In this podcast Dr Fred Anscombe highlights the vastness of the Ottoman Empire, and explores shared common characteristics of culture and philosophy, and what made them unified as 'Ottoman'. He argues that the common terminology of referring to the Ottomans as Turks is questionable since the empire was so vast. He also explains how...

In this podcast, Dr Edward Holberton of the University of Bristol discusses the changing relationship between the British state and the North American colonies during the 17th and early 18th centuries. Dr Holberton explores what we can learn from an examination of some of the literary sources and writers of...

In this podcast Dr Glyn Redworth looks at the factors that led to the Spanish Empire in the new world, why Ferdinand and Isabella backed Columbus and discusses how Spain was able to consolidate an Empire of such magnitude.

In this podcast Dr Toby Green of King's College London examines the history of the Songhay (Songhai) Empire, which dominated the Western Sahel region of West Africa during the 15th-16th centuries.

In this podcast Professor Gad Heuman of the University of Warwick examines the origins of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade, the triangular trade, race, slave society and the changing interpretations of the abolition of the slave trade. (See also podcast The business of slavery: Economic history in the classroom from the HA's Britain and...

In modern times, occultists have spoken of a specifically western tradition of ceremonial magic, which has been continuously handed down through the millennia, in secret, from an original starting point in ancient Egypt. Although professional historians have become increasingly interested in the history of magic in general, there has not...