World War I

Whose fault was it? Does the question even make sense? Are wars always somebody's "fault"? Was it really the first global war? And should Britain have fought, or stayed out?

What is fascism and where did it come from? No one admits to being a fascist yet it continues to be a term of abuse hurled on a regular basis. Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook discuss the history of…

It emerged from the Prussian victory over France in 1870 and was destroyed by the First World War less than fifty years later. German historian Katja Hoyer joins Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook to d…

With England and Germany set to do sporting battle once again, Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook explore the historical events which have shaped the relationship between two or Europe’s super powers…

In 1896 the Olympic Games were reborn in Athens. Here we look at the forgotten tales and little known facts from the start of the modern Olympics through to the outbreak of the Second World War. T…

The slaughter and bloodshed on the Western Front in World War One helped shape the narrative of the 20th century. But was it a case of lions led by donkeys? Gary Sheffield, historian and author of Fo…

On the anniversary of the day the guns fell silent on the Western Front, we look at the last moments of the First World War – and how we remember them. How did Remembrance Day start? What are the stor…

Oliver Cromwell. Queen Victoria. George V. All contenders for the title of England's greatest monarch, a poll for which took place on a twitter over the last week. We know that Athelstan went on to wi…

Tom dissects the Battle of Wakefield and the subsequent fall of Richard, Duke of York, while Dominic talks us through the last ‘great’ Habsburg emperor, Karl I of Austria. *The Rest Is History Liv…

2022 marks 100 years since one of the most important years in modern history. In part 1 Tom and Dominic discuss all things 1922: Bolshevism, fascism, and the significance of The Waste Land and Ulysses…

In part 2 of this centennial episode, Tom and Dominic cover the triggering of the Irish Civil War, the birth of the BBC, and Howard Carter's 'Tutmania'.  Plus, have you ever wondered how many star…

Today we're dropping an episode from our friends at Noiser. Their podcast brings us to Munich, Germany. November 1923. The Nazis have just attempted to launch a revolution. But instead, Adolf Hitler n…

In the wake of Anthony Albanese's victory in this weekend's Australian election, Tom and Dominic have recorded a three part Antipodean special on the history of Australian prime ministers. The fir…

Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook discuss the 'first' fascist, Gabriele D'Annunzio, with historian Lucy Hughes-Hallett. D'Annunzio was a key figure in Italian literature before becoming a politica…

‘If it became necessary immediately to discard every line and method of communications used on the front, except one, and it were left to me to select that one method, I should unhesitatingly choose t…

The rise and fall of Butlin's, Benidorm and Franco, class, package holidays, bikinis, mass tourism and sunbathing. The third episode in our holiday series has it all - join Tom and Dominic as they dis…

In the final chapter of this series on the history of Portugal, Tom and Dominic explore Portugal in the 20th century, the two World Wars, the Miracle of Fatima and dictator Antonio Salazar. Join T…

Where do the origins of Nazism lie? The Second Reich? Hitler’s time in Vienna? The First World War? Join Tom and Dominic in the first of their four-part series on the Rise of the Nazis as they discuss…

German hyperinflation. The Beer Hall Putsch. Hitler’s trial. Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss the Nazis in the early 1920s as the Weimar Republic is in crisis and Hitler tries to grow the party be…

Wall Street crashes. The German economy capitulates and governments start to fall. Backroom deals and political scheming come to the fore. Join Tom and Dominic as they tell the story of the shadowy de…