresy. The man behind it all was Martin Luther, a humble monk of obscure origins. Bold, intellectually arrogant, and a master of spin, the assault he unleashed on the medieval Church had him excommunicated by the Pope. But what was it about Luther’s humble upbringing in Saxony and his strained relationship with his intimidating father that led him down a path of insolence? And was the religious revolution that he sparked inevitable?

Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss the early life of Martin Luther, the apocalyptic environment from which he and his radical ideas emerged, and the Catholic Church he would come to take on…

*The Rest Is History LIVE in 2024*

Tom and Dominic are back onstage this summer, at Hampton Court Palace in London!

Buy your tickets here: therestishistory.com

Twitter:

@TheRestHistory

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

"Then it is I drown again, with all those dim lost faces I never understood… Include me in your lamentations.”

The aftermath of the Titanic’s sinking saw different reactions erupt across the Atlantic, and the responses of both mourners and onlookers were visceral. Guilt-ridden survivors were both ostracised and lauded. Heroes became legends - the unsinkable Molly Brown and the band that played on till the frozen end - while villains were condemned forever more. Reputations were splintered and characters blackened as the investigation went on. None more so than J. Bruce Ismay, the head of White Star, whose survival was viewed as a weakness of character. But the key question needed answering: was anyone really to blame, and if yes, who?

Join Dominic and Tom, as they discuss the terrible aftershocks of the sinking of the Titanic, as they unpick truth from legend, and analyse James Cameron’s 1995 film, which famously immortalised this extraordinary story. 

*The Rest Is History LIVE in 2024*

Tom and Dominic are back onstage this summer, at Hampton Court Palace in London! 

Buy your tickets here: therestishistory.com

Twitter:

@TheRestHistory

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

“A story of horror unparalleled in the annals of the Sea.”

On the 14th of April 1912, Titanic, a floating palace sailing through the North Atlantic, found itself hurtling towards a formidable iceberg. Contrary to the panicked reactions of her crew who, fatefully, pulled the hulking vessel to starboard, the ship's passengers slept, laughed and played on, unaware of the danger ahead. Then came a terrible grinding sound, as the side of the ship grated against the iceberg, followed by a long, dead silence. At 12.15am a distress call went out, and the order went out to begin filling the lifeboats, women and children first. But, with far fewer lifeboats than passengers, who would be allowed to board them, and who would be left behind? What leverage did gender, class, and age provide when so many lives hung in the balance? By 1.55am, the lifeboats were scarce, and the panic of those still aboard the ship spiralled out of control, as the Titanic entered her death throes… 

Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss Titanic’s collision with the iceberg, the reactions of her doomed passengers and crew, and the stories of courage, incompetence, and tragedy.

*The Rest Is History LIVE in 2024*

Tom and Dominic are back onstage this summer, at Hampton Court Palace in London! 

Buy your tickets here: therestishistory.com

Twitter:

@TheRestHistory

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It is Sunday the 14th of April 1912, and the passengers of the Titanic, from the tycoons in first class to the migrants in third class, have been enjoying a journey incomparable in its modernity. The weather, up until that point exceptionally clement, suddenly grew colder, stiller, calmer, and the ice warnings that had been coming through the ship’s sophisticated communications machine since Friday were growing evermore urgent. Ominously, they were left beneath piles of competing letters, unread. Then, at 11.40pm that night, a night of dancing and laughter, a cry came from the crow’s nest: “Iceberg ahead!”

Join Dominic and Tom as they unpack the captivating lives and stories of the Titanic’s third class passengers, and recount the days and moments building up to the ship’s final hours.

*The Rest Is History LIVE in 2024*

Tom and Dominic are back onstage this summer, at Hampton Court Palace in London! 

Buy your tickets here: therestishistory.com

Twitter:

@TheRestHistory

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The drama and tragedy of the Titanic’s sinking has spawned all manner of myths about those who left Southampton on the 10th of April 1912, and for four days luxuriated in the ship’s modern facilities, extravagant interiors, and plush cabins. Among them were many magnates and tycoons, such as J.J. Astor, the richest man onboard, and the American businessman Ben Guggenheim. Conspicuously absent, however, was J. P. Morgan, who cancelled his booking at the last minute, and five days later would find his greatest business competitors eliminated… Just as intriguing though, and often overlooked, were the Titanic’s second class passengers: middle-aged men with their teenage mistresses, a father who had his kidnapped his children, excited migrant families, and Joseph Laroche, a brilliant engineer and the only black man on board, for whom the Titanic provided the chance to start a new life- the same was true for many others.

Join Tom and Dominic as they explore the dazzling, eccentric and endlessly fascinating First and Second Class passengers of the Titanic, whose extraordinary lives shine all the brighter for the terrible danger and tragedy waiting for them on the icy horizon…

*The Rest Is History LIVE in 2024*

Tom and Dominic are back onstage this summer, at Hampton Court Palace in London! 

Buy your tickets here: therestishistory.com

Twitter:

@TheRestHistory

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Titanic was a product of the furious competition of the late Gilded Age, and no expenses were spared to make her the most extraordinary and luxurious ship ever built. The height of an eleven-story building, fully electric, and with first class suites designed for the world’s wealthiest, the Titanic embodied the Edwardian obsessions with grandeur and greatness. But the ship was also designed to accommodate immigrants, who made up the majority of its passengers, in third class, or “steerage”. But is their any truth behind the myths surrounding class-based mistreatment of the poorer passengers, in contrast to the over-pampered rich? Was safety sacrificed in favour of a hubristic lust for luxury and grandeur? 

Join Dominic and Tom as they discuss the Titanic’s sumptuous, modern interiors, her gargantuan proportions, and the stories of builders who brought her to life. They dive into a world of butlers, stewards, maids and crewmen, and look into the man whose name would later become synonymous with disaster: the Titanic’s captain, Edward Smith. 

*The Rest Is History LIVE in 2024*

Tom and Dominic are back onstage this summer, at Hampton Court Palace in London! 

Buy your tickets here: therestishistory.com

Twitter:

@TheRestHistory

@holland_tom

@dcsandbrook

Producer: Theo Young-Smith

Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett

Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices