Listen to Episode 23
Listen to Episode 22
Listen to Episode 21
During the latter part of 1647 a small church at Putney on the banks of the Thames saw ordinary soldiers and their civilian supporters call for not just for political and religious toleration, but also for the franchise to be extended beyond the landed gentry. The Putney Debates paved the way for many of the civil liberties we value today but seems largely forgotten.
World War One was the most significant event of 20th Century and amongst other things marked the beginning of the end of Pax Britannia. The vacuum left would be readily filled by others but it wasn’t going to be plain sailing. Almost a hundred years after World War One the future of the Royal Navy is as uncertain as it’s ever been.
Sails are finally done away with as steam power takes over and the race between armour and guns gets under way. Pax Britannia turns maps of the world red as the Americans, Japanese and Germans aspire to have navies just like the British; the road to World War One begins.
Nelson is dead becomes a ‘terrible ancestor’ and the Napoleonic War rumbles on for another ten years. The Royal Navy tries to undo the slave trade Hawkins had created and the Admiralty do their level best to ignore every new technological advance.
This episode takes a look at explorers not the usual fighting and politics. Cook sails to the Pacific Ocean and Bligh is only remembered because of a certain mutiny.
The American colonies are lost and things look bleak. However the reputation of the Royal Navy and Britain is saved by someone whose own was highly suspect.
This episode covers what happened during the mid 18th Century and the all important Seven Years War, seen by many as the real 'First World War'. It also saw Britain become the dominant European power without actually having an army on the continent and the continuation of the century long on/off conflict with France. The long road to Waterloo and Trafalgar was set.
This episode follows the initial fortunes of the English and the Dutch Navies as they take on the French. It also covers the Golden Age of Piracy and it's demise and sees George Anson be the third English sailor to capture the Manila Galleon.
Here we look at the origins of the English Navy the development of the Navy Royal and it’s reorganisation and formation of the Royal Navy.
Welcome to the final part of series looking at the Battle of Britain. What did the air battle over Southern England in the summer 1940 mean? Was it even a battle? Can it be see in terms of winners and losers? And what about the myths? I try to answers these and few other questions in no particular order.
This episode looks at the events after the Luftwaffe stopped attacking convoys in The Channel and launched Eagle Day on the 13th of August 1940 and began the campaign to destroy RAF Fighter Command.
Episode 6 looks at the start of the Battle of Britain...as it turns out it was due to a Dornier Do17 crew spotting a convoy called 'Bread'. It also looks at the Chain Home series of Radar stations and the lead up to Aldertag or Eagle Day.
This episode looks at the origins of the Battle of Britain, the position Britain and German found themselves in circa mid 1940, some of the key figures and the aircraft the Luftwaffe and RAF would use. Some myths are examined and the question is asked was the Battle of Britain really a battle. We'll be returning to this and other questions in subsequent episodes.
Charles I comes up against Oliver Cromwell which results in the English Civil War, the King is subsequently beheaded. The English though still liked the idea of monarch, just not the despotic ones, so after Cromwell’s death the Crown is restored. All is not well though and eventually a Dutchman is invited to become King.
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