Interviews

Explore in-depth interviews with leading historians and authors, uncovering insights into their work, research, and passion for history.

Interview

Sam Willis and James Daybell: In Conversation

In 2016, Dr Sam Willis and Professor James Daybell teamed up to create Histories of the Unexpected, to reveal surprising facts and new perspectives on the history of anything and everything. We caught up with them for a chat on the surprises of history after their brilliant show at Stowe House.

by Debbie Kilroy

Interview

Leanda de Lisle: In Conversation

Leanda de Lisle is a journalist and best-selling author on Tudor history.

by Debbie Kilroy

Interview

Helen Castor: In Conversation

Helen Castor is an award-winning historian and Bye-Fellow of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge.

by Debbie Kilroy

Showing 31 to 33 of 33 results

On this day in history

1184 BCE - According to calculations by Eratosthenes, Troy was sacked and burned.

1183 - The mainly-forgotten Henry the Young King contracted a fever and died while waging war on his younger brother, Richard, and his father, Henry II. He was just 28 years old.

1488 - James III of Scotland was killed in a battle with rebellious nobles and succeeded by his 15 year old son, James IV

1509 - Henry VIII married his brother's widow, Catherine of Aragon, based on the claim that her previous marriage to Arthur, the Prince of Wales, had never been consummated.

1685 - The duke of Monmouth, Charles II's bastard son, landed at Lyme Regis intending to challenge his uncle, James II, for the throne. Over the following weeks, he collected together an army of thousands around the south west of England, only to suffer a massive loss at the Battle of Sedgemoor in July.

1937 - A Soviet military court sentenced a group of some of the most senior officers in the Red Army to execution, as part of Stalin's Great Purge. Hitler claimed this purge led to the Soviet victory in the Second World War.

1955 - Eighty-three people were killed at the Le Mans 24 hour race, when a huge crash caused debris to fly into the crowd.