Dan Snow's History Hit

Dan and military historian Stephen Fischer record a moment by moment play of the dramatic and bloody first crucial hour and a half of D-day, as it happened. They breakdown the assaults across the Normandy Beaches including Sword, Omaha and Gold, where over one hundred thousand British, American and Canadian troops landed under a barrage of German fire in an attempt to turn the tide of the war against the Nazis.Stephen's latest book is called 'Sword Beach'.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.com/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 second episode of our D-Day series, we look to the skies. In the build-up to Operation Overlord, thousands of Allied pilots in heavy bombers and fighter planes ground down the Luftwaffe and destroyed vital infrastructure. On D-Day itself, they supported their comrades on the ground and at sea in roles ranging from reconnaissance to close air support and dropped elite airborne units behind enemy lines.To talk us through all of that aerial action, Dan is joined by James Daly, a historian, museum curator and author of 'Proposed Airborne Assaults During Operation Overlord'.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.com/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.

This is the often forgotten chapter of the D-Day story.To begin our series for the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings, we turn to the massive naval operations that made it all happen. On D-Day itself, 7,000 ships and 195,000 sailors undertook the gargantuan challenge of ferrying men, weapons and supplies ashore to begin the liberation of Europe. But that was just on the 6th of June - it was preceded by years of bitter warfare at sea, without which Operation Overlord could never have happened.Dan is joined by naval historian Nick Hewitt, author of 'Normandy: The Sailors' Story', who explains why Allied sailors were the bedrock for Operation Overlord. Whether it be through intelligence gathering, naval bombardment or sinking German U-boats, actions at sea were absolutely vital in paving the way for D-Day.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.com/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.

This is the story of a bloody mutiny aboard the Boston-based schooner, the Rising Sun. The ship had been on a routine smuggling voyage before it was violently seized by three opportunistic crew members. They had their sights set on the lucrative cargo she carried, but below decks, the Rising Sun hid an even more sinister secret; 15 terrified enslaved people, held in the ship's hold as the mutiny raged overhead.Dan is joined by Jared Ross Hardesty, a professor of history at Western Washington University and the author of ‘Mutiny on the Rising Sun: A Tragic Tale of Slavery, Smuggling, and Chocolate’. Jared takes us through this rebellion at sea from beginning to end and sheds light on the shady worlds of smuggling and slavery in 18th century colonial America.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.com/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.

Lauri Törni, later known as Larry Thorne, was one of the most extraordinary soldiers of the 20th century. Driven by his antipathy towards Communism, the Finnish-born soldier fought in four major conflicts, from the Winter War in Finland to the jungles of Vietnam.Dan is joined by J. Michael Cleverley, a non-fiction writer and the author of 'Born A Soldier: The Times And Life Of Larry Thorne'. Michael explains how this accomplished WW2 combat leader wound up in an elite American Special Forces unit.Produced by James Hickmann and edited by Tean Stewart-Murray.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.com/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.

June 6th marks the 80th anniversary of D-Day and Dan Snow's History Hit is it by bringing you its biggest series yet. From now until May next year, we'll be marking the pivotal moments from D-Day to VE Day. This was the titanic struggle that saw the Allies advance from East and West to crush the Third Reich and hasten the end of the most terrible war in history. Join us as we take you through the Battle of Normandy and the liberation of France, the disaster of Operation Market Garden, the terrible fighting in the Ardennes as well as the gargantuan clashes on the Eastern Front. We'll also be marking the big anniversaries in the Pacific and Southeast Asian theatres as well. You can expect some epic storytelling from the best experts in the field. We're going to be hearing from Nick Hewitt, James Holland and Jonathan Dimbleby amongst many others. And, we'll also hear testimony from those who were there during those climactic final months of The Second World War.This is your definitive guide to World War II from D-Day to Berlin so make sure to follow Dan Snow's History Hit wherever you get your podcasts.

Jane Seymour is a paradox. Of Henry VIII’s six wives, she is the one about whom we know perhaps the least. She was the most lowly of the queens, but she had royal blood. She's often described as plain and mousy and lacking opinions, but when we do see her in the sources, she tends to be doing something that shows agency, while wearing some very flashy clothes indeed. So what can we make of Jane Seymour?In this episode of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb talks to Dr. Elizabeth Norton, author of a 2009 book about Jane Seymour and a forthcoming scholarly biography.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.com/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.

2/2. The British Empire aggressively pursued the opium trade well into the 19th century, fueling an addiction epidemic within China. The Qing government was determined to stamp out this destructive trade, leading to the First and Second Opium Wars. But the British Royal Navy was at its apogee, and re-exerted British control over the Chinese state. In the infamous final chapter of this story, British and French forces looted and destroyed the Imperial Summer Palace in Beijing stealing everything from priceless art to the Emperor's Pekinese dogs.In the second episode of a two-part mini-series Dan and Dr Jeremiah Jenne, a professor of Late Imperial and Modern China, delve into the history of the Opium trade in the British Empire, how it brought crisis to China and started a war that still impacts China's relationship with the west today.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.com/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.

1/2. Victorian readers were captivated by descriptions of smoke-filled opium dens among backstreet brothels and pubs in London's East End in Oscar Wilde novels. Opium use in Britain in the 19th century was widespread and while opium dens were scarce, Victorians could buy opium over the counter in chemists as treatments for headaches, coughs and even as a sleep aid for babies. Opium was important to the British Empire's health but more so to its imperial aims to control Asia from the Indian subcontinent to the eastern markets in China.In the first episode of a two-part mini-series Dan and Dr Jeremiah Jenne, a professor of Late Imperial and Modern China, delve into the history of the Opium trade in the British Empire, how it brought crisis to China and started a war that still impacts China's relationship with the west today.Produced by Mariana Des Forges and edited by Dougal PatmoreEnjoy 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.com/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.