Dan Snow's History Hit

Episode 1/2. King Charles I's decision to rule without Parliament was just one of the many reasons that England found itself embroiled in a bloody civil war. In this first episode, we learn how subtl…

Every day Rudolf Höss oversaw the killing of thousands of people at the death camp and then went home and acted like a doting father to his family. Höss was brought in by top Nazis to pioneer the ind…

By the early 1990s, the Colombian city of Medellín was at the centre of the world's largest drug empire. The fearsome Medellín Cartel, led by the notorious drug lord and narcoterrorist Pablo Escobar…

On January 27th 1945, the Red Army liberated the concentration camp at Auschwitz unveiling its almost unspeakable horrors to the world. 

The concentration camp system began almost immediately after Ad…

What is the history of the Panama Canal and why does Trump think he can 'take it back'? Dan is joined by Professor Julie Greene to delve into the long backstory of this 50-mile waterway that changed …

J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle-earth is perhaps the most captivating fantasy world ever created. His mythology and folklore continue to influence the work of writers, filmmakers, musicians and artists to th…

Dan tells the epic story of Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama, whose daring voyages at the turn of the 16th century laid the foundations for the Portuguese Empire. From navigating treacherous waters …

Charlemagne was king of the Franks and Emperor of the mighty Carolingian Empire. His unusually long reign saw him conquer vast swathes of Europe, and shape them into an empire that would inspire rule…

Napoleon Bonaparte is a household name; a rare example of someone who is as well remembered by his supporters as by his enemies. His life is rich with dramatic irony. He was a key figure in the creat…

It sounds outlandish that President-Elect Donald Trump has said he wants to buy Greenland but this isn't the first or even second time the United States has tried to acquire this arctic territory. Da…

Roald Amundsen was surely one of history's greatest explorers. He beat Scott to the South Pole, and was the first person to reach the North Pole and to traverse the perilous Northwest Passage. His ad…

What would it have been like to go on a medieval crusade? What dangers would you have faced on the gruelling journey to the Holy Land, and what would it have been like once you arrived?

Dan and Matt L…

In 9 AD, the rebel chieftain Arminius and his confederation of Germanic tribes ambushed three Roman legions in the Teutoburg Forest. For days the Romans were relentlessly stalked through the woods an…

In the dead of winter, 1944, the frozen forest of Ardennes erupted in chaos. In a desperate, last-ditch attempt to turn the tide of the war, Hitler threw his armoured divisions at the thinly spread A…

In the early hours of September 2, 1666, a small fire broke out on the ground floor of a baker's house in Pudding Lane. In five days that small fire would devastate the third largest city in the West…

May 1453 saw the siege that would lead to the fall of the Eastern Roman Empire. It was the culmination of an age-long struggle between Christianity and Islam for control of the Eastern Mediterranean.…

Today we dig into the history of Istanbul, the city at the crossroads of East and West. Across thousands of years, the city has survived the rise and fall of empires, weathered sieges and Crusades, a…

Just as Scrooge wanders London's streets on a cold Christmas night, Dan Snow follows the ghosts of Charles Dickens' past to discover the city that inspired his greatest works. With London-born tour g…

Folktales around the fire, gooding & mumping and the terrifying Hooden Horse are just some of England's winter folk traditions from history. In this episode, Dan explores the unlikely and often dark …

After the death of Chinggis Khan, the founder and first Emperor of the Mongol Empire, the land became the largest contiguous empire in history.

The Horde, the western portion of the Mongol empire, was…