Entirely Unofficial Rest is History Catalogue and Interrogator

Contemporary Era (Post-1991)

173 Episodes 32 Series 139 Figures 42 Events 461 Books 333 Authors

The post-1991 contemporary era (1991–present) episodes examine politics, culture, sport and public health. Series include American Crusades (Christianity and US foreign policy and warfare), Australian Prime Ministers (federal leadership across the 20th–21st centuries), Disease (the history and impact of infectious disease), Great World Cup Saga (national histories framed by the FIFA World Cup) and Historical Love Island (which historical figures would fare in contemporary dating scenarios). Episodes treat topics such as historical fiction, dragons in culture, civil-war patterns and World Cup politics. Figures discussed include George Lucas, Kemi Batenock, Penny Mordaunt, Robert Reich, David Stockman, Nicholas Fraser, Satnam Sanghera and Anthony Scaramucci. Events covered include the 2014 World Cup, 2012 London opening ceremony, the 2001 UK election, the 2024 US presidential election, the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition, Redfern Park speech and Russia’s early-1990s privatization; books cited include Michael Chabon’s The Yiddish Policemen’s Union, Britannia Unchained, Benjamin Barber’s Jihad vs. McWorld and Cormac McCarthy’s The Road.

Timeline Subway

Episodes Series Figures Events Books Authors

Episodes by year

Showing 12 of 173

2021

12 episodes

RIHC: History's greatest clubs

This bonus episode — the inaugural Rest Is History Club instalment for paying members — explores the history and cultur…

9-11

This episode of The Rest Is History marks the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks. Tom Holland and Dominic San…

Silicon Valley Part 2

Silicon Valley · Part 2

In this second part of a two-part series on the history of Silicon Valley, hosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook inte…

Silicon Valley Part 1

Silicon Valley · Part 1

Hosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook interview Mark Andreessen about the history and development of Silicon Valley a…

Climate & Weather

Hosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook present a themed episode listing ten ways weather and climate altered history. …

Afghanistan

Afghanistan · Part 1

Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook provide a wide-ranging survey of Afghan history, opening with geography and ethnic co…

Exams

This episode of The Rest Is History examines the long history and politics of examinations. Hosts Tom Holland and Domin…

Sherlock Holmes

Hosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook explore the Sherlock Holmes phenomenon: its literary origins, cultural impact, …

Modern Olympics - Part 2

The Olympics · Part 3

This episode of The Rest Is History continues the hosts' modern Olympics series, tracing how the Games moved from auste…

Statues: Parliament Square

Statues · Part 1

This is the third episode of a Rest Is History special tour of central London’s statues, recorded in Parliament Square …

Children’s History

This episode of The Rest Is History features hosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook discussing how to write and teach …

England v Germany

England Games at the European Cup (November 2021)

Hosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook survey Anglo‑German relations across the centuries, prompted by a contemporary …

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Series in this era

32 series

Great World Cup Saga

4 episodes Aired: 2022-11-17 – 2022-11-29

The End of the Soviet Union

4 episodes Aired: 2022-03-07

12 (or 13) Days of Christmas

3 episodes Aired: 2021-12-25

2026 World Cup

2 episodes Aired: 2026-06-07

Historical Love Island

2 episodes Aired: 2022-07-11 – 2022-07-13

Queen's Platinum Jubilee

2 episodes Aired: 2022-05-30

Silicon Valley

2 episodes Aired: 2021-11-27

Titanic

2 episodes Aired: 2024-03-11 – 2024-03-13

World Cup of Prime Ministers

2 episodes Aired: 2021-11-27

Afghanistan

1 episode Aired: 2021-11-27

Historical figures

139 tagged

Vladimir Putin

28 episodes

Donald Trump

18 episodes

Tony Blair

17 episodes

Boris Johnson

14 episodes

George W. Bush

13 episodes

Queen Elizabeth II

12 episodes

Diana, Princess of Wales

11 episodes

Gordon Brown

10 episodes

Boris Yeltsin (Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin)

9 episodes

Charles III (King of the United Kingdom)

9 episodes

Historical events

42 tagged

Brexit (2016 referendum and aftermath)

17 episodes

September 11 attacks (11 September 2001)

14 episodes

Collapse of the Soviet Union (1991)

11 episodes

Russian invasion of Ukraine (2022– )

11 episodes

Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation (2014)

9 episodes

COVID-19 pandemic

9 episodes

Iraq War (2003 invasion of Iraq)

9 episodes

2022 FIFA World Cup (Qatar)

6 episodes

Scottish independence referendum (2014)

6 episodes

2008 global financial crisis

5 episodes

Books

461 tagged

Dominion

Author: Tom Holland

20 episodes

Rubicon: The Last Years of the Roman Republic

Author: Tom Holland

15 episodes

Persian Fire: The First World Empire and the Battle for the West

Author: Tom Holland

8 episodes

Pax: War and Peace in Rome's Golden Age

Author: Tom Holland

7 episodes

Tom Brown's School Days

Author: Thomas Hughes

5 episodes

Blood Meridian

Author: Cormac McCarthy

4 episodes

Flashman (series )

Author: George MacDonald Fraser

4 episodes

In the Shadow of the Sword

Author: Tom Holland

4 episodes

Nineteen Eighty-Four

Author: George Orwell

4 episodes

Bleak House

Author: Charles Dickens

3 episodes

Authors

333 tagged

Tom Holland

34 episodes

Dominic Sandbrook

11 episodes

Robert Harris

8 episodes

Traditional Attribution or Various

8 episodes

Charles Dickens

7 episodes

George MacDonald Fraser

7 episodes

Cormac McCarthy

5 episodes

Thomas Hughes

5 episodes

Francis Fukuyama

4 episodes

Robert Graves

4 episodes