Show 66 - Supernova in the East V

The stage is set for an in-person showdown between Alexander and Persia's Great King. The resulting Battle of Issus, although often ignored by Hollywood, is one of the most important battles in all ancient history. It gets its due here. 

Attacking the largest empire the world had ever seen is a huge endeavor at any age, but try doing it at 21. Alexander, fusing the qualities of a Napoleon with a gladiator, aims for immortality. The Persians are just in his way. 

Japanese troops reached the Chinese city of Nanjing in December 1937. The violence that followed marked one of the darkest moments in a struggle that continued throughout WW2. Rebecca Kesby has been speaking to former General Huang Shih Chung, who survived the slaughter in Nanjin ...  Show more

Life in the trenches during World War One, amongst rats, mud, shelling, barbed wire and unprecedented numbers of dead, called upon new reserves of both endurance and courage. But what did the war do to the ancient idea of heroism? 

Please note, this episode contains discussion of suicide.

In 1945, after lengthy delays, the Royal Navy sent a powerful fleet into the Pacific. After the disastrous Japanese invasions in Southeast Asia, Churchill was desperate to reassert British mil ...

Outnumbered and facing starvation, the Germans are getting desperate, and willing to risk bringing the US into the war.