How was Charles VII, with the help of Joan of Arc, able to fight his way to Reims to be crowned in the ancient seat of French kings? Why was she able to continually defeat the formidable soldiers o...
How did a young, uneducated peasant girl dressed in men’s clothing, Joan of Arc, plan to crown the son of the mad and feeble Charles VI, the King of all France, and save them from the English? What...
What are the origins of the legendary Joan of Arc, the famous French maid who saved France from the English during the Hundred Years’ War, dressed all the while in men’s clothes? Why is hers one of...
Was Richard Wagner a revolutionary artist who reshaped music forever, or an egotists mired in scandal, whose dangerous ideas were inseparable from the operas he created? How did the legendary world...
What are the complex origins of Russia’s most renowned composer, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky? What inner conflicts and private contradictions lay behind his romantic music, and how did these struggles...
Did the Christmas Truce - which saw a number of unofficial ceasefires between the combatants of the First World War, during the Christmas of 1914 - really occur, or was it a myth? What is the real ...
Who are the prime suspects for the identity of Jack the Ripper? Why did he suddenly halt his hellish killing spree, and never strike again? And, once and for all, who really was Jack the Ripper…? ...
Why was Jack the Ripper’s final murder the most appalling of all? Who was the mysterious Mary-Jane Kelly, his unfortunate victim? And, what enduring impact would his crimes have upon the cultural c...
How did Jack the Ripper manage to strike twice in the same night without getting caught? Did he have an accomplice? And, what chilling clues did the police discover in the wake of the murder…? J...
Who was Jack the Ripper’s second victim, and why was their murder considered the true starting point of his terrifying killing spree? How did the police investigation unfold? And, when and how did ...
| This episode is available a week early for members of The Rest Is History Club | What happens when fame, drugs, and genius collide? How did the Beatles survive John Lennon’s “more popular than...
Was Jack the Ripper the first serial killer of all time? Who was his first victim, and why was the murder so shocking? And, what did the Ripper phenomenon reveal about the anxieties of Victorian Lo...
With Adolf Hitler at the apex of his power during the Second World War, how did he move on Britain? How did Winston Churchill respond? And, would Britain’s airforce triumph over Hitler’s Luftwaffe ...
How did four Liverpool teenagers become the most influential band on earth? What made their music and charisma irresistible to a generation? And, how did their ambition and timing spark a cultural ...
How did the Battle of Dunkirk unfold in 1940? Why was it one of the key turning points of the Second World War for Hitler and his Nazi regime? And, how did the Allies manage to evade the jaws of an...
When Hitler’s eye fell on Norway and Denmark, how did he and the Nazis enact their terrible plan of conquest? How did the Allies respond to this western campaign? And, how did the French fare again...
What was Adolf Hitler’s next move, after occupying Czechoslovakia in March 1939, and brutally invading Poland that September? Why did the Allies fail to act, despite the Nazis shocking offensive? A...
How was Elizabeth I finally crowned Queen of England, after long years of perilous waiting? Why was her early reign so fraught with danger? Who was William Cecil, Elizabeth’s new secretary, and the...
Why did Elizabeth I’s brother, Henry VIII’s heir, Edward VI, choose his cousin Jane Grey to succeed him, rather than either of his wily Tudor sisters? Later, how did Elizabeth survive the reign of ...
What happened to the infant Elizabeth I following the bloody execution of her mother Anne Boleyn? How did her father Henry VIII and his next four wives treat her? And, what became of Elizabeth foll...
