The Frankish king, Charlemagne the Great, is one of the titanic figures of European history, simultaneously renowned and shadowy. His rise to supreme power is a staggering story of warring religious empires, betrayal, battle, blindings and brutal conquest. How, then, did this one time Frankish interloper become the father of Europe, progenitor of a Holy Roman Empire whose descendants would rule right up until the time of Napoleon, and Emperor of the West? It begins in 741 AD when, following the death of the Frankish leader Charles Martel - ?The Hammer? - his two sons, Carloman and the pious by ruthless Pepin were forced to look to the Pope in Rome, then a subsidiary to the Byzantine empire, to buttress their authority. The Pope too was increasingly embattled at that time, struggling against invasions by the ferocious Germanic Lombards from the north of Italy. Desperate, he called upon Pepin for aid. So it was that, after his brother?s abdication, Pepin was officially anointed by the Pope as the sole King of the Franks, before crossing the Alps and smashing Lombardy. After his death, he would leave his kingdom the foremost power in Western Europe, and in the hands of to his own two sons: Carloman and Charles, later known as Charlemagne. A terrible power struggle would ensue? Join Tom and Dominic for this next instalment of their mighty series on the Franks and the rise of Charlemagne. How would Charles? and Carloman?s battle for power play out? _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Producer: Theo Young-Smith Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett Editor: Aaliyah Akude Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

By 711 Europe and the Frankish warlords were facing a graver threat than ever before. Bands of Northern African, nominally Muslim raiders had begun a steady incursion throughout the West, loosely unified under the banner of the Umayyads. Having already taken and plundered the Christian territories of the Goths, their eyes now fell upon the Frankish kingdom in Gaul, by now the greatest power in Europe. It would be a formidable prize if taken. But fortunately for the Franks, their leader was the greatest of their warlords since the rise of Clovis I: the mighty Charles Martel. Finally, the two great hosts - Charles with his allies from Aquitaine and the Umayyads under the leadership of Abd al-Rahman al-Ghafiqi. A world shaking, spear shattering, blood-letting battle would ensue, the outcome of which would come to determine the future of Europe. Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss the build up to, climax, and aftermath of the Battle of Tours - one of the most important battles in Western history, which would prove the making of the Franks, and pave the road to the ascent of Charlemagne. _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Producer: Theo Young-Smith Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett + Aaliyah Akude Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Following the death of the legendary Frankish King Clovis, his son Clothar I divided the mighty realm his father had hacked out from the warring warlords of Europe between his four sons. But peace was not to reign?the most ambitious of his brood - Chilperic - seized Paris, his brother?s domain, following his death. Drawn to his swelling power, a seemingly humble yet beautiful slave girl, Fredegund, rose up from obscurity to become Chilperic?s mistress. Little did he know what a ruthless force of nature he had invited into his bed. Before long, she had persuaded him to cast aside his first wife, Audovera. His second, Galswintha, was not so lucky. Soon after their marriage she was found strangled to death, and Fredegund - her probable murderer - was crowned queen in her place. Meanwhile, Galswintha?s equally merciless sister, the intelligent Queen Brunhilda of Austrasia was plotting the gruesome downfall of her sister?s killer, hungry for revenge. The terrible and enduring feud between these two remarkable women had begun? Join Tom and Dominic for this most unbelievable of stories in the second instalment of their series on the rise of the Franks, as they unveil the clash of two indomitable warrior queens, drenched in blood, violence, vengeance, scheming, and witchcraft. The outcome of their civil war would reshape the face of the West.  _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Producer: Theo Young-Smith Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett + Aaliyah Akude Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Rise of the Franks - a mighty host of warlords; forefathers of the western world and forgers of medieval civilisation, under the totemic leadership of history?s most glorious King: Charlemagne. It is a tale rich in fantasy and myth, transporting us into a distant age and the dark debris of a crumbling Roman empire; landscapes scarred by ruins, clashing queens, poisonings, sorcery, bloody battles, ice castles, and axe-wielding warriors, more reminiscent of King Arthur, Game of Thrones and the Lord of the Rings than real life. Once insignificant, terrifying barbarians from the peripheries of Gaul, with flaming red hair and formidable moustaches, they would emerge from the ashes of the Roman Empire in the 4th century AD, and become the heirs of the Caesars. But how? The answer lies in warring barbarian strongmen, the collision of old gods and the new, a mighty Christian martyr, a mysterious ancient bloodline born of perhaps Jesus Christ himself, the emperors of old, and a sea monster; and a battle to determine dominion of the West?  Join Tom and Dominic as they launch into one of the greatest stories in all of European history: the rise the Franks. Europe?s mightiest warriors, warlords and kings, whose legacy would reshape the world forever.  _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Producer: Theo Young-Smith Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett + Aaliyah Akude Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In as early as 5000 BC the vast and spectacular city of Uruk - replete with towering walls, glistening temples and complex irrigation systems - lay sprawled across the face of Southern Mesopotamia. Not only is Uruk the oldest city in the world, but it is arguably one of the most consequential, having facilitated one of the great turning points of human civilisation. Here, in this mysterious metropolis lay the origins of urbanisation, making Uruk the predecessor and antecedent of every modern city today. It was the cradle of formidable trading networks, sophisticated craftsmanship, agricultural prosperity, the earliest examples of writing, and even home to the very first person in human history to be named. Yet, by 700 AD this once great wonder of the ancient world had been abandoned, leaving nothing behind but haunting ruins and two burning questions: firstly, how did this marvel of urbanisation come to exist, and secondly, what led to its ruin? Was it colonisation, climate change, or conquest?? Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss Uruk, the first city in the whole of world history and the mother of modern urbanisation, revealing the remarkable tale of its discovery, its mysterious origins, and equally enigmatic decline. _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Producer: Theo Young-Smith Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The 1st of August 1798 saw the British fleet sailing towards Alexandria into a land of classical history and mythology, the sun setting like blood over the River Nile and French flags flying over the city. The scene could not be more perfectly suited to the cataclysmic battle that would soon take place there, in which Horatio Nelson would guild his legend forever. Charged with leading a squadron of fourteen ships into the Mediterranean to find Napoleon Bonaparte and his vast fleet, Nelson had chased him all the way to Alexandria which the French had seized along with the rest of Egypt. At last, lookouts spot the masts of Napoleon?s ships - a moment of near transcendent excitement for Nelson and the men of his fleet. At last, it seemed, the moment had come for their battle of total annihilation in all its gore and glory. Wary of this, the French commanders urged Bonaparte to withdraw, but in his hubris the French general refused. So it was that the greatest naval battle of the 18th century began, to the thunder of cannons, screaming sailors, and the chaos of gun smoke, soot, splinters and blood?. Join Dominic and Tom as they describe one of the most decisive and dramatic moments of both naval history and Horatio Nelson?s life: the Battle of the Nile. _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Producer: Theo Young-Smith Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the wake of the Battle of Cape St. Vincent in 1797, Horatio Nelson, though a much acclaimed public hero for his bravery during the battle, is in the doldrums. Having led a harebrained attack on Tenerife, Nelson must now contend with the loss of his arm. Upon returning to England, famous and lauded, Nelson declared his intention to retire to a cottage in the countryside to recover. However, carrying on the tide from France came murmurings that that the French were amassing an enormous force of soldiers and ships. The supreme commander of this formidable host: a Corsican by the name of Napoleon Bonaparte. It seemed that at last, the monumental struggle for which Britain had been grimly preparing up for so long - a total struggle of apocalyptic proportions - was in the offing. And with it, Nelson, the man of the hour, was given command of the squadron charged with finding the vast French fleet and hunting down the formidable Napoleon. Nelson?s hour of glory had finally arrived.  Join Dominic and Tom as they discuss the aftermath of the Battle of St. Vincent, Nelson?s burgeoning legend and emotional turmoil, and his thrilling hunt for Napoleon Bonaparte.   _______ LIVE SHOWS *The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.* If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York. Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Producer: Theo Young-Smith Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Valentine?s day, 1797: the British Royal Navy are hoping for a decisive clash with the Spanish enemy, off the coast of Portugal, at Cape St. Vincent. Nelson has already narrowly avoided capture at the hands of the Spanish, after sailing through their fleet unnoticed, thanks to the auspicious cover of thick fog. But the British are outnumbered, and the Spanish fleet has at its head the largest warship in the world, the Santísima Trinidad. The stakes couldn?t be higher: if the Spanish aren?t stopped, they could head North towards the western coast of France and join forces with the French, the consequences of which would be terrible. Indeed, the French would then reign supreme over the Channel, offering them the perfect conditions to invade Britain. But after a disastrous start to the battle for the Royal Navy, all seems lost for the Royal Navy, until a single British ship breaks formation, and takes on the Santísima Trinidad. But who could possibly be behind such an insane manoeuvre? Join Tom and Dominic in the third part of our series on Lord Nelson, as they dive into the chaos and carnage of the Battle of Cape St. Vincent, and look at how Nelson?s incredibly daring charge saved Britain? _______ LIVE SHOWS *The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.* If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York. Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Producer: Theo Young-Smith Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It is 1793 and France has declared war on Britain, meaning that the British navy must serve as both sword and shield to Europe. Horatio Nelson is at this time a slim and sickly 34 year old captain who nevertheless burns with the zeal to serve his king and country, and has recently taken over command of the impressive Agamemnon. Meanwhile, the British navy has taken Toulon by the summer of 1793 through diplomatic means - its foothold in the Mediterranean - but is struggling to hold it. Upon arriving in the city Nelson is shocked to find it besieged by the French, under the leadership of one Napoleon Bonaparte - the first time that these two titanic rivals of history will brush shoulders, but not the last. At last the city falls to the French, and the British must go in search of another Mediterranean base. They settle upon Corsica - Bonaparte?s homeland. It is there, on the morning of the 12th of July that during the siege of Calvi that Nelson is struck in the face by a spray of stone and shrapnel, severely blinding his left eye forever more. Will this critical injury prematurely end his promising career? Just as a great armada of Spanish and French ships gathers on the horizon, heralding the coming one of history's bloodiest naval battles... Join Dominic and Tom as they discuss the Siege of Toulon, Nelson?s heroic early forays into the Mediterranean, and the dramatic aftermath of his first near fatal injury. _______ LIVE SHOWS *The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.* If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York. Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Producer: Theo Young-Smith Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It?s 1758 and Britain?s greatest naval commander has just been born. The young Horatio Nelson has inherited his father?s love of god and his mother?s hatred of the French. At age 12, he leaves Norfolk for a life on the high seas. As a teen, Nelson narrowly avoided death on multiple occasions. He survives a nasty encounter with the Sultan of Mysore, the blistering cold on a failed expedition in the North Pole, a nasty bout of Malaria contracted in India, and far more besides. Propelled by his excellence and bravery, he rose quickly to become a captain.This brings us to 1788 where Nelson, now a married man in his thirties and back in his childhood home, learns that England is going to war with France. Without hesitation, he swaps the simple domestic life for the thrill of the high seas once more?  Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss Nelson's early life and adventures, as he sets out along a path that would eventually enable British domination of the seas; and the world. _______ LIVE SHOWS *The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.* If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York. Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Producer: Theo Young-Smith Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

