Showing results for "Secrets" in History

Christmas is the single biggest annual event on the planet, a time for merry-making, over-indulgence, peace, goodwill, and the occasional family row. It’s as comfortable and familiar as a pair of old shoes and yet still glittery and exciting. But what do you really know about it? It’s stuffed full of traditions and rituals that most of us have been observing all our lives without having the slightest idea of where they come from.

Join Stephen Fry as he delves in to the secrets of one of the most extraordinary monarchs in one of our most extraordinary eras in English history. A woman in a man’s world. And not just any woman – but Elizabeth I, one of the greatest and most secretive monarchs of all time. This queen realised that her sex, far from being a weakness, could be deployed as a strength. It’s not an overstatement to say that England’s politics, religion, and culture have all been shaped by what she did and said. And what she kept secret. This wasn’t just a time of poets, playwrights and poachers.

On the surface, the Victorian age is one of propriety, industry, prudishness and piety. But scratch the surface and you'll find scandal, sadism, sex, madness, malice and murder.

In 2007, after almost 40 years of operations, the SAS ceased operations in Northern Ireland and ended the longest operational commitment in the unit's history. Starting in 1969, Mark Urban reveals the extraordinary history of the special forces' operations in Northern Ireland and the unenviable dilemmas faced by intelligence chiefs engaged in a daily struggle against one of the world's most sophisticated terrorist organisations.

Unmask the shadowy world of Russian espionage with this riveting exploration of the Russian Intelligence Services (RIS) and their global clandestine operations. With decades of experience as a CIA operations officer, author Sean M. Wiswesser takes listeners deep into the heart of...

From the bestselling author of SIX TUDOR QUEENS, a captivating new novel about two Boleyn cousins, close as sisters - and the truth that will change everything. 'Vivid and utterly addictive... brings to life a fascinating woman who has remained in the shadows for too long' TRACY BORMAN 'Her...

From two-time Pulitzer Prize–winning investigative journalist Bob Woodward comes the definitive memoir of the man with more #1 bestsellers than any journalist of our time, offering an unprecedented inside look at some of the most newsworthy stories ever. Bob Woodward has reported on every...

At its height, the Order of the Knights Templar rivaled the kingdoms of Europe in military might, economic power, and political influence. For 700 years the tragic demise of this society of warrior-monks amid accusations of heresy has been plagued by controversy, in part because the transcript of their trial by the Inquisition - which held the key to the truth - had vanished.Templar historian Barbara Frale happened to be studying a document at the Vatican Secret Archives when she suddenly realized that it was none other than the long-lost transcript!

When Allied fighters were trapped behind enemy lines, one branch of military intelligence helped them escape: MI9. The organization set up clandestine routes that zigzagged across Nazi-occupied Europe, enabling soldiers and airmen to make their way home. Secret agents and resistance fighters risked their lives and those of their families to hide the men. Drawing on declassified files and eye-witness testimonies from across Europe and the United States, Helen Fry provides a significant reassessment of MI9’s wartime role. 

Ambitious and talented people flocked to court of George II and Queen Caroline in search of power and prestige, but Kensington Palace was also a gilded cage. Successful courtiers needed level heads and cold hearts; their secrets were never safe. Among them, a Vice Chamberlain with many vices, a Maid of Honour with a secret marriage, a pushy painter, an alcoholic equerry, a Wild Boy, a penniless poet, a dwarf comedian, two mysterious turbaned Turks and any number of discarded royal mistresses.

Perhaps thanks to TV period dramas, the popular imagination may picture the Edwardian era as an idyllic window between the wars, a time of manners and tea on the lawn. But below the surface lies a frenetic and often bizarre age where scientific leaps forward went hand in hand with belief in fairies, and secrets of sex, lies and murder simmered. Across 12 episodes, in this sequel to his Victorian Secrets, Stephen Fry uncovers some of the startling and unexpected hidden histories of the Edwardians.

Flappers, ‘It’ girls, confidence tricksters, drug dealers, spies, jazz musicians. This wide ranging series about the first ever modern decade is full of colourful characters, dark deeds, strange beliefs and crazy predictions. Join Stephen Fry as he relishes secrets sexual, political and financial, observes the emergence of the first ever youth cult and reveals the secrets of this roaring decade.

For decades there has been argument in the media and amongst politicians about the possible existence and extent of a shoot-to-kill policy in Northern Ireland. MRF Shadow Troop confirms there was such an agenda in the early, chaotic days of British military intervention across the Irish Sea. But amongst the mountain of speculation there is little of any accuracy or authority relating to this period.

In this true story, Armande Martel, a young nun from Quebec, is arrested by the Germans in 1940 during a stay at her religious order's mother house in Brittany. She spends the war years in a German concentration camp. After her return to Canada, she leaves the Church, finds the love of her life in Montreal, and adopts Lise Dion.

The story behind some of the most newsworthy stories ever, written by the man with more #1 bestsellers than any journalist of our time. Bob Woodward has reported on every American president from Richard Nixon to Donald Trump. His books have penetrated government institutions, informed the...

As cyber-attacks dominate front-page news, as hackers join the list of global threats, and as top generals warn of a coming cyber war, few books are more timely and enlightening than Dark Territory: The Secret History of Cyber War by Slate columnist and Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Fred...

'"I am a British soldier," I told my reflection. "I am a British soldier and I'm saving lives. I'm saving lives. I'm a British soldier and I'm saving lives..."' Kevin Fulton was one of the British Army's most successful intelligence agents. Having been recruited to infiltrate the Provisional IRA...

Welcome to The Real History of Secret Societies, a historical look at the true-life groups which, if you believe the myths, are the unspoken power behind some of the world’s major turning points, from controlling the British crown to holding back the electric car and keeping Martians and Atlantis under wraps. Prepare yourself. In this course brought to you in partnership with HISTORY®, you will be visiting some of history’s deepest rabbit-holes, across centuries and continents, in search of secret societies in all their varieties.

A rousing tale of espionage and unsung valor, this is the captivating true story of Vera Atkins, Great Britain's spymistress from the age of 25. With her fierce intelligence, blunt manner, personal courage, and exceptional informants, Vera ran countless missions throughout the 1930s. After rising to the leadership echelon in the Special Operations Executive (SOE), a covert intelligence agency formed by Winston Churchill, she became head of a clandestine army in World War II.

A drowned prehistoric land, a flying monk, a Roman admiral who crowned himself emperor of Britain. The true, forgotten stories that never made it into the history books. What if the most fascinating stories in English history were the ones nobody ever told? Everyone knows about William the Conqueror, Henry VIII, and the Black Death. But England's past is filled with remarkable people and extraordinary events that rarely make it into the history books. Did you know Britain was once connected to Europe by a vast land now hidden beneath the North Sea?