Not Just the Tudors

Could an ancient Persian drama have stopped Mary, Queen of Scots from being executed?When Queen Elizabeth I faced an agonising dilemma over her captive cousin, a performance about Cyrus the Great offered her a provocative lesson: executing an anointed monarch risked shattering di ...  Show more

From Thomas Cromwell's rise under Henry VIII to Oliver Cromwell’s rule as Lord Protector, how did the faith, ambition, and power of one family shape the course of British history?Professor Suzannah Lipscomb is joined by Dr Miranda Malins to unravel the extraordinary saga and lega ...  Show more

Is Gulliver’s Travels just a whimsical children’s adventure story, or is it a scathing satire designed to expose political hypocrisy?From suppressed Irish resistance allegories to biting parodies of Whig corruption, Enlightenment science, and moral decay, Gulliver's author Jonath ...  Show more

What if the fairy tales you grew up with were never meant for children at all?Long before these stories were transformed into family-friendly animated films, they were forged in the gritty reality of Renaissance Italy and later weaponized by rebellious Parisian aristocrats to cha ...  Show more