?Nixon now! Nixon now! More than ever we need Nixon now!? It's the 5th of November 1968, and Richard M. Nixon is on tenterhooks, alone in his dark hotel room. He watches as the final states are called in the presidential election. Will he fall at the same hurdle as he did in 1960? Off the back of losing to JFK eight years prior, Nixon is running as the Republican presidential candidate. This time not only does he face Democrat Hubert Humphrey, but the independent segregationist candidate George Wallace threatens to split Nixon?s votes. A west coast outsider who embraces modern media, Nixon aims to capture the hearts of Middle America. But will he succeed this time around? Join Dominic and Tom for the final instalment of our series on America in 1968, as they dive into the political campaign that would go on to become the prototype for all future campaigns, as traditionally blue states turn red? _______ *The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.* If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York. Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Producer: Theo Young-Smith Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Democratic National Convention is in Chicago, and the incumbent president, Lyndon B. Johnson, has pulled out of the race. Anti-war protestors are flooding the streets of the city, and Johnson continues to press on with the war in Vietnam. Bobby Kennedy?s assassination has turned the Democratic candidacy contest into a two-horse race between Hubert Humphrey and Eugene McCarthy. And while they?re battling inside the convention for delegates, the real fight is taking place on the streets. Dope-smoking youth activists known as the ?Yippies? have called for a protest against the Vietnam War, and their threats made in the name of the ?politics of play? have been taken seriously by Chicago police, who react with brutal force. Flowers and poems meet truncheons and guns. As DNC votes are being counted, images of these confrontations are broadcasted on newsreels across the nation. Join Tom and Dominic to discuss a Democratic National Convention that saw Chicago descend into violence and chaos. Listen as they explore what led to one of the most anarchic political conventions, and how it impacted a divided America. _______ *The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.* If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York. Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Producer: Theo Young-Smith Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

?Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever!? George Wallace, Governor of Alabama, was one of the most successful third-party presidential candidates in American history. In 1968, he ran a populist campaign pitching himself against the Civil Rights movement. He pushed to uphold formal structures of white supremacy in the South, forever employing racist dog whistles at his rallies and in the media. He may not have won the presidency, but his approach paved the way for a new, incendiary brand of politics, which permeates American society to this day... Join Dominic and Tom to discuss George Wallace?s 1968 campaign. They explore the legacy of his political career, how it shaped the modern Republican party, and why the Alabama Governor could be considered the precursor to Donald J. Trump. _______ *The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.* If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York. Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Producer: Theo Young-Smith Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor _______ *The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.* If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York. Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Producer: Theo Young-Smith Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis + Alice Horrell Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

