Empress Wu Zetian of China

In this episode we’ll continue the bitter rivalry between branches of the royal family, learn how the Scots took advantage of the Norman invasion of 1066, meet the nation’s most famous Saint-Queen and find out what really happened to MacBeth. Part 2: House of Dunkeld Duncan I Mac ...  Show more

You can see the whole series now at: https://www.patreon.com/LindsayHoliday Magnificent and roughed, Scotland has long been a country of fierce independence and brutal power struggles. From ancient warrior kings who fought off battering waves of Vikings raids, to royal cousins wh ...  Show more

The inculcation of Buddhism from India as the state religion in China was enabled by the violent rise of China’s only ever woman Emperor. Raised by pious Buddhist parents, Wu Zetian left a trail of bodies in her wake as she charted a path to absolute power. From a lowly ranked co ...  Show more

For better or (mostly) worse, Jiang Qing left her mark on the 20th century.

Even before she was married to Chairman Mao, Jiang was a charismatic actor, and her passion for culture helped her spearhead the Cultural Revolution as part of the Communist Party in China, l ...

Having garnered absolute power through bloody means, Empress Wu Zetian begins seeing apparitions, haunted by her violent schemes. With her husband incapacitated, the Empress at first held counsel on his behalf from behind a curtain. But she soon officially proclaimed herself a di ...  Show more

As both the Qianlong Emperor's extensive reign and the Eighteenth Century itself comes to a close, the Qing Empire faces - in spite of its outward posturing of timeless grandeur and invulnerability - an ever more uncertain future. By this time his successor, the Jiaqing Emperor, ...  Show more