Historical literature podcast episodes

Andrew Pettegree and Arthur der Weduwen explore the history of book collecting, uncovering stories of libraries great and small

Agatha Christie is known as the queen of detective fiction. But, as Lucy Worsley reveals, her life contained almost as much drama and mystery as her novels

Professor Catriona Pennell answers listener questions on the poetry of the First World War

Philip Oltermann tells the strange story of the poetry group run by the East German Ministry for State Security

Fiona Sampson speaks about the extraordinary life of the Victorian poet, who battled chronic illness and family troubles to write ground-breaking poetry

John Higgs discusses the extraordinary life and art of William Blake – an eccentric outsider once dismissed as a madman, but now hailed as a genius

Annika Bautz discusses how the writing and poetry of Walter Scott transformed how the world saw Scotland

Marion Turner explores the life of the 14th-century poet, arguing that we need to look beyond his status as the ‘father of English literature’

Emily Brand explores the dramatic lives of the Georgian aristocratic family whose lives were blighted by scandal long before the arrival of the renowned poet

Ian McEwan considers the responsibility of historical novelists and explores how we collectively reflect on our past

Historian Dan Jones, whose debut historical novel vividly brings to life a medieval military campaign, discusses the challenges of writing historical fiction

We speak to historian Camilla Townsend, who recently won the Cundill History Prize for her book Fifth Sun: A New History of the Aztecs

Robert Harris discusses V2, his new Second World War thriller inspired by the German missile campaign in 1944

The renowned historical novelist talks about his books that inspired the Anglo-Saxon drama series The Last Kingdom

Historian Tracy Borman describes the process of writing her first historical novel

Charlotte Cooper-Davis details the life and legacy of the prolific medieval author and poet, Christine de Pizan

As part of our series on history’s greatest mysteries, Dominic Sandbrook discusses the case of Agatha Christie's disappearance…

Paul Edmondson answers listener questions on the life and work of England’s most famous playwright

From fatal snakebites to dying from a broken heart, Kathryn Harkup guides us through a grisly range of Shakespeare’s death scenes

Islam Issa reveals how terrorists have twisted Shakespeare’s life and work to suit their own ends over the centuries

Edward Brooke-Hitching discusses some of history’s strangest literary curiosities, from hoax manuscripts to tomes bound in human skin

From gallant knights to dragon-slaying damsels, Lydia Zeldenrust reveals why medieval readers couldn’t get enough of romance tales