History's legends, tested in conversation.
Dan Snow's History Hit moves fast through reputation-making moments: religious orders, medieval queens, wartime commanders, and the myths left behind. It favors vivid setup, sharp questions, and conversation that tests the legend against the record.
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Dan Snow's History Hit works best when a famous name arrives carrying too much legend. The show slows that reputation down just enough to ask what actually made it stick. Recent episodes frame Eleanor of Aquitaine as more than royal color: queen of France and England, crusader, coup leader, Plantagenet matriarch, and political force at the center of an explosive era. That same appetite for myth and machinery drives the Crusades material. The Templars and Nizari Ishmaelis arrive with red crosses, mountain fortresses, theatrical violence, and centuries of story wrapped around them. Then the conversation turns practical. Who were they really? How did small groups gain leverage? Were they enemies, or simply actors trapped in the brutal politics of the Crusades? The show likes that kind of question chain. It sets the scene, widens the map, and hands the argument to a knowledgeable voice without losing momentum. Military history gets similar treatment. Eisenhower is presented through command risk, coalition pressure, North Africa, MacArthur, Marshall, and the problem of proving himself before combat experience had caught up with responsibility. Zhukov begins in Moscow in June 1945, with Soviet soldiers parading through rain after overwhelming suffering. Yamamoto appears within a commanders strand. Even subjects such as the real Peaky Blinders are treated as a chance to separate reputation from record. The result is brisk, conversational history with a strong taste for power, violence, strategy, and the stories people build after the fact. It can be serious. It can also be dryly funny. The appeal is not only the scale of the subjects, but the way each episode turns familiar history into an investigation with moving parts.
Made for: For listeners who like major historical figures, wars, empires, and political myth explained without academic stiffness. It suits curious generalists as well as history fans who enjoy brisk narrative framing.
What sets it apart: The show pairs dramatic historical setup with conversation-driven scrutiny, so famous stories keep their momentum while their myths get examined. It is especially strong on reputation: queens, commanders, orders, and famous names as history remembers them versus the messier record underneath.
Historian Dan Snow journeys across the globe to tell the stories of history's defining moments. From the Colosseum in Rome to the Great Wall of China, the battlefields of Waterloo to the Tomb of Tutankhamun, join Dan as he explores the how and why of the greatest monuments, battles, heroes, villains and events that have shaped our world. New episodes on Mondays and Thursdays with bonus subscriber only episodes every other Friday. You can get in touch with us at [email protected] A podcast by History Hit, the world's best history channel and creators of award-winning podcasts The Ancients, Gone Medieval, and Betwixt the Sheets. Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original docum…
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
It makes religious conviction concrete by tracing how belief shaped crusading institutions, military choices and expectations of divine favor.
Dan Snow's History Hit begins with the pressure of a historical moment, then widens into conversation about command, technology and political consequence.
This is the show that makes Gettysburg's road network feel as consequential as the generals.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
Eisenhower as a coalition commander, not a statue.
The episode treats Eisenhower less like a monument and more like a commander trying to keep a coalition moving while the stakes climb. It starts in the early morning of 5 June 1944, then works back through the reputation he had already built, the doubts about his lack of combat…
Gettysburg is framed as a battle of terrain, command pressure, and industrial-age lethality.
Dan Snow's History Hit treats Gettysburg as a battle shaped by ground and command as much as by firepower, beginning on a hot July morning in 1863 and moving through McPherson's Ridge, Little Round Top, and Cemetery Hill.
A brisk, focused test of whether air power can turn fear from the skies into lasting victory.
Air power arrives here as a new human dimension, and almost at once as a weapon. Eight years after Wilbur Wright's 1903 flight, Giulio Gavotti was dropping hand grenades from a plane over Libya.
Montgomery's command is traced through retreat, morale, and the point where belief becomes military power.
Bernard Law Montgomery comes into view as a young lieutenant in the mud of French Flanders, helping hold together exhausted men after a punishing retreat.
A royal relationship recast as a precarious bargain shaped by glamour, status, and misread intentions.
Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson's relationship comes through as a trap dressed up as entry to high society. The episode turns on a useful uncertainty: whether Wallis ever truly wanted to be queen, or whether she was drawn into a prince's orbit because refusal was not simple and…
A brisk look at how religious orders used targeted violence and reputation to build lasting power.
The medieval struggle between the Assassins and the Templars is framed as a story about political weakness, durable institutions, and the force of a terrifying reputation.
A sharp, fast-moving look at holy war where faith, power, and fragile kingdoms press hard against each other.
The Crusades come through here as holy war with very earthly pressures behind it. Faith matters, but it is never treated as separate from land, wealth, fear, ambition, and survival.
Curious facts, kid-sized and quiz-ready.
Dan Snow interviews historian Steve Tibble about the Assassins and Templars, two secretive medieval orders during the Crusades.
Dan Snow hosts historian Steve Tibble for a miniseries on the Crusades, covering 200 years of conflict from 1095 to 1291.
This episode explores how Christianity transformed from a small minority sect to the official religion of the Roman Empire through organization and cultural influence.
Dan Snow's History Hit opens with the claim that on 27 October 1962 the world came within "30 seconds away from total nuclear annihilation", and rejects the myth of JFK as a calm master of diplomacy.
This episode explores the life and impact of Eleanor of Aquitaine, the only woman crowned queen of both France and England, who played a pivotal role in shaping medieval European politics and culture during the 12th and 13th centuries.
This episode explores the historical realities of the Assassins and Templars, two secretive religious orders during the Crusades, examining their rise to power, influence, and whether they were true enemies or products of chaotic medieval politics.
This episode features advertisements for History It history documentaries, Total Wine & More alcohol retailer, Jerry.ai car insurance app, and promotes outdoor trail activities.
This episode provides a comprehensive guide to the Crusades, exploring their historical context, key events, and lasting impact.
This episode explores Soviet military commander Zhukov and the 1945 victory parade in Moscow's Red Square, highlighting the triumph and suffering of Soviet soldiers in World War II.
This episode discusses historical documentaries, wildfire research at UBC, and Shopify's business tools, with a title referencing the Peaky Blinders.
This episode introduces a historical topic about Yamamoto, likely focusing on military or leadership history, while featuring sponsorships for history documentaries and health services.
The episode opens on the early morning of 5 June 1944, with Eisenhower at his advance headquarters near Portsmouth.
Gettysburg opens on a hot July morning in 1863.
Dan Snow's History Hit asks whether air power alone can topple governments, opening with Wilbur Wright, Giulio Gavotti, and Winston Churchill's claim that aircraft could hold territory.
The story opens in the rain-soaked fields of French Flanders, where a young Bernard Law Montgomery is trying to hold exhausted men together near the end of a punishing retreat in 1914.
Wallace's relationship with the prince is framed through a question about ambition.
This episode explores the Age of Sail, highlighting its dual nature of romanticized adventure and exploration alongside the grim realities of violence, enslavement, and colonization.
This episode explores and debunks common myths about John F.