Entirely Unofficial Rest is History Catalogue and Interrogator
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Period
600 CE - 1,000 CE
This bonus episode reunites Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook for a Rest Is History club Q&A. They open by referencing recent episodes (Sir…
Open episodeThe episode examines Heian-period Japanese court culture through two seminal literary works: The Pillow Book by Sei Shōnagon and The Tale o…
Open episodeThis episode inaugurates the hosts' Charlemagne trilogy by situating Charlemagne within the collapse of Merovingian power and the rise of t…
Open episodeThis episode of The Rest Is History (hosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook) examines Charlemagne’s military and cultural agenda in the la…
Open episodeThis episode examines the events and significance of Charlemagne's imperial coronation on Christmas Day 800 and places it within the wider …
Open episodeThis episode examines the Battle of Tours (c. 732/733) and its wider significance. Opening with Edward Gibbon's famous passage, the hosts s…
Open episodeThis episode examines Theophano, a Byzantine princess who married into the Ottonian dynasty and profoundly shaped late 10th-century western…
Open episodeThis is an impromptu bonus episode recorded in a hotel lounge in Bath. Hosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook chat about recent live event…
Open episodeThis episode of The Rest Is History traces the collapse of the Umayyad Caliphate and the rise of the Abbasids, focusing on the revolutionar…
Open episodeIn this episode Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook examine Harun al-Rashid and Baghdad at the height of the early Abbasid Caliphate. They co…
Open episodeThis episode — the fourth in the hosts' series on Baghdad and the Islamic Golden Age — examines how medieval Baghdad became both an Islamic…
Open episodeTom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook set the scene for a four-episode series on Baghdad by surveying the late Umayyad world and the forces tha…
Open episodeHosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook interview archaeologist and scholar Neil Price about Norse religion, magic (seiðr), and the cultura…
Open episodeThis episode is the first of a three-part series on coronations. Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook trace the British coronation ceremony ba…
Open episodeTom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook trace the rise, golden age and collapse of the Caliphate of Córdoba. They open with the 711 crossing of T…
Open episodeTom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook discuss the Kaaba’s religious significance, its rites (kiswah, tawaf, the Black Stone and Maqam Ibrahim) …
Open episodeThis episode is a conversational update from the hosts following recent live Rest Is History events and studio recordings. Tom Holland and …
Open episodeTom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook examine the life and times of Alfred the Great and the Viking threat to ninth-century England. They open …
Open episodeHosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook discuss the life and legacy of Alfred the Great, focusing on his escape after the Viking ambush at …
Open episodeThis episode is part of the hosts' London-themed week and focuses on two very different London places. Tom recounts a lockdown pilgrimage a…
Open episodeThis bonus episode is an informal, wide-ranging conversation between Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook. They begin with a debate over the u…
Open episodeHosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook continue their multipart discussion about when — and how — the Roman Empire ended. They examine the…
Open episodeThis episode of The Rest Is History (recorded early February 2022, re-airing material first published January 2022) examines the Vikings in…
Open episodeIn this episode Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook examine the Vikings in the East, tracing Scandinavian river routes into the lands of the …
Open episodeThis episode is the second part of a mini-series focused on the Vikings in the East and the origins of Kievan Rus. Tom Holland and Dominic …
Open episodeThis Christmas Day episode of The Rest Is History (the first of a 12 Days of Christmas mini-series) features Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbr…
Open episodeThis episode, the final instalment of the hosts' 12 Days of Christmas special, pairs two historical vignettes. First, Tom and Dominic recou…
Open episodeThis special episode of The Rest Is History is devoted to St Cuthbert. Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook discuss Cuthbert’s seventh-century…
Open episodeTom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook discuss the life of Muhammad and the problems historians face reconstructing early Islam. They outline th…
Open episodeThis episode of The Rest Is History, hosted by Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook, traces Anglo‑Danish relations from the Viking Age to the …
Open episodeTom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook host Eleanor Rosamond Barraclough to discuss Viking voyages, the Icelandic sagas and how later medieval I…
Open episodeHosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook celebrate their podcast-run "World Cup of the Kings and Queens of England" after the surprising vic…
Open episodeThis bonus episode features historian Gillian Kenny discussing the social, legal and ecclesiastical world of Ireland before the Anglo-Norma…
Open episodeTom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook discuss The Tale of Genji as both a literary masterpiece and a historical window into Japan's Heian perio…
Open episodeHosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook introduce a multi-episode series on the Norman Conquest, centring on the dramatic year 1066 and the…
Open episodeThis episode examines the brutal, decades-long feud between Fredegund and Brunhilde in late-6th-century Merovingian Gaul, relying heavily o…
Open episodeTom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook discuss Uruk (Warka), the ancient southern Mesopotamian city whose long occupation and extraordinary scal…
Open episodeThis bonus episode is a free-form visit to the British Library by Tom Holland with guest Tabby Syrett filling in for the absent Dominic San…
Open episodeHosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook explore the cultural, political and religious meanings attached to beards from antiquity through th…
Open episodeThis bonus Restless History episode is an informal hosts' chat in which Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook swap travel anecdotes, listener q…
Open episodeTom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook trace the political, religious and performative history of English coronations from the Anglo-Saxon perio…