?What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence and lawlessness, but is love, and wisdom, and compassion toward one another? As Attorney General during JFK?s presidency, Bobby had often played second fiddle to his older brother. But by 1968, Robert F. Kennedy had become a distinct political leader dedicated to social justice. In March he declared he would run in the primaries to become the Democratic presidential candidate. He galvanised support amongst marginalised communities, young people, and anti-war voters, and in the immediate aftermath of Martin Luther King?s assassination, he gave an emotional impromptu speech to a predominantly Black crowd, mentioning his own brother?s assassination for the first time in public. On the evening of June 4th, it was announced that Bobby had won the California primary. With bleeding palms from shaking so many hands along the campaign trail, he gave a victory speech to a crowded room of supporters in the Ambassador Hotel. But the joy was to come crashing down as tragedy struck the Kennedy family once more? Listen as Dominic and Tom discuss another of 1968?s American assassinations, and the build up to the moment when Bobby Kennedy died in the arms of a seventeen-year-old kitchen busboy. _______ *The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.* If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York. Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Producer: Theo Young-Smith Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The peaceful figurehead of the Civil Rights movement in the early 1960s, Dr Martin Luther King had inspired hundreds of thousands to demand equal rights for African Americans. But by 1968, the once uniting leader seemed to be losing popularity, both amongst activists and in the press. As he grappled with being hunted and threatened by the FBI, he was also contending with a new generation of more militant activists who felt that his nonviolent approach was not working. Downtrodden but not defeated, King plans a new Poor People?s Campaign to combat poverty in America. As part of this new focus, he visits Memphis to support striking sanitation workers. The day before his final moments at the Lorraine Motel, he preaches to a crowd, ?I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land.? Join Dominic and Tom as they discuss the tragic assassination of Martin Luther King, including the public outcry that ensued, and his more recent legacy as a secular saint in the USA with a dedicated national holiday. _______ *The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.* If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York. Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Producer: Theo Young-Smith Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

"Tonight I want to speak to you of peace in Vietnam and Southeast Asia.? On the night of Sunday, 31st of March 1968, President Lyndon B. Johnson, after announcing an end to the bombing of North Vietnam, stunned the world by revealing he would not seek the democratic nomination for that year?s presidential election. The seemingly never-ending Vietnam War had already made LBJ hugely unpopular with his progressive base. But now, facing challenges from Eugene McCarthy, the ambiguously anti-war senator from Minnesota, and Robert ?Bobby? Kennedy, heir to the Kennedy throne, Johnson had decided to bow out. And so, as the war slowed for a moment, the Democrats would have to decide on the best candidate to take on a certain Richard M. Nixon?  Join Tom and Dominic in the first episode of our six part series on America in 1968, as they look at the stories of Lyndon B. Johnson, Eugene McCarthy, and how the Vietnam War would come to define them both. _______ LIVE SHOWS *The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.* If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York. Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Producer: Theo Young-Smith Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

?Let us march! Let us march! May impure blood water our fields!? Written after the declaration of war against Austria in 1792, ?La Marseillaise? was born in the provinces of France, away from the Parisian metropole, and immediately became popular as a unifying rallying cry against foreign invaders, and the enemies of the Revolution. It was the ?fédérés? from Marseille, instrumental in the storming of the Tuileries Palace, who had first brought the song to the streets of Paris. But how did this uncomprimising, gruesome tune come to resonate with all the various factions within revolutionary France? Join Tom and Dominic in the final part of season two of The French Revolution, as they uncover the origins of the most famous war song of them all: La Marseillaise. _______ LIVE SHOWS *The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.* If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York. Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Producer: Theo Young-Smith Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis + Aaliyah Akude Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The war between revolutionary France and the allied powers of Prussia and Austria has reached fever pitch, and in early August 1792, the latter party threaten a terrible vengeance on Paris should harm be done to the French royal family. But far from calming tensions, this threat puts the King, Marie Antoinette and their children in terrible danger. They?ve been kept in the Tuileries Palace since their failed escape, and on the 10th of August, a frenzied crowd, led by National Guards and ?fédérés? from Marseille, storm the palace, massacring the Swiss guards defending the Royal family, as they tear through the halls, in search of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette? Join Tom and Dominic in the fourth instalment of season two of the Fetch Revolution, as they dive into the chaos and carnage of the storming of the Tuileries. _______ Looking for all of our episodes on the French Revolution? Check out The Rest Is History?s French Revolution playlist https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX6W9e1zgsgaG _______ LIVE SHOWS *The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.* If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York. Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Producer: Theo Young-Smith Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

During the "Ancien Regime", royal executioners held an unholy status, and would strike up fear in the crowds as they walked the streets of Paris. But with the Revolution, the role of executioners in society was reformed, and whilst they lost some of their privileges, they were ushered into to a new, universalist France. And as the Revolution brought forward more and more enemies of the state, executioners were faced with more victims than the axe could handle. This, combined with an ever growing debate around the humanity and dignity of executions, would lead to the invention of a killing machine still used by the French state more than 150 years later? Join Tom and Dominic in the third part of our second season of the French Revolution, as they look at gruesome methods of execution under the French monarchy, the changing role of executioners, how the Guillotine came to loom so large over the fate of so many? _______ Looking for all of our episodes on the French Revolution? Check out The Rest Is History?s French Revolution playlist https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX6W9e1zgsgaG _______ LIVE SHOWS *The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.* If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York. *The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall* Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history?s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven. Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Producer: Theo Young-Smith Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis + Becki Hills Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

