Chalke Talk

The podcast from the Chalke Valley History Festival
Released every Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings

Chalke Talks for CVHFYEAR: 2016


  • 06. THE SILK ROADS: A NEW HISTORY OF THE WORLD
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    In this brilliant major reassessment of world history, Peter Frankopan gives a compelling account of the forces that have shaped the global economy and the political renaissance in the re-emerging east. He explores the forces that have driven the rise and fall of empires, determined the flow of ideas and goods and are now heralding […]

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  • 17. BRITAIN BEGINS
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    12,000 years ago, as the ice sheets retreated, bands of hunter- gatherers spread slowly northwards from mainland Europe, re- colonizing the islands we know as Britain and Ireland. Who were our early ancestors and how directly can we trace our modern population back to them? Sir Barry Cunliffe, Emeritus Professor of Archaeology at Oxford, explains […]

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  • 27. KING ALFRED AND THE BATTLE FOR WESSEX
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    Broadcaster and historian Professor Michael Wood tells the incredible story of King Alfred’s Battle for Wessex. After defeat at Chippenham, Alfred’s kingdom was reduced to a postage stamp of marshland in Somerset, yet he survived and built his army again, leading them to victory at Ethandun. It is unquestionably one of the great moments in […]

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  • 33. SOLDIER, SPY: A SURVIVOR’S TALE
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    Victor Gregg (born 1919) had an extraordinary war and his adventures did not end in 1945. In this very special event, he discusses with Rick Stroud what it was like fighting in North Africa, escaping the ruins of Dresden where he had been a prisoner of war on the night the city was bombed, and […]

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  • 43. BAITING THE RUSSIAN BEAR
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    With Mary Ann Sieghart in the chair, Peter Frankopan, Marina Litvinenko and Edward Lucas look at the historical background to the rapidly re-emerging cold war. From the Napoleonic Wars to the Second World War and beyond, through to the current escalating tensions, they explain why the West has traditionally had such a fraught relationship with […]

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  • HISTORY’S PEOPLE: PERSONALITIES AND THE PAST
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    What difference do individuals make to history? Scrutinising the lives and behaviour of great and lesser-known figures of the past, internationally-acclaimed historian Margaret MacMillan investigates the decisions they made that changed our lives irrevocably. What is the concept of leadership? And how, for better or worse, have personalities influenced the way we see our past […]

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  • 55. DEUTSCHES AFRIKASCORPS KNIGHTS CROSS WINNER
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    Günter Halm (1922-2017) discusses with James Holland and Rob Schäfer his fascinating wartime memories. He was a veteran of the Second World War who fought under Rommel in the Deutsches Afrikakorps, and who won the Knight’s Cross for his part in the First Battle of Alamein in July 1942, and later served in Normandy.  

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  • 64. JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS
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    In the great tradition of story-telling, Tom Holland turns to the Greek myth of Jason and the Argonauts, an epic story of honour, adventure, dangerous women and a golden fleece. Told with wit, verve and passion, this magical tale of the first group of super-heroes is a treat for all, whether young or old. 

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  • 65. THE PLANTAGENETS: BRITAIN’S BLOODIEST DYNASTY
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    The fifteenth century saw the crown change hands seven times as the great Plantagenet families fought to the death for power, majesty and the right to rule. Fresh from his brilliant TV series, Dan Jones breathes life into some of the greatest heroes and villains in English history, who tore themselves apart and enabled the […]

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  • 74. TO HELL AND BACK: EUROPE 1914-1949
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    One of our most eminent historians Professor Sir Ian Kershaw examines the effect two vast and catastrophic conflicts had on the lives of millions of Europeans. He wrestles with the most difficult issues that these events raise – what it meant for the Europeans who initiated and lived through such fearful times – and what […]

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  • 78. THE HEIRS OF THE PROPHET MUHAMMAD: THE ORIGINS OF THE SHIA-SUNNI SCHISM
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    Within a generation of the Prophet Muhammed’s death, his followers had established Islam and a new civilisation. However, as acclaimed author Barnaby Rogerson explains, the seeds of discord that destroyed its unity and the roots of the schism between Sunni and Shia Muslims were already present. This fascinating talk allows us to understand some of […]

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  • 91. KISSINGER 1923-1966: THE IDEALIST
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    No American statesman has been as revered and as reviled as Henry Kissinger. Hailed as the ‘indispensable man,’ he has also attracted immense hostility. One of our most renowned historians Professor Niall Ferguson reveals an extraordinary panorama of Kissinger the man: from his Jewish upbringing in Germany to his rise as one of America’s most […]

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  • 92. ANCIENT WORLDS
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    Historian and broadcaster Michael Scott takes us on an epic journey of connections over 900 years. Explaining the birth of modern politics in Greece and Rome, the building of great empires, and the rise of great religions, he shows how our human story developed, and why the world exists as it does now. 

