In a factory in Homestead Pennsylvania, thousands of steel workers have downed tools and striking - their boss Andrew Carnegie is about to lower their wages and they have had enough.Then down the river the workers see three barges coming towards them - bristling with agents of the Pinkerton Detective Agency. Hired by Carnegie, they are here to break up the union and end the strike, by any means necessary… If you want to see this episode’s accompanying images and a sneak peek of upcoming...

In the misty dawn of a March morning in 1829 a duel is about to take place in Battersea.Whilst duels were still fairly common at the time, they were frowned upon by most and especially by army generals like the Duke of Wellington. Wellington had outlawed duelling during the Napoleonic wars because he kept losing good officers to duels.And yet, it is the Duke himself who now stands in that field in Battersea. Not only that, he was now the Prime Minister and is taking a massive risk. If this...

A pirate, a president and a Dutchman are the last things a humble fisherman on the shores of Iceland might expect to see sailing in on the evening tide. But on one fateful night in 1627, all three rolled in in a single pair of boots. And the tale of the man that filled those boots, is a tale worth telling… The Cloak & Dagger Podcast is back with a new regular release schedule and an extraordinary tale of history. If you want to see this episode’s accompanying images and a sneak peek of...

This one is a special case, that's for sure. Jacques Bizard - a Swiss Calvinist mercenary - met a French Catholic general called Louis de Frontenac. Their bond might well have gone from friendship to something more. Make your own mind up after listening!

After reading the histories of civilisation (or just by listening to this podcast) you may get the idea that war is humanity’s natural state. But the truth is that we fight just as hard to forge peace as we do to start a war. And while we have racked up a shockingly small number of years where no one has been at war (268, or just 8 percent of recorded history), we still have the tales of those who strove to put an end to generations of bloodshed. In this week’s episode of the Cloak &...

Will and Patrick delve deep into the purge of the Cathar faith in Southern France. Sanctioned by the Pope and supported by the King of France, crusading knights and templars threw themselves against the walls of Cathar Carcassonne - attempting to crush the so-called heretics. But killing an idea is much harder than the destruction of a city. Tune in to find out more!

How far would you go to live up to a family name? If your ancestry included not one but two founders of empires, do you really have much choice in what life you are destined for? Afghanistan has seen the rise of dozens of empires over the course of the thousands of years people have called it home. And at the dawn of the 16th century, one of these empires rose to unite a fractured land torn apart by quarrelling princes. This is the tale of the man who forged this empire, an empire which one...

War is hell. Unfortunately however, when an empire grows large enough it starts to forget that fact. Which makes it all the more horrifying when that harsh reality comes crashing down upon the poor foot soldiers of said empire. By the mid 19th century, Britain was rapidly growing into the largest empire in history, so conquering one small city in Central Asia must have seemed easy. That however would be a mistake that the people of Kabul made sure the British Empire would never...

Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Or that's at least how the saying goes. And a cursory glance at the last 12,000 years of human history would seem to confirm this rather bleak outlook. But is it always true? Can one hold absolute power and still maintain a modicum of civic virtue? Ask a Roman this question, and they might just tell you the tale of one of Rome's favourite sons. A man who rose to become a Dictator but, in remarkable divergence from your standard Roman...

Are Science and Religion perhaps the oldest of rivals? Reason vs faith. Scripture vs hypothesise. Maybe, or maybe it’s just the power-hungry people who live their life by one or the other who perpetuate this eternal rivalry. This week’s episode follows a man who epitomises this rivalry. A man of science whose flagrant disregard for ecclesiastical teachings brought down upon him the wrath of the Catholic Church. So was he a hero or a heretic? We’ll let you decide… If you want to see this...

Icelanders are a people forged in the fires of volcanoes and tempered in the frosts of glaciers. They are the descendants of Vikings who found the freezing winters of Norway too gentle. And they are masters of a land and sea which the gods themselves think twice about before entering. So when a foreign power dares to lay claim to the treasures of Iceland, you can be damn sure these hardy folk will fight tooth and nail to defend their island. This is the tale of one of the most important wars...

