Latest Episodes

In the second episode of our Falklands War mini-series, Britain is faced with an Argentine occupation and prepares to go to war.Margaret Thatcher discovers her inner Winston Churchill - but faces a ti...

March 29, 2022 · 52 min 28 sec

Welcome to our mini-series on The Falklands War, where Tom and Dominic will break down the causes, conflict and aftermath of the war on its fortieth anniversary. In the first episode we dig into the h...

March 28, 2022 · 52 min 47 sec

Tom and Dominic are back with Helen Thompson for a second episode on the history of oil, its impact and how it shapes geopolitics.Tune in to hear about the impact of oil production on US Politics, its...

March 25, 2022 · 47 min 8 sec

Tom and Dominic are joined by Helen Thompson, Professor of Political Economy at the University of Cambridge, to talk about the incredible influence of oil over the last couple of centuries.Discussion...

March 24, 2022 · 45 min 4 sec

The second of two episodes on Genghis Khan, listen to yesterday's pod (165. The Rise of Genghis Khan) before listening to this one!'An almost sacral figure' in the words of Tom Holland, Genghis Khan h...

March 22, 2022 · 52 min 42 sec

Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook speak to Ali Ansari about the origins of one of the greatest warlords in human history - Genghis Khan.They discuss his early life as Temujin and how he became Genghis...

March 21, 2022 · 36 min 1 sec

Happy St. Patrick's Day! No, Tom isn't turning Brixton's River Effra green, nor is Dominic distributing shamrocks throughout the Oxfordshire countryside, but they're here anyway with a very special po...

March 17, 2022 · 1 hr 32 sec

What links the Mexican Republic, Palmerston, the Hapsburgs, Napoleon III and butterfly catching? Please tweet us if you can think of anything other than the following answer, which is the incredible s...

March 14, 2022 · 1 hr 10 min 48 sec

[Episode 4 of 4]'In the noughties, Russian democracy becomes a form of show business'In the final instalment of our Russia mini-series, Tom and Dominic reach the climax of Putin’s rise to power, chart...

March 10, 2022 · 37 min 3 sec

[Episode 3 of 4]'You certainly won't understand what ordinary Russians see in Vladimir Putin if you don't understand what happened in the 1990s. A time of utter, utter collapse.' In part three of our...

March 9, 2022 · 39 min 33 sec

[Episode 2 of 4]This episode of The Rest Is History marks the second instalment in our four part series on the Soviet Union, Russia and the rise of Vladimir Putin.From the 70th anniversary of the Russ...

March 8, 2022 · 34 min 5 sec

[Episode 1 of 4]Welcome to our new four part series on the latter years of the Soviet Union, its fall, Putin's early life and his subsequent rise to power.Today's episode focuses on Brezhnev, Putin's...

March 7, 2022 · 37 min 28 sec

How much do you know about the lethal price people have paid over the centuries to look fashionable?In today's episode Tom and Dominic are joined by Dr. Alison Matthews David to discuss the dark secre...

March 3, 2022 · 58 min 37 sec

What happened to the Roman Empire after its fall?In the second of two episodes, Tom and Dominic discuss where Rome endured, how its ghost still haunts 21st century geopolitics, and which member of the...

March 1, 2022 · 50 min 19 sec

Tom and Dominic explore what Edward Gibbon called “the greatest, perhaps, and most awful scene in the history of mankind”: the decline and fall of the Roman Empire.Join The Rest Is History Club for ad...

February 28, 2022 · 56 min 11 sec

With eastern Europe apparently on the brink of war and Vladimir Putin citing history as pretext, what exactly is Ukraine? Is it distinct from Russia, and how long has it existed? Tom and Dominic run t...

February 23, 2022 · 1 hr 18 min 39 sec

We've all been to some terrible ones, but what is the most disastrous party in human history? Not at all inspired by recent political events, Tom and Dominic have whittled our listener suggestions dow...

February 21, 2022 · 1 hr 5 min 29 sec

On today's episode Tom and Dominic are joined by Friend of the Show, Professor Andrew Preston, to talk about the relationship between the US and religion, both at home and abroad in the 20th and 21st...

February 18, 2022 · 31 min 43 sec

On today's episode Tom and Dominic are joined by Andrew Preston, a Cambridge University professor whose new book focuses on religion in American war and diplomacy.What is the role of religion in the A...

February 17, 2022 · 47 min 49 sec

Happy Valentine's Day! Have you ever wondered why we send each other cards and go out to Carluccio's for dinner on a weeknight?In today's episode, Tom and Dominic drill down into the details - what ar...

February 14, 2022 · 56 min 32 sec