?You have shaken off the yoke of your despots, but surely this was not to bend the knee before a foreign tyrant?? It?s January 1792, and one of the largest factions in revolutionary France, the Gironde, is calling for war against Austria. The French people?s hatred of Marie Antoinette has always fuelled suspicion of the Austrians, and at the same time, there has been constant, treacherous correspondence between the French royal family and their European cousins. And so, when one of the prominent members of the Gironde calls to arms in early 1792, little does he realise that the war he wants will haunt Europe for the next 25 years, totally redrawing its map, and costing millions of lives? Join Tom and Dominic in part two of our second season of the French Revolution, as they dive into the first of many wars to come between Revolutionary France and its European rivals. _______ Looking for all of our episodes on the French Revolution? Check out The Rest Is History?s French Revolution playlist https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX6W9e1zgsgaG _______ LIVE SHOWS *The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.* If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York. *The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall* Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history?s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven. Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Producer: Theo Young-Smith Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis Editor: Ross Buchanan Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to Season 2 of The French Revolution! Revolutionary fervour threatens to engulf the streets of Paris, as demonstrators have gathered on the Champ de Mars to sign a petition demanding the removal of the King. Two days prior, the National Assembly had decreed that Louis XVI would remain King under a constitutional monarchy, even after his failed escape to Varennes, an inexcusable betrayal of the French people. The crowd has begun to swell on the Champ de Mars, and two men have already been lynched by the mob. The National Guard, with Lafayette at its head, has been sent to disperse the demonstrators, and a bloody, violent face-off erupts? Join Tom and Dominic in the first part of our second Season of the French Revolution, as they break down the events of the Champs de Mars Massacre. _______ Looking for all of our episodes on the French Revolution? Check out The Rest Is History?s French Revolution playlist https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX6W9e1zgsgaG _______ LIVE SHOWS *The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.* If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York. *The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall* Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history?s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven. Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Producer: Theo Young-Smith Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis + Aaliyah Akude Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the aftermath of Boudicca?s uprising, the Romans felt they could not withdraw from the British Isles. They sent their most competent fighters and leaders to suppress the indigenous Britons in the south. As the Druids of Wales were defeated, and the resistant Caledonians were massacred, the process of Romanisation in Britain began. London became the urbanised imperial capital, and the Roman love of hot springs saw the development of Bath. And, forty years after their arrival, they finally reached the Highlands, conquering lands as north as Orkney. Listen as Tom and Dominic discuss how the Romans circumnavigated the British Isles, colonised its lands and returned to Rome as heroes. _______ LIVE SHOWS *The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.* If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York. *The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall* Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history?s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven. Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Producer: Theo Young-Smith Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

?Two cities were sacked, eighty thousand of the Romans and of their allies perished, and the island was lost to Rome. Moreover, all this ruin was brought upon by a woman...? Few figures have statues dedicated to them in the towns they incinerated. But Boudicca was no ordinary figure. With a name that means ?she who brings victory?, Boudicca was Rome?s supervillain. She was a freedom fighter who stood up to the greatest imperial power in the world. In 60 AD, Boudicca led her Iceni army to attack Colchester and London, cities left bare and vulnerable without fortifications. But the Romans would not accept such defeats without taking revenge? Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss the life of the first vivid personality in British history, a fierce tale of a warrior queen. _______ LIVE SHOWS *The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.* If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York. *The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall* Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history?s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven. Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Producer: Theo Young-Smith Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Viewed as an idiot by those around him, Claudius felt the need to prove himself. In the century since Caesar had invaded Britain, the mythology surrounding the island had taken hold in Roman imaginations. Stories of sea monsters, terrifying Druids, and human sacrifice by barbarians, instilled fear into the imperial legions. But Claudius was determined, and launched a two-pronged attack on the southeastern coast to immortalise his name as a victor. Accompanied by German mercenaries, Roman soldiers forced their way across the Medway in Kent and headed up the Thames to London. British elites had two options: resist or collaborate?  Join Tom and Dominic as they piece together, coin by Roman coin, how Claudius conquered Britain in 43 AD. _______ LIVE SHOWS *The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall* Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history?s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven. *The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.* If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.  Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Producer: Theo Young-Smith Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis Editor: Aaliyah Akude Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Julius Caesar saw the Britons as brutal savages. Yet the Romans romanticised their lack of civilisation, deeming them as untainted by Mediterranean luxury. In 55 BC, after sending scouts along the Kentish coast, Caesar launched an invasion of the island as part of his Gallic Wars campaign. After a disastrous first attempt marred by storms, the ?menacing horde of barbarians? of the English Home Counties asked Caesar for help and he returned with a bigger, stronger army to support their prince. Will this campaign succeed? Join Tom and Dominic as they explore Caesar?s invasion of Britain and how it entered the orbit of the great imperial power. _______ LIVE SHOWS *The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall* Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history?s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven. *The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.* If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.  Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Producer: Theo Young-Smith Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis Editor: Aaliyah Akude Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After lying in state in an open casket, Evita?s corpse is taken down to a secret laboratory in the basement. And as the Argentinian Victor Frankenstein, Dr Ara, busily embalms her body, her ghost continues to haunt the nation. Sightings of her face are reported in obscure places all over the country. With Evita gone, Colonel Perón embarks upon an affair with a much younger girl and has a creepily paternal romantic relationship with her. Meanwhile, as Perón?s sparkle starts to fade amongst the public, Evita?s body vanishes? Listen as Dominic and Tom explore the final and most bizarre chapter in the extraordinary story of Evita Perón. _______ *The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.* If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.  *The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall* Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history?s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven. Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Producer: Theo Young-Smith Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The workaholic mother of a nation, Evita?s health deteriorates and she faints at a public event. A self-proclaimed martyr, she seems to be willing to die for Perón and Perónism, and her supporters see her passion. As she continues her public work, her supporters call for her to run as Vice President in the upcoming election - a position of power no woman on Earth has yet held. Evita?s supporters seem to outnumber Colonel Perón?s, with unions organising mass meetings that bring up to 2 million people to the city streets. As the couple look out at the crowds from the balcony, they get the sense that they have created a monster of a movement that they may have lost control over? Listen as Tom and Dominic discuss the growing public frenzy that snowballs in Argentina towards the end of Evita?s life.   _______ *The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.* If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.  *The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall* Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history?s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven. Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Producer: Theo Young-Smith Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

?There is only one man who can lead any worker?s regime.? Together, Eva and Colonel Perón built a political movement powered by operatic rhetoric. Perónism promised genuine benefits for the working class, denouncing violence and emphasising ritual and spectacle. Eva embodied the working-class migrant to Buenos Aires that Perón sought to attract, and she increasingly entered the role of his partner both at home and in government. Ostentatiously flamboyant in her dress sense, how did Evita become a woman of the people who also wore Christian Dior? Listen as Tom and Dominic unpack how Eva became Evita, the most powerful woman in global politics. _______ *The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.* If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.  *The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall* Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history?s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven. Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Producer: Theo Young-Smith Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett + Anouska Lewis Editor: Becki Hills Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

An admirer of Hitler and Mussolini, Colonel Perón rose through the ranks during the 1943 military coup in Argentina. Following a disastrous earthquake in 1944, Perón crossed paths with Eva at a fundraising event. Now a successful radio actress, Eva was 20 years his junior but became completely infatuated with him and swiftly removed her romantic rivals. And despite the relationship being unpopular amongst his army comrades, the two grew closer. Meanwhile Peron gathered support amongst trade unions through his rousing, dramatic speeches, and began his journey toward ultimate political power? Listen as Dominic and Tom discuss how Eva became Perón?s mistress and gradually rose to be seen by his side in the public imagination. _______ *The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.* If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York. *The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall* Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history?s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven. Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Producer: Theo Young-Smith Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

