Entirely Unofficial Rest is History Catalogue and Interrogator

Contemporary Era (Post-1991)

161 Episodes 28 Series 123 Figures 41 Events 438 Books 313 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 161

2022

12 episodes

Historical Love Island

Historical Love Island · Part 1

This episode is a themed special in which hosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook, joined by guest Katie Holland, stage…

The Last Days of Boris Johnson

Recorded on 7 July (during the July 2022 UK government crisis), this episode is a rapid-response “Boris special” in whi…

RIHC: Dinosaur auctions, Dominic vs. Nick Griffin, and Singapore

This bonus episode is an informal conversation between Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook. Major topics include Tom’s re…

RIHC: General Gordon, Jubilees and Childbirth

This bonus episode of The Rest Is History is a members-focused instalment in which hosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbr…

RIHC: Boring Monarchs, The New York Times, and Dominic Sandbrook's Pleasure Island

This bonus episode is an informal, wide-ranging conversation between Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook. They begin with…

Jubilees

Queen's Platinum Jubilee

The episode surveys the history of British royal jubilees as national temperature checks, from George III's morale-boos…

RIHC: Elizabeth II (Livestream)

Queen's Platinum Jubilee · Part 2

This episode is a listener Q&A on the monarchy centred on Queen Elizabeth II and the Platinum Jubilee. Tom Holland and …

Australian Prime Ministers: Bob Hawke - Scott Morrison

Australian Prime Ministers · Part 2

This episode — the third in the hosts' short series on Australia’s wartime and post‑war prime ministers — surveys the d…

The New Elizabethan Age

Hosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook are joined by Frances Christie (Deputy Chairman of Sotheby's) for a Platinum Ju…

RIHC: Pub Quizzes, Unstoppable Podcast Guests, and the Most Brutal Nations in History

This Rest is History Club bonus episode features Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook answering listener feedback and disc…

RIHC: Dwile flonking, Anglo-Saxons, and the sober historian

This members-only Rest Is History Club episode is an informal, wide-ranging conversation between Tom Holland and Domini…

History's Biggest Questions with Dan Carlin (Part 2)

Crossover with Dan Carlin · Part 2

This episode is a crossover between The Rest Is History hosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook and guest Dan Carlin (H…

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Series in this era

28 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

Historical Love Island

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

Oil

2 episodes Aired: 2022-03-24

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

123 tagged

Vladimir Putin

28 episodes

Donald Trump

17 episodes

Tony Blair

16 episodes

George W. Bush (George Walker Bush / George Walker Bush)

13 episodes

Boris Johnson

12 episodes

Diana, Princess of Wales

11 episodes

Queen Elizabeth II

11 episodes

Boris Yeltsin (Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin)

9 episodes

Charles III (King of the United Kingdom)

9 episodes

Gordon Brown

9 episodes

Historical events

41 tagged

Brexit (2016 referendum and aftermath)

15 episodes

September 11 attacks (11 September 2001)

13 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)

8 episodes

2022 FIFA World Cup (Qatar)

6 episodes

Scottish independence referendum (2014)

6 episodes

Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee (2022)

5 episodes

Books

438 tagged

Dominion

Author: Tom Holland

18 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

313 tagged

Tom Holland

32 episodes

Dominic Sandbrook

11 episodes

Traditional Attribution or Various

8 episodes

Charles Dickens

7 episodes

George MacDonald Fraser

7 episodes

Robert Harris

7 episodes

Cormac McCarthy

5 episodes

Thomas Hughes

5 episodes

Francis Fukuyama

4 episodes

Robert Graves

4 episodes