Dan Snow's History Hit

Tudor Christmas was a time for revelry and fun. Henry VIII and his court celebrated the full 12 days of Christmas in excess, with tables ladened with roast swan, suckling pig and venison pasties, among other delights. It's believed one Christmas, the King spent the equivalent of £13 million on the celebrations. He loved to dress up and tease his wives as well as take part in festive games.

Dan travels to what was once the heart ...

Warning: this episode contains graphic details of injuries.

The brutal nature of the First World War presented frontline medical personnel with an array of horrific and debilitating wounds, inflicted on a previously unimaginable scale. From gas attacks and bayonet wounds to rifle fire and artillery barrages, day-to-day life on the frontlines posed a serious risk to life and limb. The doctors and nurses responsible for medical ca...

The rise of fascism in America in the 1920s & 30s looked just like the rise of fascism in Germany at the same time- scapegoating, the dissemination of false information, the attempted erosion of democracy… Dan is joined by Rachel Maddow, host of the chart-topping Ultra podcast and The Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC to explore how Nazism infiltrated the highest political offices in the US government, but also the unsung American heroes...

Episode 1 in our 'Origins of Christmas' series. This Roman winter festival laid the foundations for many of our Christmas customs today- feasting, gift-giving and revelry. During Saturnalia, Emperors held elaborate games at the Colosseum while others gave gag gifts. Meanwhile, in the home, the societal hierarchy was flipped - slaves were served by their masters at the dinner table and out in the streets it was a carnival of music, ...

Today we explore one of history's most consequential relationships - that of Winston Churchill and Franklin D. Roosevelt, a pivotal alliance that shaped the world we live in today.

Alongside Lindsay Graham from the chart-topping American History Tellers podcast, Dan digs into the story of Britain and America's alliance in the Second World War and the diplomatic and personal relationship of these two world leaders, their famous m...

In the 5th century BC, the ancient world's pre-eminent superpower turned its gaze towards the turbulent fringes of its empire. Under the illustrious Persian conquerors Darius and Xerxes the Great, the Achaemenids would send enormous armies west to contest an alliance of rebel Greek city states. The conflicts that followed brought the Persian and Greek worlds closer together and set the stage for a drastic reshaping of the ancient w...

This is the story of British fascism seen through the life of its leader, Oswald Mosley. We explore his charismatic yet deeply flawed personality, his relationship with European fascists, and the eventual decline of his movement.

With us is Stephen Dorril, a former senior lecturer in journalism at Huddersfield University and the author of 'Blackshirt: Sir Oswald Mosley and British Fascism'. He joins us for an in-depth look at th...

Amid the chilling tension of the Cold War, Ian Fleming captured readers with his character James Bond, whose missions were based on his experiences with the elite and secretive 30 Assault Unit in WWII. 30AU was established in 1942 by British Naval Intelligence and was overseen by Fleming. Their role was to capture secret German documents, weapon blueprints, and communication codes from behind enemy lines. They often targeted comma...

Alcatraz was the jewel in the crown of America's prison system. The wind-swept island fortress was the final stop for the nation's most dangerous criminals, including the notorious gangsters Al Capone and George 'Machine Gun' Kelly. It was thought to be escape-proof - at least, until one night in June 1962, when three men on an improvised raft slipped into the icy waters of San Francisco Bay, never to be seen again. The inescapable...

Dan explores stories of London's Blitz, beyond the stiff-upper-lip stereotypes Dan discovers an unexpected world of crime, sexual revolution and desperation. He is joined by Joshua Levine, historical advisor on the new Steve McQueen movie, Blitz, to uncover the everyday lives of Britons under relentless bombing and the extraordinary resilience that shaped a generation.

Blitz will be available to stream on Apple TV from the 22nd ...

The true nexus of power in the Roman Empire wasn't in the Emperor's box but in the shadowy ranks of the Praetorian Guard. First established in 27 BCE by Caesar Augustus, the first Emperor of Rome, they acted as his personal army and security escort. But it didn’t take long for their influence in Rome to become more insidious … they became kingmakers and power brokers with the ability to topple a dynasty at the drop of a hat. T...

Spartacus is probably the most famous gladiator in history but how much of his legend is actually true? Dan is joined by Dr Rhiannon Evans, from Melbourne’s Le Trobe University, a leading expert in Ancient History and one of the hosts of the Emperors of Rome podcast to find out. They trace what little we know of his origins, his life in the gladiator school where he led a kitchen revolution and escaped with a cohort of other enslav...

Join Dan at Rome's Colosseum as he separates fact from fiction in the world of the gladiators. He traces the origins of gladiatorial fighting from funerary celebrations to elaborate spectacles in the arena, what it would take to make it to the top and what really happens when a gladiator loses the fight. With the help of expert historians, Dan explores the myths perpetuated in Hollywood movies, the role of the games in Roman politi...

Join Dan on an adventure in Rome as he traces the true history of the gladiators. He begins his story in 64 AD with the great fire of Rome that left the city in ruin. From the ashes rose a new Emperor and his dreams for a gargantuan amphitheatre, unlike anything the Empire had ever seen. With the help of leading experts, Dan explores the building of the Colosseum, the biggest stage in the Roman world, and the ingenuity and cruelty ...

In this dramatic episode, Dan tells the incredible story of how Shackleton saved every single man on the fated Endurance expedition from perishing in Antarctica. In late 1914, the charismatic and brilliant explorer Ernest Shackleton led 27 men on a voyage to cross Antarctica from one side to the other. But what should have been a successful expedition turned into a two-year nightmare of hardship and catastrophe when their vessel th...

From the 10th of November 2024, join Dan on an adventure to Rome to discover the true history of the gladiators: from the brutal training schools to the mighty Colosseum itself. 

Dan and his guests delve into the ingenuity and cruelty of ancient Roman entertainment —the weapons, the bloodsports, the fierce power plays that unfolded from the Emperor’s box and of course the true story of the most famous gladiator of all Spart...

From the Clinton 'crime family' to businessman JP Morgan sinking the Titanic to kill off his rivals, conspiracy theories are rife on the internet. Dan Snow teams up with BBC journalist Gabriel Gatehouse, creator of hit The Coming Storm podcast, to unravel the journey of conspiracy theories from whispered suspicions to narratives that have shaped modern American politics. Beginning with the mysterious death of Vince Foster and Clint...

In the western nave of Westminster Abbey, nestled between illustrious tombs and beneath a slab of black Belgian marble, lies the body of an unidentified soldier of the First World War. He is remembered as the Unknown Warrior, a symbol of the half a million Commonwealth servicemen who went missing between 1914 and 1918, their earthly remains lost to the chaos of conflict.

As Remembrance Day approaches and guided by John Nichol, f...

The 2024 US Presidential election is just around the corner, and it seems like the result is balanced on a knife's edge. As the polls continue to roll in, pundits are predicting the closest US election ever. But we history lovers are always wary of the word 'ever', and so in this special Explainer episode, Dan gets under the hood of the US electoral system. How does it work, and is this truly the closest election in American histor...