?Don?t cry for me Argentina, the truth is I never left you.? Few political figures have been both hailed as a saint and immortalised through an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical. The mythology of Evita Perón continues to permeate through Argentinian society, but what?s the real history of her life? Eva and her siblings were born out of wedlock and subsequently shunned by the community in her rural village. Losing her father in a car crash at a young age, she grew up with a terrible sense of hurt and a desire for a better life. Cinema was a welcome distraction and soon had a significant influence on Eva. Despite not being the most talented actor, her emotive and monotone voice suited the hugely popular soap operas on the radio in Argentina. But she sought total stardom, and she was willing to move to the capital to find it? Join Dominic and Tom as they discuss Eva?s escape from a childhood of resentment to the bright lights of Buenos Aires with her sights set on making it as an actor. _______ *The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.* If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York. *The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall* Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history?s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven. Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Producer: Theo Young-Smith Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It?s August 1944: the Liberation of Paris is underway, and France appears to slowly be extricating herself from Nazi control. But, on the French western shores, in Saint-Malo, the deafening sounds of artillery fire continue to punctuate daily life, with the Germans making a last-ditch attempt to hold the coastal town. And when the U.S. Army arrive to lay siege to the German positions, the last person expected to be among the Allied forces is a photographer, let alone a female one? Until the publication of The Lives of Lee Miller in 1985 by her son, Antony Penrose, very little was known of the woman who forced her way into occupied Europe, and documented the true horrors of the Nazi campaign. Her photographs capturing Nazi evil went around the world, exposing the atrocities of the Holocaust and the harrowing aftermath of the death of Hitler. Now, her incredible story is being told in a new film, LEE, with Kate Winslet taking on the role of the formidable title character. From a marriage to a man famed for dying himself blue, to a staged photoshoot in Hitler?s bathtub, Join Tom and Dominic as they explore the extraordinary story of Lee Miller. Joining Winslet is Andy Samberg playing Life Magazine photographer David E. Scherman; Alexander Skarsgård playing English Surrealist painter, photographer, poet and biographer Roland Penrose; Marion Cotillard playing Solange D?Ayen, the fashion director of French Vogue and close friend of Miller?s: Josh O?Connor playing Tony, a young journalist and Andrea Riseborough playing British Vogue Editor Audrey Withers. Only in cinemas from Friday 13th September, book tickets now - https://www.leefilm.co.uk As always we appreciate your feedback on The Rest Is History to help make the podcast better: https://forms.gle/GymJghf56DFzZ8rAA _______ LIVE SHOWS *The Rest Is History BOOK TOUR* To celebrate the launch of our second book, ?The Rest Is History Returns?, Dominic and Tom will be appearing onstage in both Oxford and Cambridge in September! *The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall* Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history?s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven. *The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.* If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.  Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Producer: Theo Young-Smith Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

?I like an Englishman to look like an Englishman, and beards are foreign and breed vermin. Also depend upon it, they will lead to filthy habits.? Europe has had a love-hate relationship with facial hair since the Late Middle Ages. In the eleventh century, beards were celebrated as an expression of fertility caused by men?s ?hot breath?. Yet by the turn of the twentieth century, a clean shaven man represented the youth and vigour celebrated in corporate culture. But how did the Reformation impact opinions on beards? Why did Peter the Great instate a tax on beards in Russia? How did the Crimean War lead to the popularity of the Victorian beard? And why did The Beatles end up bearded? Join Dominic and Tom as they discuss the evolution of the modern beard. With a cast of hairy and hairless characters including the bearded witches of Macbeth, Winston Churchill, Jeremy Corbyn, George Best, W. G. Grace, Charles Darwin, and Lord Kitchener? _______ *The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.* If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York. *The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall* Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history?s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven. Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Producer: Theo Young-Smith Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What did Marcus Aurelius, Jesus, and Ragnar Lothbrok all have in common? Apart from their notorious and symbolic deaths, all three men boasted luscious beards. Throughout history, beards have posed quite the conundrum for all those able to grow them. While some Roman emperors chose to outlaw beards in retaliation to the Greek penchant for hipster stubble, others chose to grow them long and strong to demonstrate their machismo and sexual prowess. The question of ?to beard or not to beard? is one which has puzzled men (and women!) over the course of civilisation, leading to hairy battles and questionable postiches but, in this miniseries, Tom and Dominic settle the great debate once and for all. Join our clean shaven hosts as they wade through the long and scraggly history of the beard. From Alexander the Great?s ingenious beardless marketing strategy to the chinstrap beards of Ancient Egypt, prepare to have your mind blown by the remarkable power of facial hair. _______ *The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.* If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.  *The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall* Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history?s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven. Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Producer: Theo Young-Smith Assistant Producer: Anouska Lewis Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

St Crispin?s day, 1415: Henry V stands victorious, after a tremendous defeat of the French forces at the Battle of Agincourt. He is just about to make a historic speech which will be retold by Shakespeare nearly two centuries later. There are mounds of bodies, too many dead for the chroniclers to count. Those who escaped the bloodshed have been taken prisoner back to England, including the young Duke of Orleans, on the day before his twenty-first birthday. And a month later, across the Channel, the Count of Armagnac comes to power in Paris, and rules so brutally that the residents of the French capital start to hope for an English invasion. Henry V is taking no time to rest, and begins planning his next offensive? Join Tom and Dominic in the fourth instalment of our series on the Hundred Year?s War, as Henry V considers his next move after his triumph at Agincourt. _______ *The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.* If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.  *The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall* Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history?s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven. Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Producer: Theo Young-Smith Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