Open episodeThis episode is an informal two‑year anniversary special of The Rest Is History. Hosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook reflect on the pod…
Open episodeHosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook examine the historicity and legend of Saint Patrick. They foreground Patrick's two surviving writin…
Open episodeThis episode of The Rest Is History is a wide-ranging discussion of the so-called Dark Ages/late antiquity. Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbro…
Open episodeThis episode, originally recorded in June 2021 and re-uploaded in February 2022, is a special on Anglo‑Ukrainian relations prompted by an E…
Open episodeThis special edition episode is a rapid historical sweep through Ukrainian history prompted by recent Russian actions. Tom Holland and Domi…
Open episodeIn this Boxing Day episode Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook present two light musical-themed items as part of their seasonal "12 Days of C…
Open episodeHosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook welcome Ali Ansari, professor of Iranian studies, to argue for Persia/Iran's outsized influence on …
Open episodeThe hosts launch The Rest Is History's playful "World Cup of Kings and Queens," outlining a 16-contender tournament to provoke discussion a…
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Period
250 CE - 600 CE
This episode introduces the Franks and traces their transformation from frontier warbands to the rulers of Roman Gaul. The hosts discuss ea…
Open episodeThis episode examines the brutal, decades-long feud between Fredegund and Brunhilde in late-6th-century Merovingian Gaul, relying heavily o…
Open episodeIn this episode Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook introduce listeners to the world of Constantinople and the remarkable imperial couple Jus…
Open episodeThis episode is the second part of a series on Emperor Justinian I and Empress Theodora. Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook discuss Justinia…
Open episodeThis episode (the third in the Justinian and Theodora series) continues the story of Justinian I and Empress Theodora in sixth-century Cons…
Open episodeHosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook welcome Professor Kyle Harper (University of Oklahoma) to discuss his book The Fate of Rome and the…
Open episodeHosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook examine the historicity and legend of Saint Patrick. They foreground Patrick's two surviving writin…
Open episodeThis episode of The Rest Is History is a wide-ranging discussion of the so-called Dark Ages/late antiquity. Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbro…
Open episodeTom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook debate when — and whether — the Roman Empire actually fell, arguing that no single date adequately captur…
Open episodeHosts Dominic Samuruk and Tom Holland debate the historicity and cultural afterlife of King Arthur. They evaluate early sources (Gildas, Ne…
Open episodeHosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook discuss the long historical roots and character of "culture wars," debating whether the phenomenon …
Open episodeThis bonus episode reunites Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook for a Rest Is History club Q&A. They open by referencing recent episodes (Sir…
Open episodeThis bonus Q&A episode of The Rest Is History features hosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook answering listener questions collated from T…
Open episodeThis episode examines the legend and cult of Saint George: its murky origins, how early martyr narratives coalesced into a larger-than-life…
Open episodeHosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook explore the surprising ways Star Wars and other science-fiction/fantasy works draw on Roman imagery…
Open episodeOn this Christmas-morning episode Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook investigate the claim that Christmas is fundamentally a pagan festival …
Open episodeIn this live episode Tom Holland (in naval-style jumper) and Dominic Sandbrook discuss Roman imperial image-making, focusing on portraiture…
Open episodeHosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook discuss the Colosseum and Roman spectacles, using the film Gladiator as an entry point. They trace …
Open episodeThis bonus episode is a loose, conversational Q&A in which Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook discuss podcast scheduling, forthcoming “Adven…
Open episodeHosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook discuss the life, death and posthumous cult of Antinous, the exceptionally beautiful young Greek as…
Open episodeTom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook discuss the Kaaba’s religious significance, its rites (kiswah, tawaf, the Black Stone and Maqam Ibrahim) …
Open episodeThis episode examines holidays and tourism in the ancient world, comparing Roman elite leisure — villas, spas and the Bay of Naples resorts…
Open episodeIn this bonus episode Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook chat informally about recent work and listeners' contributions. Tom is finishing a …
Open episodeTom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook lead a walking tour through Roman London (Londinium), using surviving fragments, archaeology and literary…
Open episodeThis is a special “results” edition of The Rest Is History in which hosts Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook announce the winners of their t…
Open episodeThis episode is a wide-ranging listener Q&A and discussion. Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook field questions about scientific heroes (deba…
Open episodeTom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook discuss the life of Muhammad and the problems historians face reconstructing early Islam. They outline th…
Open episodeTom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook discuss the ancient Olympic Games, exploring origins, mythic founders and the festival’s sacral character…
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Period
200 CE - 500 CE
On this Christmas-morning episode Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook investigate the claim that Christmas is fundamentally a pagan festival …
Open episodeIn this live-streamed episode Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook discuss Tom's list of the most consequential Roman emperors, debating how m…
Open episodeIn this listener-questions episode Dominic Sandbrook and Tom Holland trade banter and respond to audience comments primarily about their on…
Open episodeTom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook discuss the rise, rule and lasting reforms of Diocletian (born Diocles in Salona) against the backdrop of…
Open episodeIn this Easter episode Dominic Sandbrook and Tom Holland examine crucifixion: its origins, mechanics, social function in the Roman world, a…
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