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.
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- Update frequency
- every 2 days
- Average duration
- 33 minutes
- Episodes
- 1438
- Years Active
- 2020 - 2025
Jesse Owens
Jesse Owens' victories at the 1936 Berlin Olympics made him an international sports hero, and a symbol of the civil rights movement. His friendship with the German long jumper Carl 'Luz' Long also st…
How to Survive in Viking Britain
Have you ever wondered what it would take to live in Viking Britain? When they arrived and settled in the British Isles, Viking settlers didn't just face a violent death at the hands of disgruntled l…
Sir Walter Raleigh's Search for El Dorado
Sir Walter Raleigh's life was a turbulent one, to say the least. The Elizabethan statesman and explorer climbed to the top rung of Queen Elizabeth's court; he founded the ill-fated Roanoke colony in …
The Heist of the Century: The Missing Irish Crown Jewels
In the shadowy halls of Dublin Castle, 1907, a daring heist shook the British Empire. Four days before King Edward VII's royal visit, the priceless Irish Crown Jewels vanished without a trace. Sir Ar…
Machu Picchu: The Lost City
Part 1/4. Dan takes the podcast to the Peruvian Andes as he follows in the footsteps of intrepid American explorer Hiram Bingham who revealed Machu Picchu to the world.
At the turn of the 20th century…
Hitler's V1 & V2 Rockets
As the world closed in on the Third Reich in the final chapter of World War Two, a desperate Adolf Hitler turned to his so-called 'Revenge Weapons' for salvation; cutting-edge armaments specifically …
How WWII Started
On September 1st, 1939, Nazi Germany invaded Poland. Two days later, France and the United Kingdom declared war on the Third Reich. This was the beginning of what would become perhaps the most devast…
Boudica, Britain's Warrior Queen
In 61 CE, Boudica of the Iceni led a bloody revolt to end Roman rule in Britain. Roman historians tell us with great drama and flair that the grand finale is a huge battle between Boudica and the Rom…
2. The Battle of Britain Explained: The Climax
2/2. The Battle of Britain was Hitler's first and potentially most important defeat. It defined the course of the war, forcing him to make a series of decisions that guaranteed his own destruction. I…
1. The Battle of Britain Explained: Preparation, Pilots and Propaganda
1/2. The Battle of Britain was Hitler's first and possibly most important defeat. It defined the course of the Second World War, forcing him to make a series of decisions that guaranteed his own dest…
The Terracotta Warriors
The world was astonished when 8000 terracotta soldiers were unearthed in 1974 by Chinese farmers digging a well; the warriors opened a window to the first dynasty of China unlike anything seen before…
The First Emperor of China
Dan heads to China to discover the incredible story of Qin Shi Haungdi, the man who built the mysterious Terracotta Warriors, the Great Wall and founded China. Dan travels to the First Emperor's magn…
The Cocaine Craze in Victorian Britain
Many things may come to mind when you hear the word 'cocaine' - and we'd wager that the last thing on that list would be the Victorians. But as it turns out, the Victorians were avid cocaine users, w…
The Real Society of the Snow: I Survived the Andes Flight Crash
Warning: this episode includes descriptions of human suffering and cannibalism.
High in the remote Andes mountains, a Uruguayan rugby team resorts to the unimaginable to survive after their plane cra…
The Fall of Roman Britain
By 410 AD, over 450 years after Julius Caesar first landed on its shores, the Romans had formally withdrawn from Britain. Burdened by military threats and political upheaval on the continent, the emp…
The Rise of Roman Britain
On August 26th, 55 BC, Julius Caesar and his legionaries waded ashore just north of the White Cliffs of Dover. Right there in the surf, they were met by Celtic warriors, who charged them on foot and …
The Bronze Age Collapse
Around 3,200 years ago, a vast, interconnected civilisation suddenly collapsed. A 'perfect storm' of climate catastrophe, famine, drought and invasion tore apart the eastern Mediterranean, plunging t…
Lawrence of Arabia
The famed British officer who fought alongside Arab guerrilla forces in WW1. Best known for his legendary exploits as an intelligence officer in the Middle East, Thomas Edward Lawrence was also an ar…
The Scottish Island, The Shipwreck and The Whisky
In 1941, the SS Politician ran aground off Eriskay in the Scottish Hebrides Islands, carrying 260,000 bottles of whisky. As war rationing gripped Britain, Hebridean islanders saw the wreck as a godse…
The Falaise Pocket: WWII's 'Corridor of Death'
The D-Day landings were just the first step in the liberation of France. They were followed by two months of vicious fighting for control of the Norman countryside that came at the cost of thousands …