81. The Graveyard of Empires

How did Stalin become one of the most ruthless dictators in World History? What was his childhood like in Georgia? How did he rise from a poet training to be a priest, to the ruler of the Soviet Union? In Episode 1 of this new series, Anita Anand and William Dalrymple explore the ...  Show more

How did the CIA fail to tell the FBI that known Al-Qaeda terrorists were already training inside the United States? Who was the calculated mastermind behind the scheme to hijack twenty commercial jets? What does new evidence tell us about how a Saudi official assisted the hijacke ...  Show more

“A war begun for no wise purpose.” This description of the First Anglo-Afghan War, fought in the early-mid 19th Century, could stand as an epitaph for most conflicts in the region since. William Dalrymple has written extensively about the history of Afghanistan and he joins Domin ...  Show more

Is it possible that the Taliban of today are more fanatical than before? American and Coalition troops recently fought a bitter, 20-year war against them following the seismic events of 9/11. On August the 15th we mark the end of that conflict, two years after the last Western ...

In the first of a two-part series exploring the history of Afghanistan, Tom Holland and Dominic Sandbrook examine the nation’s complicated relationships with empires and discuss its role in the ‘Great Game’. A Goalhanger Films & Left Peg Media production Produced by Jack Davenpo ...  Show more

Embark on an epic journey with Tristan Hughes and acclaimed author William Dalrymple as they unravel the enigma of the Kushan Empire, the ancient superpower of Central Asia. Together they tell the riveting stories behind the Empire's rise in Bactria (modern-day Afghanistan), t ...