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  • 95. THE ASSASSINATION OF JULIUS CAESAR
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    Thanks to Shakespeare, the death of Julius Caesar is the most famous assassination in history. But what actually happened on 15 March 44 BC is even more gripping than Shakespeare’s play. With a fresh perspective, American historian Professor Barry Strauss sheds new light on this fascinating, pivotal and carefully planned paramilitary operation and the mole […]

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  • 109. THE PEASANTS’ REVOLT
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    In 1381, England erupted in a violent popular uprising. The Peasants’ Revolt was the biggest armed rebellion against Church and State in English history and for a short time, it looked as if all would be swept before them. Broadcaster and author, Lord Bragg vividly portrays this epic struggle between the powerful and the apparently […]

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  • 125. TRIDENT DEBATE: BRITAIN’S NUCLEAR DETERRENT SHOULD BE CONSIGNED TO HISTORY
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    This is a fierce debate about whether or not Britain should retain her nuclear deterrent. Speaking for the motion are David Edgerton, Professor of Modern British History at King’s College London, and Kate Hudson, General Secretary of CND. Speaking against are Lord Hennessy, Attlee Professor of Contemporary British History at Queen Mary University of London […]

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  • 126. THE EASTER RISING 1916: REMEMBERING THE IRISH REVOLUTION
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    The desire for self-transformation, to define themselves apart from their parents and a determination to reconstruct the world, united the young and disparate of Ireland to form the revolutionary generation. By sifting through letters, journals and photographs, eminent historian Professor Roy Foster FBA examines the vivid public and private lives of the disparate group that […]

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  • 144. THE ILIAD
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    Tom Holland, classicist, historian and master storyteller, returns to the Ancient World with his unique, captivating and witty take on Homer’s tale of the Trojan War. A retelling of this most enduring of stories, this is for young and old, and all ages in between.

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  • 145. ATHELSTAN
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    Athelstan is arguably England’s greatest monarch and here best-selling and award- winning author Tom Holland tells the truly amazing story of how Athelstan built on the foundations of his grandfather and mother to become the first King of a united England.

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  • 157. HORTICULTURAL HEAVEN: The Lives of Edith Wharton, Virginia Woolf, Willa Cather and Penelope Fitzgerald Through Their Gardens
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    Acclaimed writer, reviewer, broadcaster, and prize-winning biographer Professor Dame Hermione Lee, former President of Wolfson College, Oxford, talks about the gardens – real and imaginary – of the writers whose lives she has written including Edith Wharton, Virginia Woolf, Penelope Fitzgerald, and Willa Cather.

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  • 188. MASTERS OF THE SEAS: NAVAL POWER AND THE FIRST WORLD WAR
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    So much of our understanding of the First World War focuses on the conflict on land and yet the nation who controlled the seas also controlled the flow of resources, so critical in such a long and attritional war. In this lecture, one of our most eminent historians Professor Sir Hew Strachan shows why naval […]

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  • 192. KINGS OF YUKON: THE HISTORY OF THE SALMON RUN
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    The Yukon river is over 2,000 miles long, flowing northwest from Canada through Alaska to the Bering Sea. Every summer, hundreds of thousands of King salmon migrate the longest salmon run in the world. Adam Weymouth traces the profound interconnectedness of the local people and the fish to offer a powerful glimpse into the erosion […]

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  • 195. HOW IDEAS CHANGE: THE EVOLUTION OF EVERYTHING
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    Best-selling author Matt Ridley’s fascinating argument for evolution definitively dispels a dangerous myth: that we can command and control our world. Taught that the world is shaped by those in charge, his perspective revolutionises the way we think. Drawing from science, economics, history and philosophy, he proves that it is actually ‘bottom-up’ trends which shape […]

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