?We few, we happy few, we band of brothers?. The Battle of Agincourt in 1415 endures as perhaps the most totemic battle in the whole of English history. Thanks in part to Shakespeare?s masterful Henry V, the myths and legends of that bloody day echo across time, forever enshrining the young Henry as the greatest warrior king England had ever known. So too the enduring idea of the English as plucky underdogs, facing down unfavourable odds with brazen grit. And though the exact numbers of men who fought in the two armies is hotly contested, the prospect was certainly intimidating for the English host looking down upon the vast French force amassed below them the day before the battle. Hungry and weary after an unexpectedly long march, and demoralised by the number of French that would be taking to the field, the situation certainly seemed dire for the English. One man amongst them, however, held true to his belief that the day could still be won: Henry V. An undeniably brilliant military commander, he infused his men with a sense of patriotic mission, convincing them that theirs was truly a divinely ordained task, and therefore in this - and his careful strategic planning the night before the battle - he proves a striking case of one individual changing the course of history. However, the French too had plans in place for the day ahead: total warfare. In other words, to overwhelm the English in a single devastating moment of impact, sweeping the lethal Welsh archers aside. So it was that dawn broke on the 25th of October to the site of King Henry wearing a helmet surmounted by a glittering crown and bearing the emblems of both France and England, astride his little grey horse, and riding up and down his lines of weathered silver clad men, preparing them to stride into legend?then, as the French cavalry began their charge, the sky went black as 75,000 arrows blocked out the sun. What else would that apocalyptic day hold in store? Join Tom and Dominic as they describe the epochal Battle of Agincourt. From the days building up to it, to the moment that the two armies shattered together in the rain and mud of France. It is a story of courage and cowardice, kings and peasants, blood and bowels, tragedy and triumph.  _______ *The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.* If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.  *The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall* Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history?s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven. Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Producer: Theo Young-Smith Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On the 11th of August 1415, King Henry V of England - an austere, pious, thoughtful and terrifying warlord in only his late-twenties - set sail for France. He embarked in the largest ship ever built on English soil at the head of some 15,000 ships, his nobles, brothers and hordes of Welsh longbow-men in tow. Two days later, they made land, and their target: the Port of Harfleur, a nest of state-sponsored pirates. Henry?s intention was to use it as a spring-board to a wider campaign in France, capitalising on the chaos that raged there, before eventually annexing Normandy. The assault on Harfleur that followed was bloody and brutal. The first Norman town to be pulverised by artillery, the English canons created a hellish scene of smoke and fire. However, the siege went on longer than Henry had hoped, inflicting terrible devastation upon the city and his forces. Furthermore, large numbers of his men were falling sick and their supplies growing thin. Finally, after four long weeks of terrible siege warfare, the city fell. However, a massive French force was now assembling to recapture the fallen city, potentially undermining all the money and men that Henry had already spent on the campaign. With the clock ticking for the English towards the end of 1415, what would Henry?s next move be? First, in a daring move of legendary chivalry, he challenged the portly French Dauphin to a duel, to no avail. So it was that he decided to march right across France and take Calais; a bold public proclamation of his right to the whole of France. Would Henry?s plan prove overly ambitious, or would he get the decisive battle he craved?? Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss Henry V?s first bloody forays into France, enacting his claim to the French crown that he truly believed was his by divine ordination, and thereby reigniting the tumultuous Hundred Years? War?. _______ *The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.* If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York. *The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall* Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history?s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven. Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Producer: Theo Young-Smith Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

?Once more unto the breach, dear friends. Once more, we'll close the wall up with our English dead [?] And upon this charge, cry God for Harry, England and St. George!? Such was Henry V?s call to arms at the siege of Harfleur, as written by Shakespeare. The son of the Usurper King, Henry V has decided to take up the English claim to the French throne, thereby putting an end to the truce that had marked a pause in the Hundred Years? War. And so, in the late summer of 1415, Henry has decided to lay siege to the massive port of Harfleur, in Normandy, a renowned nest of state-sponsored pirates. The English king has waited a long time for this moment, and the odds may never again be so favourable to him:  a civil war looms in France, as the formidable Burgundians, led by John the Fearless, jostle for power with their sworn enemies, the Armagnacs. The powerless French king, Charles VI, and his son, the Dauphin, can do nothing but watch the infighting unfold? Join Tom and Dominic in the first part of their return to the story of the Hundred Year?s War, as Henry V takes up a decades-old claim to the French throne? _______ *The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.* If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in New York, San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., and Boston. *The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall* Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history?s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven. Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Producer: Theo Young-Smith Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The year is 1403, and the Usurper King, Henry IV, faces a seemingly insurmountable challenge to his rule. He has been brought the news that his old friend, Harry ?Hotspur? Percy, has betrayed him, and plans to lead his army against the King. Meanwhile, to the West, the revolt in Wales continues, at its head the formidable welsh king Owain Glynd?r. And even in Scotland, where Henry IV thought he?d settled things down by silencing the terrifying Earl of Douglas, there is more trouble: a kitchen boy is claiming to be Richard II. And having made it halfway up to Scotland with his army to quell the newfound unrest, Henry IV must turn around, and march his men towards Wales, to face Hotspur at Schrewsbury... Join Tom and Dominic as they dive into the biggest revolt against Henry IV?s rule, the making of his son and heir, Prince Hal, and the fate of the real Sir John Falstaff, abandoned by his dear friend Hal. _______ *The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.* If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.  *The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall* Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history?s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven. Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Producer: Theo Young-Smith Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

"Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown?? Henry IV has been portrayed as both a shadowy, obscure figure, and a strong king who was loved by his people. Prior to ascending the throne, Henry, the son of John of Gaunt, was admired for his glamour, clemency, courage and strong faith, but these sympathies quickly turned to suspicion when he became a ruling regicide. Indeed, after a failed rebellion in 1388 against Richard II, Henry led a second coup against the king, and successfully usurped the throne in 1399. Once king, keen to gain legitimacy, he delivered his claim to the throne in English, and vowed to respect the will of the people. But he had inherited a divided country, which was surrounded by enemies in France, Scotland and Wales. And, despite being elected to the throne by his peers, and, as some sources claimed, prophesied by Merlin and selected by a greyhound, Henry quickly lost popularity, and himself faced violent rebellions. When the brewing uprising in Northern Wales finally erupted in the autumn of 1400, with the Scots following suit not long thereafter, Henry would need all his allies to stand firmly by his side? Join Tom and Dominic as they explore the life and reign of Henry IV, an epic tale of plunder, rivalry and jealousy. _______ *The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.* If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.  *The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall* Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history?s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven. Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Producer: Theo Young-Smith Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The unexpected evolution of Italian food can serve as a tantalising doorway into some of the greatest moments of Italian history: from medieval monarchs, murdered popes, and the Renaissance, to secret societies, and Mussolini?s fascist propaganda. Yet the history of Italian food is also riddled with myths and ambiguities, particularly the rustic, romantic idea of it as deriving in the homes of rural peasants. In truth, though the distinctive culinary identity of different Italian cities endures - rising and falling with the fates of their cosmopolitan foundations - the beloved Italian staples of today bear little resemblance to their historical antecedents. For instance, Venetian food was once renowned for its Middle Eastern spices, and an alarming quantity of eels, sweetbreads and sugar is recorded from a feast in Renaissance Ferrara. When was it, then, that Italian food developed its unique identity and reputation? Can it in any way be traced back to the food of the Roman Empire? Did pasta really originate in China before being brought to Europe by Marco Polo? And, does margarita pizza really originate in the whims of a famous 19th century queen? In today?s episode, Dominic and Tom are joined by historian John Dickie to indulge in a colourful journey through the piquant history of Italian food, dispelling and corroborating a few enshrined myths and legends as they go? _______ *The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.* If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.  *The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall* Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history?s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven. Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Producer: Theo Young-Smith Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In Sussex, in 1912, men quarrying in a gravel pit near Piltdown village turned up a human skull. According to Charles Dawson, a lawyer and amateur archeologist with a remarkable track record for finding ancient treasures, it belonged to a palaeolithic man, possibly millions of years old, and was therefore the earliest trace of mankind ever found in England. Greater still, Piltdown man as he came to be known, seemed to be the ?missing link? between apes and men. The discovery inflamed and delighted British society, confirming and buttressing dearly held beliefs about the evolution of modern Europeans, and radically transforming understandings of the origins of humanity. In the wake of the find and the widespread corroboration of its authenticity by some of the best academics of the age, further digs were conducted in the area, which unearthed even more wondrous discoveries - a jawbone, primitive tools, and strangest of all, a cricket bat; perhaps the first hint that all was not as it seemed?was the greatest discovery of all time nothing more than an audacious and extraordinarily skilful hoax? And if so, who was the culprit in this grand mystery?  Join Tom and Dominic, as they describe the most mystifying archaeological discovery in English history, and one of the most unscrupulous tricks of all time, revealing as they do the truth behind the history of mankind. _______ *The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.* If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.  *The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall* Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history?s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven. Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Producer: Theo Young-Smith Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Twelve months after the dramatic Women?s March on Versailles, the Revolution proper was well into its stride, and while Paris overflowed with a sense of unbridled political freedom, the King and Queen were little more than prisoners in their echoing palace. For the past year Louis XVI had feigned cooperation with the National Assembly, all the while torn by his profound Catholicism and frozen by indecision about how to overcome his predicament. Then at last, following a traumatic experience over the easter of 1791, something changed and the contingency plan formulated several months earlier, was put into action. With the help of a disguised Axen Von Fersen, the royal couple and their children would flee to Belgium in an enormously ostentatious carriage. The date for their escape was set for the 20th of June, but before leaving Louis poured his hatred of the revolution into a letter, which if found would surely spell his political doom?that night the royal family, replete with accomplices, deceptions and disguises, set their audacious plan into action. What ensued was a heart-racing cat-and-mouse thriller of near misses, foolhardy naivety and extraordinary encounters, with appalling consequences? Join Dominic and Tom for the thrilling conclusion to their astounding series on the early years of the French Revolution. With the King and Queen of France on the run from the nightmare their lives have become, will they make it across the border to freedom? Or, will they get caught and devoured by the ravenous hoards of the Revolution?  _______ Looking for all of our episodes on the French Revolution? Check out The Rest Is History?s French Revolution playlist https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX6W9e1zgsgaG _______ *The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.* If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York. *The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall* Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history?s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven. Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Producer: Theo Young-Smith Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

