Napoleon | Charlemagne's Crown | 2

A sudden, catastrophic dimming of the sun in 536 AD triggered the coldest decade in two millennia, launching a "volcanic winter" that saw harvests fail from Ireland to China. Peter and Afua explore this environmental shock that directly facilitated the first global pandemic of Ye ...  Show more

Afua and Peter launch their new series on environmental catastrophes by revealing how a massive volcanic eruption in Alaska—10,000 kilometers away—secretly orchestrated the downfall of Cleopatra and the birth of the Roman Empire. They trace the "butterfly effect" from Julius Caes ...  Show more

In our second episode on the Italian Wars, we explore how Holy Roman Emperor Charles V's vast territories ratcheted up the conflict from a dynastic squabble to a continent-spanning contest of great powers.

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In honor of Britain's Queen Elizabeth 2 - we offer this homage, from our second show The Recappery. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices 

Napoleon Bonaparte is one of the most famous people in history. But he was not the only Bonaparte making waves in the 19th century. His brother’s prominent positions in the revolutionary government opened the door for him to seize power in the first place. And once he had it he s ...  Show more

How should we remember Napoleon, the man of obscure Corsican birth who rose to become emperor of the French and briefly master of Europe? In 2014, as the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo approached, Intelligence Squared brought together two of Britain’s finest historia ...  Show more