Michael Wood

Michael Wood is professor of public history at the University of Manchester. He has presented numerous BBC series and has made more than 100 documentary films. He is the author of several highly praised books on English history, including <em>In Search of the Dark Ages</em>, <em>Domesday</em>, and <em>In Search of England</em>. His latest book is <em>The Story of China</em> (Simon & Schuster, 2020)

Vintage illustration of a family gathered around a wooden table assembling and painting a blue model airplane together.

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"We were small people, our parents grateful to have survived": my memories of a 1950s childhood. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

Medieval-style illustration of a crowned figure and companion reclining beside a table of fruit, looking toward ships and a battle scene in the sky above a green landscape.

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How cruel was William the Conqueror to the Anglo-Saxons? This document reveals the "miserable" truth. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

An illustrated tree growing from a ring of sea, its branches hung with three golden crowns, with a robed king standing on the left shore and a Viking-style warrior with a shield standing on the right shore, facing each other across the water.

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The Vikings brutalised our ancestors. So why do the English still love them?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

An illustration of a hand drawing a flowering plant with a fountain pen on a sheet of paper. The sketched plant rises off the page as a lifelike stem with green leaves, pink blossoms, and a butterfly perched on one leaf. Books sit stacked on the wooden table, and a soft countryside scene with a stone house, gate, rolling hills, and palm trees stretches into the background under a partly cloudy sky.

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"He plugged into the electric current of history": why Rudyard Kipling still matters in 2026. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A stylised illustration shows six figures in flowing robes gathered around a large tree bearing blue, teardrop‑shaped fruits. The tree stands on patterned ground, its green canopy contrasting with a warm pink‑orange sky. To the left, dark silhouettes of oil rigs release smoke; to the right, a distant city with domes and minarets rises against the horizon. The composition blends natural and industrial elements, suggesting themes of water, scarcity, and cultural landscape.

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"A civilisation lasting over 3,500 years possesses huge cultural resilience": turmoil and tenacity in Iran. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A stylised, coloured illustration showing a large group of people gathered outdoors under a cloudy sky. In the foreground, tightly packed figures in period-style clothing stand shoulder to shoulder; most look downward or toward one another with subdued or thoughtful expressions. Above them, four older men stand elevated on a ridge. Each wears distinctive clothing and gestures upward toward the sky. One man holds a red heart in one hand and a yellow feather in the other. Overhead, several bright yellow birds fly among the clouds. The contrast between the quiet, inward-looking crowd below and the animated, sky‑focused figures above creates a sense of differing perspectives or states of mind.

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Are we now witnessing the end of the American empire?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A stylised illustration shows a person on the left blowing out swirling musical lines and a golden treble clef toward three figures standing on clouds. The central figure wears a brown robe with a purple stole and a cross necklace, with rays of light above their head. To the right, one figure in purple and grey holds a tambourine, and another in blue plays a horn. The scene blends musical imagery with spiritual symbolism.

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"We all sing, hum and whistle": how music keeps us in tune with history. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A pyramid with several tiers displays figures in historical clothing arranged by level, topped by a golden palace and a robed figure seated before it, symbolising a social hierarchy.

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"Today, the defenders of the Enlightenment are in retreat". This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A stylised, brightly coloured scene shows a group of 19th‑century men, women, and children standing in a pastoral landscape. Some hold farm tools or baskets of apples, others sip tea, and an older woman knits beside them. In front of the group, a table holds a modern blue radio emitting musical notes, a teacup, and a small bird, with a dog resting underneath.

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Want to understand modern Britain? Look towards its villages. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A whimsical, detailed drawing of a person with curly hair and glasses standing on a wooden platform, holding a magnifying glass and pointing toward a stream of long paper scrolls. The scrolls flow from a large, fantastical machine on the right, built from gears, pulleys, tubes, and compartments. Several gloved hands emerge from the machine, performing tasks such as ironing, cleaning, inserting coins, and feeding paper into different mechanisms. The scene suggests a playful, surreal process of sorting or transforming information, with papers looping, curling, and cascading between the person and the machine

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"Forget AI – never has the role of the historian been more urgent". This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

An illustration showing a man dressed in a pale blue robe, and a red hat. He has curly brown hair and a thick beard. He is speaking and large waves with ships on them are coming out of his mouth

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Was Homer a real person? Michael Wood on the surprising origins of The Iliad. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

An illustration showing two bearded men in a wooden boat with oars, on a blue river, surrounded by jungle, with animals poking out the trees. The man at the back of the boat is holding an umbrella in one hand and a wooden crucifix in the other

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Uncontacted peoples: why do nearly 200 groups choose to live outside 'civilisation'?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

An illustration of a monk writing on a large piece of parchment, with colourful and dramatic scenes spilling out of the pen

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The Book of Kells: "a masterpiece of medieval calligraphy and painting". This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A painting of two men, dressed in colourful robes, hug each other. One man is standing on top of a lamb, the other on a lion

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Michael Wood on the rise and fall of Asian empires. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

a pastel coloured illustration shows two hands reaching towards two steaming cups of tea. In the background there is a cherry blossom tree and two landscapes, one of China and the other of England

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Michael Wood on China's immense suffering in the Second World War. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

An illustration of a woman in a gold and red dress walking on a tightrope while balancing a pair of scales on her head. The scales hold an angel on one side and a devil on the other. Behind her on the tightrope, there is a cat. Below her, there is a town and a factory, with some houses submerged in water

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Michael Wood on lessons on good government from medieval Siena. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

A hand in the top right corner is rubbing out the picture on a scroll of paper. Four historical characters watch on and try to stay out of his way

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Michael Wood on the struggle of memory against forgetting | "Place names are signposts to the past". This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Michael Wood on the New Angel | "Few works of 20th-century art have such a distinguished list of past owners". This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Michael Wood on amazing insights into medieval daily life. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Michael Wood: "Why Elon Musk should take a lesson from Confucius". This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Michael Wood on an astonishing Hindu pilgrimage. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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"Nothing matches being with Alexander the Great on foot in the Hindu Kush". This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Michael Wood"The making of our new world began in China just over 40 years ago". This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

General History

Michael Wood on Gaza's astonishing cultural heritage. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Michael Wood on crafting a national narrative“We need a meaningful story for the new generation – our composite union”. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Michael Wood on the rise of Britain's universities. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

King Æthelstan shown in a manuscript dated to before 1399 (Photo by incamerastock/Alamy Stock Photo)

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Æthelstan: why is writing a biography of one of England's greatest kings so difficult?. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Michael Wood on the Bangladesh Liberation War“From Africa to the Indian subcontinent, imperialism has left a trail of damage”. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Du Fu: China's greatest poet. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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Video podcastDu Fu: China's greatest poet. This is a premium piece of content available to subscribed users.

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