Dan Snow's History Hit History Hit

The English won a decisive battlefield victory over the French in the first decade of the Hundred Years' War. At the Battle of Crécy, an outnumbered English army went up against thousands of French mounted knights, the finest cavalry in Western Europe at that time. Relying on their famed longbowmen, The English under Edward III weathered French cavalry charges until the forces of King Philip VI were forced to retreat. The victory paved the way for the capture of Calais, which gave the English a foothold in France for over two centuries.
In this very special episode Dan teams up with Tim Harford, host of the 'Cautionary Tales' podcast. Tim and Dan delve into the details of this crucial battle to learn about the catastrophic mistakes that were made, and why.
Produced by Mariana Des Forges and James Hickmann, and edited by Dougal Patmore.
Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Get a subscription for £1 per month for 3 months with code DANSNOW sign up at https://historyhit/subscription/
We'd love to hear from you- what do you want to hear an episode on? You can email the podcast at ds.hh@historyhit.com.
You can take part in our listener survey here.

Pontius Pilate was the Roman Prefect of Judea during the reign of Emperor Tiberius and is most famous for condemning Jesus of Nazareth to death by crucifixion in the Four Gospels. But who really was he? And how much do we know about him?

In this episode of The Ancients, Tristan speaks to Prof. Helen Bond to delve deeper into the life of Pontius Pilate and discover what else we know about this famous Roman governor.

On the 1st of April, 2024, a presumed Israeli airstrike destroyed the Iranian consulate in Damascus, killing 13 people. Amongst them was a Brigadier General of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Mohammad Reza Zahedi. In retaliation, Iran launched its first-ever direct attack on Israeli soil, firing some 300 missiles and drones at targets within Israel. As of the 19th of April, an Israeli attack had in turn been launched on a nuclear research site in Isfahan, central Iran.
Tensions between the two countries are clearly running high - but has it always been this way? Dan is joined by Maziar Bahari, an Iranian-Canadian journalist and filmmaker. He has produced and directed numerous documentary films on Iran and Israel and is the founder of the news website IranWire. Maziar explains how these two nations went from partners in the Middle East to implacable enemies.
Produced by James Hickmann and edited by Dougal Patmore.
Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Get a subscription for £1 per month for 3 months with code DANSNOW sign up at https://historyhit/subscription/
We'd love to hear from you- what do you want to hear an episode on? You can email the podcast at ds.hh@historyhit.com.
You can take part in our listener survey here.

Fought in the second half of 1942, the Battles of El Alamein were a series of climactic confrontations in Egypt between British Imperial and Commonwealth forces and a combined German and Italian army. Intended as a last-ditch attempt by the British to halt Axis gains in North Africa, they resulted in a clear victory for the British and represented a key turning point in the Second World War. Winston Churchill famously remarked that it was ‘not the end, not even the beginning of the end but, possibly, the end of the beginning’.
In this episode, Dan explores the circumstances that provoked this historic confrontation and takes us through the twists and turns of the battle itself, from the perspective of those who fought it.
Produced by Dan Snow and James Hickmann. Edited by Joseph Knight.
Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Get a subscription for £1 per month for 3 months with code DANSNOW sign up at https://historyhit/subscription/
We'd love to hear from you- what do you want to hear an episode on? You can email the podcast at ds.hh@historyhit.com.
You can take part in our listener survey here.

As a foreign correspondent for ITN in the 70s, Peter Snow remembers handing tins of film to strangers on airport runways, hoping they would take it back to Britain to hand over to his colleagues on the other side. It was a tough and thrilling job as a travelling reporter before the internet, and Dan remembers hearing his dad's travel stories as a child - witnessing the Fall of the Berlin Wall, meeting presidents in the West Wing and being given exclusive access to Communist China.
In this special episode sponsored by British Airways, Peter joins Dan to share his incredible stories as a witness to some of the most important history of the late 20th century and the adventures that shaped his career as one of Britain's most respected journalists. They also reminisce about the trip that shaped Dan's whole life - the first TV documentary he ever presented about the Battle of El Alamein in Egypt, with Peter.
This is a bonus episode of the podcast sponsored by British Airways.
Produced by Mariana Des Forges and edited by Dougal Patmore.
Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Get a subscription for £1 per month for 3 months with code DANSNOW sign up at https://historyhit/subscription/
We'd love to hear from you- what do you want to hear an episode on? You can email the podcast at ds.hh@historyhit.com.
You can take part in our listener survey here.

In the mid-17th century, King Charles I of England was put on trial for treason against the sovereign state. Such a process involved a singular determination by Parliament to find a way, through due legal process, to try the one they saw as a man of blood, to ensure that he paid the price for his faults and failings, but not through extrajudicial summary justice.
To understand how such a thing came about, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb speaks in this episode of Not Just the Tudors to Professor Edward Vallance, who has deeply researched King Charles I's trial. 
This episode was produced by Rob Weinberg.
Enjoy unlimited access to award-winning original documentaries that are released weekly and AD-FREE podcasts. Get a subscription for £1 per month for 3 months with code DANSNOW sign up at https://historyhit/subscription/
We'd love to hear from you- what do you want to hear an episode on? You can email the podcast at ds.hh@historyhit.com.
You can take part in our listener survey here.