Long before the rise of his brother Adolf Hitler to Fuhrer of the Third Reich, Alois Hitler left his home in Austria and landed on the Emerald Isle to start a new life. Tune in to find out what happened in this odd twist of history.

The glorious revolution is a tale that almost every country in world considers part of its history, in one form or another. An underdog tale of dashing revolutionaries taking on insurmountable odds in the name of freedom, liberty and justice. And while tragedy may befall them for a time, all these tales end in the toppling of statues and the triumphant horns of victory. Sadly, this sort of tale is a rarity . Our history is littered with failed coups and crushed revolts. And this is one such...

Hello hello everyone! We are so happy that we have finally got a new episode to give to you after a long pause! Here Patrick and Will chat with fellow podcasters Patrick Little and Jamie Graham (from A Little History Podcast and Jammy History Podcast respectively) about the magnicently awful masterpiece Gods of Egypt (2016) - so sit back and listen to us trash this terrible movie!

Will and Patrick had the great honour of being asked to make an episode for the History of England Podcast and this was the result! 1307, Westminster. King Edward I has moved his court to York whilst he wages war on the Scots. Westminster is almost empty of people, however, a small gang of lowly functionaries are drinking in the pub one night and decide to steal from the king. This story is remarkable in both its improbable success and the amount of wealth we are talking about -...

War is a time when heroes and villains are born from the crucible of battle. Or at least that’s what the legends and tales that sprout forth from a war-torn people would tell us. But how do you separate the true history from the poetry? In this final episode of the Cloak and Dagger Battles miniseries, we attempt just that as we journey to ancient China and hear a tale from the legendary saga of the Three Kingdoms… If you want to see this episode’s accompanying images, bonus facts and a sneak...

Check out this bonus episode where we join our friends from A Little History Podcast and The Jammy History Podcast to review to fantastically unique 2011 film Immortals.

War is a time where ingenuity can win the day, even in some unusual circumstances. As it is in martial arts, one sure path to victory on the battlefield can be taking your opponent's strength and turning it against them. And on a sunbaked day in western Africa in the 16th century, that lesson would be learned the hard way by one of the continent's mightiest empires. If you want to see this episode’s accompanying images, bonus facts and a sneak peek of upcoming assassinations, follow us on...

War is a time when soldiers fight and die for reasons bigger than themselves. For a soldier, the world collapses down to the comrades at their side, the gun in their hand, and the enemy over the hill. But what happens when the reasons for war are so far removed from a soldier, that they cease to matter? What happens when a soldier's immediate reality becomes more important than the lofty ideals they were enlisted to fight for? In the second episode of the Cloak and Dagger Podcast: Battles, we...

War is a time where cunning and daring can often win the day. The skill to look at what some may see as insurmountable odds and see opportunity, can mean life or death for thousands of lives. From the fires of revolutionary France, a small French cavalry troop faced off against a truly unyielding foe; the frosts of a fearsome winter. But in this first episode of our Battles mini-series, history will once again show us that sometimes out of adversity, comes opportunity… If you want to see...

The bankers and merchants of Venice's storied past would claim it was coin and trade that was the lifeblood of the City on the Water. But the poets would say it was love and romance that made Venice what it was. While today we might argue that it was lust rather than love that inspired the many romance tales of this city.And who's tale was more full of love and lust than the notorious Giacomo Casanova. But was he the hero or the villain of his time? In this week's episode of the Cloak and...

Power and prestige. Two things that kings, queens and emperors have sought since civilisation began. But how far would you go to obtain them? For the people of Venice, the answer turns out to be quite far. From the ashes of the fallen Roman empire, the city of Venice gained power through trade and commerce as a gateway between the east and west. But for prestige, it needed something more. Something that would elevate this strange city built upon a lagoon into the mighty city state it would...

Tranquillity and a sense of peace are two qualities that Japanese culture has a deep respect for. Even in the busy docks of Edo a state of serenity is desirable. But on a misty morning in July 1853, any hint of equanimity was shattered when Edo Bay was forcibly entered by four black ships billowing steam from their funnels. Japan had been a closed country for over two centuries - suddenly all of that changed. These ships literally began the process of ushering Japan into the modern age and...