Dividing the Desert

1381. In the English countryside, one peasant has had enough. His resistance leads tens of thousands of armed peasants to march on London. They’re furious about taxes, about wages held down by law, about a world that feels abandoned by God. But they aren’t marching to overthrow t ...  Show more

September 20, 1187. It’s daytime outside the walls of Jerusalem. Saladin, the Sultan of Egypt, ponders his next attack. His troops encircle and lay siege to the city. They vastly outnumber the Crusader knights inside, and Saladin is on the cusp of a victory he never dreamed possi ...  Show more

The Suez Canal is one of the world’s most famous waterways - connecting the Red Sea to the Mediterranean, and opening up trade between the East and the West. But ever since its legendary construction in 1869, the Suez Canal has been at the centre of conflict and controversy. Why ...  Show more

Since its inauguration in 1869 the Suez Canal has played an immensely important part in the history, politics and economics of the Middle East and the World.In this episode Sam and Edgar discuss its role in both the occupation of Egypt by the British and its liberation from imper ...  Show more

Nebi and the Guardians of the Sinai. Around 1414 BCE, a man and his comrades were marching into the unrelenting heat of the Sinai Peninsula. We follow Nebi of Tjaru and his men, as they undertake the grueling work of protecting Egypt's frontiers... Website: www.egyptianhistorypod ...  Show more

How did Britain and France almost start World War 3 in 1956? Who was Anthony Eden and why did he hate Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser? Why was the Suez Canal so vital to European oil supplies in the 1950s? Anita and William are joined by the brilliant Alex Von Tunzelmann, auth ...  Show more