By the summer of 1789 the different sections of the Revolution were at loggerheads, and the recently created National Assembly riven in two. Both factions, the radicals on the left and the more moderate revolutionaries on the right, upheld different interpretations of how the new system of governance, so firmly rooted in the idea of ?la nation?, should be organised, particularly as concerned the authority of the King and the power of his veto. Tensions mounted, with many opposed to the idea of even a constitutional monarchy, and disgusted by the National Assembly?s willingness to treat with Louis XVI. None more so than the citizens of Paris, who progressively came to embody an amorphous but growing sense of ?the people?. By July, there was a widespread feeling that some sort of violence would inevitably break out in the city against the royal family, thanks in part to the rising bread prices. The form it took in October of that year would prove more dramatic than any could have foreseen. After a lavish banquet in Versailles, an outcry began building in the marketplaces of Paris, with a swelling contingent of peasant women decrying the hunger of their children, and blaming it upon the Queen and the vampires of the court. Then, in a move that would change the fate of France and particularly Marie Antoinette forever, the army of women marched on and entered the palace? Join Tom and Dominic as they describe one of the most terrifying and savage events of the entire French Revolution: the Women?s March on Versailles, which saw the queen - barefoot and sobbing - hostage to a head-hacking mob that clamoured for her entrails. _______ Looking for all of our episodes on the French Revolution? Check out The Rest Is History?s French Revolution playlist https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX6W9e1zgsgaG _______ *The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.* If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York. *The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall* Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history?s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven. Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Producer: Theo Young-Smith Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

?Liberté, égalité, fraternité!? Alongside violence, the French Revolution is a story of principles and values. It is the ultimate intersection of brutality and Enlightenment idealism, as epitomised by the Fall of the Bastille. So too the creation and implementation of the Declaration of the Rights of Man - a totemic manifesto for the French state, which seemingly embodied a shockingly overt rupture from the past. Not only one of the decisive moments of the French Revolution, the declaration would prove transformative for all world history, and galvanised France as the cradle of of modern nationalism. So, just as the walls of the Bastille were abolished, the words of the document tore down something just as old and once impenetrable: the taint of absolutism, handing sovereignty from the king to the nation. By the 4th of August 1789 this amorphous beast was gripped by a great hysterical, almost paranoid passion, and it was amidst this turmoil that the French Assemblée Constituante voted unanimously to abolish feudalism, in one fell swoop eliminating everything that had come before. What would this consciously manufactured new beginning hold in store for Revolutionary France, or was it merely a bombastic continuation of the past? Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss the groundbreaking ideas behind the French Revolution, along with the deep history of the ideals its enshrined. So too the stories behind some of its most famous iconography, and the long-term repercussions of this transformative upheaval for the modern world. _______ Looking for all of our episodes on the French Revolution? Check out The Rest Is History?s French Revolution playlist https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX6W9e1zgsgaG _______ *The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.* If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York. *The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall* Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history?s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven. Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Producer: Theo Young-Smith Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

?It was violence that made the revolution revolutionary?. The storming of the Bastille is viewed by many across the world as a moment of celebration, when the French people were liberated from the shackles of tyranny and royal despotism. Yet, it was also a moment of horrific violence and chaos, culminating in countless acts of blunt, bloody murder. With a widespread sense of social unrest throughout France at the beginning of July 1789, things finally reached a peak following the King?s dismissal of his finance minister, Necker, a great favourite of the people. The arrival of 20,000 troops into Paris to maintain order triggered even greater panic in the streets, with the already febrile atmosphere being whipped into a frenzy by firebrand orators. Finally, with fighting breaking out between the soldiers and the mob in the Vendome, and then spilling over into the Tuileries Gardens, the Royal Commander of Paris gave the order to evacuate the city entirely, leaving it in the hands of the rioters. It was then that the mob, in a final desperate effort to procure gunpowder for its plundered weapons, turned its sites on the Bastille, the ultimate monument to repression ? Join Dominic and Tom as they discuss the apocalyptic Storming of the Bastille fortress, and the truth behind the prison's famously grotesque reputation. Given the gory events that unfolded on that momentous day, was violence innate to the French Revolution from the very beginning - its driving force - and its bloody denouement therefor inevitable? _______ Looking for all of our episodes on the French Revolution? Check out The Rest Is History?s French Revolution playlist https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX6W9e1zgsgaG _______ *The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.* If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York. *The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall* Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history?s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven. Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Producer: Theo Young-Smith Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In the summer of 1788, a monstrous storm swept across France, wiping out the crucial wheat harvest. With the nation already in the throes of political and financial calamity, this meteorological disaster - followed by an apocalyptic drought, and latterly the cruellest winter France had ever known - exacerbated the growing sense of catastrophe. With bankruptcy declared that August and unemployment record high, all eyes turned to Jacques Necker, the newly appointed finance minister. However, the amalgamation of political and financial crisis, the cultural atmosphere of virtue and passion, and the rising social unrest had already contrived to destabilise the situation permanently. By March there was food rioting, law and order had broken down in the countryside, and in April the bloodiest day of the revolution so far erupted in Paris. At last, in June, the Estates General met for the first time since 1614-15, and the mounting pressure to replace the traditional Three Estates with a single assembly resolved itself into the formation of the National Assembly; a body determined to take the fate of the nation into its own hands. With the elements gathering against them, what will Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette do?  Join Dominic and Tom as they recount the dramatic series of calamities that unravelled the nation and spiralled into the infamous Tennis Court Oath of June 1789, and the Revolution itself. From natural disasters and bread riots, and financial ruin, to political instability, Dr Guillotin, and disreputable republican firebrands?. _______ Looking for all of our episodes on the French Revolution? Check out The Rest Is History?s French Revolution playlist https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX6W9e1zgsgaG _______ *The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.* If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.  *The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall* Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history?s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven. Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Producer: Theo Young-Smith Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

