Episodes

From humble roots in Switzerland and Swabia, the Habsburg dynasty endured for 900 years, its survival due in part to genetic good fortune. As historian Martyn Rady tells Paul and Miranda, the Habsburgs gambled big on marital matches that would …

The 17th century has rarely been as popular with film and TV dramatists as 'sexier' periods such as the Tudors, the Romans and the Second World War. But recently, 17th-century stories and characters have emerged from the shadows. Dramas such …

Great storytelling meets historical rigour in the podcast that brings the 17th century vividly to life. China at the start of the 17th century was wealthy, strong and well-governed – the Ming dynasty had been ruling for nearly 250 years …

Miranda and Paul are joined by art critic and author Laura Cumming, whose acclaimed book 'Thunderclap: A Memoir of Art and Life and Sudden Death' explores painting in the 17th-century Dutch Republic. It was a true Golden Age, an era …

After a short mid-season break, Paul and Miranda return with a timely exploration of 17th-century diaries. This was the century in which the habit of keeping daily personal reflections became widespread - perhaps because, for some devout Protestants,...

After James II was deposed and replaced by the Protestant William and Mary in 1688, he began a military campaign in Ireland, from where he hoped to launch a bid to regain his crown. But the Jacobite armies were defeated, …

Paul and Miranda reflect on one the most remarkable episodes of 17th-century history - Oliver Cromwell's decision to overturn the 360-year-old exclusion of Jews from England. Despite opposition from some in the merchant class, and a persistent...

Gareth Russell's latest book charts the 500-year history of Hampton Court Palace near London, best known for its place in the high melodrama of Henry VIII and his wives. Yet as Gareth reveals to Miranda and Paul, the part of …

From Shakespeare's plays to courtly fashions after the Glorious Revolution, facial hair - or the lack of it - was a key cultural signifier in 17th-century Europe, and is now a topic attracting an impressive body of scholarship. As Miranda …

Great storytelling meets historical rigour in Season Two of the podcast that brings the 17th century vividly to life. The Levellers were among the most influential and misunderstood political movements of the 17th century, key figures in the...

Miranda and Paul launch Season 2 with a myth-busting profile of King James VI and I, a fascinating and much-misunderstood monarch whose reign was packed with drama, intrigue and excess. Their guest is Steven Veerapen, author of a new biography …

They're back! Paul Lay and Miranda Malins return with a second season of the podcast that captures the drama and complexity of a pivotal age in British, European and global history. The 17th century is often overshadowed in popular culture …

Season 1 of '1666 and All That' comes to an end with a vividly revealing account of how the English state set out to support surviving victims of the Civil Wars of the 1640s. The day after the battle of …

Author Henry Jeffreys has charted British history through its relationships - commercial, industrial and social - with alcohol. And as we discover when Henry talks to Paul and Miranda in this episode, the 17th century played a key role in …

From Philippa Gregory to Robert Harris, historical novelists are increasingly turning to the 17th century for inspiration. In this episode, writer Julie Maxwell joins Miranda and Paul to talk about her new book 'The Image of the King', which tells …

When Thomas Roe was sent by King James I to be ambassador to the Mughal Empire in 1615, he discovered a vast and sophisticated polity that far surpassed England in population, wealth and military might. Paul and Miranda explore this …

In the week that sees a new King Charles crowned in London, Miranda and Paul unearth vivid coronation stories from 17th-century England - including details of the ceremonies for the two previous bearers of that regnal name. As well as …

In the second of two episodes examining the origins of the English - later British - empire, Paul and Miranda are joined by Gabriel Glickman of the University of Cambridge. Gabriel's new book, 'Making the Imperial Nation: Colonisation, Politics and...

The 17th century saw early English attempts to carve out territories in the New World, Africa and beyond, with lasting - and all too often tragic - legacies. In the first of two episodes examining the origins of empire and …

Fifty years after the publication of Christopher Hill's celebrated Marxist analysis of the English Civil War, 'The World Turned Upside Down', historian Michael Sturza has written a new book that reprises some of Hill's arguments and sets out to refute...

Paolo Sarpi is far from a household name, even among aficionados of 17th-century history. But Paul Lay believes Sarpi deserves greater recognition, and in this episode he explains why to co-host Miranda Malins. Sarpi was a Venetian statesman,...

Oliver Cromwell is one of the giants of English history, a man who believed himself to be called by God to transform the political and moral structures of the nation, and to extend his writ, by whatever means necessary, into …

In the latest episode of their podcast about all things 17th century, Paul and Miranda talk to historian Jonathan Healey, author of an ambitious new narrative history of the period. In 'The Blazing World', Healey brings a social historian's eye …

The revealing and entertaining new podcast about all things 17th century. Historians have portrayed Oliver Cromwell as a very masculine, martial figure – a man who made his name in Parliament’s army during the British Civil Wars of the 1640s …