The Origins of Warfare

The story of human origins is often imagined as a simple journey from Africa, but is the truth actually much messier? Tristan Hughes and leading palaeoanthropologist Prof. Chris Stringer dismantle the traditional narrative, discussing how recent breakthroughs in fossils and ancie ...  Show more

What happens when an entire city disappears? Beneath the sands and wetlands of Egypt lie the remains of forgotten cities that once stood at the heart of one of the ancient world’s greatest civilisations.In this episode of The Ancients, Tristan Hughes is joined by Egyptologist Chr ...  Show more

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the history and philosophy of warfare. The British historian Edward Gibbon wrote: “Every age, however destitute of science or virtue, sufficiently abounds with acts of blood and military renown.” War, it seems, is one of mankind’s most constant com ...  Show more

From BBC Radio 4 Responsibility for the Great War has been a fierce battle for meaning ever since 1914. Michael Portillo examines how the history of the origins of the Great War and the issue of war guilt has, since 1914, frequently been a fierce battle for meaning with high stak ...  Show more

Warfronts takes a deep dive into the world’s most significant conflicts, past and present. Now available as a podcast, we explore modern wars, the politics behind them, and how they shape the world today. Whether it’s a forgotten battle or the ongoing struggles in global hotspots ...  Show more

From the stone age to current day, from sticks and rocks to drones and artillery - the nature of warfare has changed drastically throughout history. Over the years, technology and societal organisation have transformed the battlefield. Dan talks to Professor Sir Lawrence Freed ...