With seismic antecedents such as the Glorious Revolution in England and the American War of Independence, what was it about the French Revolution that saw it become arguably the most important episode in all early modern political history? And what unique combination of factors converged to unleash this colossal, world-shaking event; the paradigmatic example of a people trying to reshape their society? By the start of the 18th century, France was the largest kingdom in continental Europe, and a powerhouse of agriculture, trade, and military might. But it was also a multilayered and very complex machine, still heavily founded in its ancient hierarchies and the dominion of the ancien régime. The King, Louis XVI, though in no way despotic and in some ways an enlightened man, did not have the strength to fix the creaking system he had inherited. And while the 18th century was an age of enormous dynamism, energy and modernity into which a new discourse of the self had been born, it was also a time of terrible violence in France, long before the revolution. The nation had also been running up stratospheric debts ever since the 1720s, and the poverty of the monarchy - the plight of every 18th century monarch - was exacerbated by its efforts to fund the American War against the British. Finally, the unravelling situation came to a head when, in 1786, Louis XVI was confronted with the news that the looming financial abyss had finally engulfed France, triggering a series of events that, from 1787, would unleash the doom-spiral of the revolution, and lead to his eventual overthrow?   Join Dominic and Tom as they discuss the causes behind the French Revolution. From the innovative, enlightened culture of 18th century France, set beside its enduringly hierarchical and deeply violent society, the amiable but feeble Louis XVI with his clueless finance ministers, to the American Revolution, financial cataclysms, and angry mobs.  _______ Looking for all of our episodes on the French Revolution? Check out The Rest Is History?s French Revolution playlist https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX6W9e1zgsgaG _______ *The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.* If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York. *The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall* Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history?s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven. Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Producer: Theo Young-Smith Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In August 1785 a shocking affair came to light which would prove so detrimental to the reputation and standing of the French King Louis XVI, and more especially his already unpopular wife, Queen Marie Antoinette, that it would become a decisive moment in the rising tide of the French Revolution. It concerned a gaudy but incalculably expensive diamond necklace commissioned by Louis XV for his mistress, Madame du Barry. Embroiled in the affair was a young prostitute by the name of Nicole Le Guay d?Oiva with an uncanny resemblance to the Queen, a naive Cardinal named Louis-René de Rohan, desperate to return to Marie Antoinette?s good graces, an aristocratic confidence trickster, Jeanne de la Motte, and a Freemason occultist, Alessandro Cagliostro. The web of lies and deceptions that they wove - in many ways capitalising upon the simmering tensions of court life at Versailles - and the scandal that subsequently erupted, would inflame the entire nation. Join Tom and Dominic as they divulge, gem by glittering, salacious gem, the twists and turns of the famous Affair of the Diamond Necklace. An intrigue of such devilish guile and duplicity, with so colourful a cast of characters, that it near bellies belief. But also, with repercussions for the French monarchy that would destabilise it forever?. _______ Looking for all of our episodes on the French Revolution? Check out The Rest Is History?s French Revolution playlist https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX6W9e1zgsgaG _______ *The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.* If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York. *The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall* Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history?s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven. Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Producer: Theo Young-Smith Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The French Revolution is one of the great seismic events of global history. A devouring conflagration of bloodshed, violence and utopianism, it changed France and then latterly the whole of Europe forever. Yet, amidst the panoply of colossal, colourful names that defined this cataclysmic event, few have endured as iconically as that of Marie Antoinette, the Queen of France, who has in many ways come to embody the revolution in the popular imagination. Yet, from the moment of her arrival from Austria at the tender age of fifteen, Marie Antoinette was a contentious figure in France, with rumours circulating throughout her life of her insatiable sexual appetite and frivolity, her sapphic proclivities, and even her vampirism. But who was the real Marie Antoinette - voraciously decadent 'it' girl and snob or a well-meaning but naive scapegoat? Under what circumstances did she come to marry the Dauphin, the future Louis XVI, and to what extent did she truly spark the French Revolution, with her calls to ?let them eat cake!?? Join Tom and Dominic for the first instalment of their magnificent sweep through the outbreak and first years of the French Revolution, as they discuss the early life and character of one of its most celebrated and lambasted figures - an icon of style, a beacon of whimsical, bucolic giddiness, a rapacious monster - Marie Antoinette. _______ Looking for all of our episodes on the French Revolution? Check out The Rest Is History?s French Revolution playlist https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DX6W9e1zgsgaG _______ *The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.* If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York. *The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall* Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history?s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven. Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Producer: Theo Young-Smith Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

?The lamps are going out all over Europe, we shall not see them lit again in our lifetime? In the early days of August 1914, the British press has become increasingly vocal about the prospect of war breaking out amongst the great European powers. But the Kaiser still believes he can count on his ambassador in London, and his dear cousin, George V, to make sure Britain stays out of the war, giving the Germans an easy go at the French. And a telegram from the British capital apparently brings the best possible news: Britain declares itself neutral, and will make sure that France does the same? Join Tom and Dominic in the final instalment of our series on the outbreak of the First World War, as the storm clouds of war finally reach Western Europe? _______ LIVE SHOWS *The Rest Is History BOOK TOUR* To celebrate the launch of our second book, ?The Rest Is History Returns?, Dominic and Tom will be appearing onstage in both Oxford and Cambridge in September! *The Rest Is History LIVE at the Royal Albert Hall* Tom and Dominic, accompanied by a live orchestra, take a deep dive into the lives and times of two of history?s greatest composers: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven. *The Rest Is History LIVE in the U.S.A.* If you live in the States, we've got some great news: Tom and Dominic will be performing throughout America in November, with shows in San Francisco, L.A., Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Boston and New York.  Tickets on sale now at TheRestIsHistory.com _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Producer: Theo Young-Smith Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices