Dan Snow's History Hit
Lost tombs buried beneath desert sands, enchanting hieroglyphs, mysterious mummies, great rulers and kingdoms- Egypt has it all. Since antiquity, tourists have ventured to Egypt to see for themselves the great remnants of its ancient civilisation. Archaeologists have since found graffiti from Ancient Greek scholars and 18th century French explorers in the tombs of the Valley of the Kings.
But what is it about Ancient Egypt that captures us in childhood and adulthood, more so than any other period in history? Well, Dan joins Dr Campbell Price, curator of Egypt and Sudan at the Manchester Museum, to get to the bottom of it. They tell the stories of their own obsession with Egypt, which pharaohs they think are overrated and the impact mass documentary-making is having on archaeological discoveries in places like Saqqara and Luxor.
Produced by Mariana Des Forges and edited by Dougal Patmore.
Discover the past on History Hit with original documentaries released weekly presented by world-renowned historians like Dan Snow, Suzannah Lipscomb, Lucy Worsley, Matt Lewis, Tristan Hughes and more. Get 50% off your first 3 months with code DANSNOW. Download the app or sign up here.
We'd love to hear from you! You can email the podcast at [email protected].
You can take part in our listener survey here.
- Update frequency
- every 2 days
- Average duration
- 33 minutes
- Episodes
- 1438
- Years Active
- 2020 - 2025
What Really Happened on D-Day
I was joined by Giles Milton to learn about D-Day and find out what his research has uncovered about the untold stories of this landmark event.
Subscribe to History Hit and you'll get access to hundre…
Untold Stories of War
I was delighted to be joined by James Rogers - a war historian, fellow of the London School of Economics, and presenter of History Hit's Untold History series. One of James' films explores HM Factory…
Racial Injustice in America
The protests on the streets of America are a product of 400 years of violence, slavery, coercion and injustice. I took a crash course with Harvard's Professor Khalil Gibran Muhammad on the history th…
A Story of Slavery and Restitution
I was delighted to be joined by Caleb McDaniel, History professor and author of the Pulitzer prizewinning book, “Sweet Taste of Liberty: A True Story of Slavery and Restitution in America”. He told m…
Sex and Scandal at the Court of Charles II
According to John Evelyn, the great diarist, Charles II was ‘addicted to women’. Charles' court is infamous for tales of licentiousness and promiscuity, and I was thrilled to be joined by Linda Porte…
Fighting Nazism at the Grand Prix
Neal Bascomb joined me on the podcast to tell a remarkable story of the fight against Hitler - on the Grand Prix racetrack. We delved into the high-speed world of the American heiress Lucy Schell, a …
A History of Building Britain
I was thrilled to be joined by Andrew Ziminski, a stonemason living and working in Somerset. He's just released his first book documenting the fascinating stories from three decades of hands-on exper…
Dunkirk Veterans
Dan meets some of the surviving Dunkirk veterans on the famous Little Ships which helped to rescue them from the beaches. The Little Ships of Dunkirk were 700 private boats that sailed from Ramsgate …
The Fall of France
80 years ago this week, one of the most extraordinary evacuations in military history was under way: 'The Miracle of Dunkirk'. But how, and why, did the Allies find themselves in such a dire position…
Muslim Soldiers of Dunkirk
May 28, 1940: Major Akbar Khan of the Royal Indian Army Service Corps marches at the head of 299 soldiers along the beach at Dunkirk - the only Indians in the BEF in France and the only ones at Dunki…
Coronavirus: Intelligence Failure
The greatest threats we face are climate breakdown and pandemic disease. This was the assessment of security advisers before the Covid outbreak and the last few months have seen the stunning reality …
The Miracle of Dunkirk
80 years ago, ships were gathering in Kent to begin the rescue of the British Expeditionary Force. Britain faced the prospect of the worst defeat in British military history and the loss of her entir…
Getting Inside the Mind of Hitler
No man knew Adolf Hitler as intimately as his trusted physician, Theodoor Morell. As part of Hitler's inner social circle, he assisted the leader in virtually everything for the entire war years. His…
Akbar the Great
One of the greatest rulers of the 16th century was Akbar the Great, a man whose power and influence extended over much of the Indian subcontinent after he unified the vast Mughal state. But recently,…
The Shadow King: Henry VI
Henry VI came to the throne in exceptionally difficult circumstances. The untimely death of his warlike father, Henry V, placed the crown upon his head aged just 9 months. While England was in the as…
Celebrity
Greg Jenner has given my children so many hours of happiness as the historical brains behind the Horrible History tv shows and movie, not to mention the Homeschool History podcast that it would have …
History and Human Nature
It's a belief which has dictated the writings of Machiavelli and Hobbes, Freud and Dawkins - that humans are fundamentally selfish and governed by self-interest. But Rutger Bregman has made a convinc…
The Brontës and War
In this podcast I was joined by Emma Butcher, a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow in English Literature at the University of Leicester. Emma took me on a fascinating journey through the Brontë siblings'…
The Habsburgs
It was an honour to be joined by Martyn Rady to discuss one of history's most thrilling families, the Habsburgs. Ruling for almost a millennium, their imperial vision was perhaps best realised in Emp…
Winston Churchill
80 years ago this week, Winston Churchill became Prime Minister of the United Kingdom following the resignation of Neville Chamberlain and his calamitous handling of the Norway campaign. On the same …