HistoryExtra podcast

Edward the Confessor, England’s penultimate Anglo-Saxon king, has long been remembered as a saintly, pious monarch – but was he really the weak ruler whose indecision paved the way for the Norman Conq...

Histories of British involvement in the Caribbean tend to focus mainly on the period of plantation slavery but, in her new book Empire Without End, Imaobong Umoren argues that we need to take a broade...

Human beings tend to identify with being in a group, and, historically, few groupings have been more potent than the idea of the nation. But when did people first embrace the idea of the nation state?...

In 1775, a respectable lady, a mild-mannered apothecary and his fast-living identical twin stood accused of pulling off a scam that had earnt them a fortune. But as their trial unfolded, the defendant...

After causing the extinction of the dodo, humans soon realised that we had the power to destroy entire species – and we continue to reckon with that power. Speaking to James Osborne, Sadiah Qureshi di...

Christianity came to dominate Europe in the Middle Ages. However, some parts of Europe remained pagan until very recently. So how did non-Christian peoples survive, and prosper, in parts of Europe for...

In the latest episode of our monthly series charting the historical background of current news events, historians Hannah Skoda and Rana Mitter discuss how VJ Day is remembered 80 years on – and explor...

For centuries, North and Latin America have been locked in a relationship of rivalry and reciprocity. From revolutionary dreams to imperial ambitions, their fates have never been separate. Speaking to...

In the spring of 1871, the citizens of Europe’s second largest city rose up and proclaimed the Paris Commune. For eight extraordinary weeks, the French capital defied the national government that had ...

On the 80th anniversary of VJ Day, broadcaster Kavita Puri – presenter of a new BBC Radio 4 series on the Second World War in Asia – tells Matt Elton why stories of the Allied conflict with Japan rema...