Timeline World History Docs

Did the age of chivalry ever really exist? The discovery of 38 mutilated skeletons from the War of the Roses in the late 15th century casts doubt on this age. The bodies had multiple stab wounds and their noses and ears had been cut off which, suggests archaeologist Chris Knusel, was to prevent their souls going to heaven.

It was a catastrophe beyond the scope of imagination – an entire army of 20,000 men, slaughtered by barbarians. More incredible still, the perpetrators of this massacre were German tribesmen, a conquered people whose own leaders had long been 'Romanised' and were at this time merely regarded as harmless pacifists. But the Varus disaster, as it became known, became a defining moment in world history.

What links a mysterious golden pot discovered in a Bavarian lake, a castle designed like a particle accelerator, Hitler’s Quest for the Sword of Destiny, and a fatally doomed hunt for the Holy Grail? This is the true story of The Nazi’s Temple of Doom.

Nixon In The Den develops a fresh account of Nixon and his ruthless ambition to escape a loveless, impoverished background. Historian David Reynolds argues that Nixon was genuinely successful as an international statesman, with historic visits to Communist China and the Soviet Union in 1972 helping thaw the Cold War.

Part one of two. David Reynolds explores the reasoning behind the Second World War battles that took place in North Africa and Italy - an area labelled Hitler's `soft underbelly' by Winston Churchill.

Part two of two. David Reynolds explores the reasoning behind the Second World War battles that took place in North Africa and Italy - an area labelled Hitler's `soft underbelly' by Winston Churchill.

During the Second World War SS Intelligence developed a secret weapon to undermine and ruin the British war effort – it was a weapon made of paper. Operation Bernhard – the Nazi codename for this covert project – became the biggest currency forgery in history, counterfeiting, at today’s value, over three billion pounds.

This extraordinarily moving documentary tells the story of Holocaust survivor, Henia Bryer, in her own words. Born into a middle-class Jewish family, Henia lost her father, brother and sister during the German occupation. She survived four concentration camps (including Auschwitz) and the horror of the Death March.

A set of inscribed panels carved by the ancient Maya people of Central America inspired Dr Neil Brodie of Cambridge University, an expert on the looting of archaeological treasures, and Mayanist Simone Clifford-Jaegar, to mount an expedition to the jungles of Guatemala. Their mission – to find the lost city from which the stone panels came.

The notorious Stalag Luft III was a specially built prison camp on Germany's border with Poland. It held 10,000 Allied airmen of all nationalities during the Second World War, and was designed to be escape proof. But for Allied prisoners of war, it was their duty to escape.

Presented by Professor David Reynolds. Historian Professor David Reynolds reassesses Stalin’s role in the life and death struggle between Germany and Russia in World War Two, which he argues was ultimately more critical for British survival than ‘Our Finest Hour’ in the Battle of Britain itself.

Presented by Professor David Reynolds. Historian Professor David Reynolds reassesses Stalin’s role in the life and death struggle between Germany and Russia in World War Two, which he argues was ultimately more critical for British survival than ‘Our Finest Hour’ in the Battle of Britain itself.

No shortlist of the greatest generals in history would be complete with out the name of Hannibal. This film shows why he was both feared and respected by his enemies. Hannibal’s tactical genius is illustrated with the latest three-dimensional graphics technology and exciting dramatic reconstructions of his victories. This is the story of the General who took on the might of Rome.

Discusses General Elphinstone who led the disastrous British retreat from Kabul in 1839, General Redvers Buller who led men at Spion Kop in the Boer War, and Reichsmarshal Hermann Goering who let the British off the hook at Dunkirk.

20th Century beliefs that a new military technology would bring about cleaner wars and reduce casualties are confounded in this look at modern warfare from the Battle of the Somme to the Gulf War.

The programme also features Operation Eagle Claw, the clandestine operation ordered by President Carter in 1980 to free the American hostages held in the Tehran embassy. The newly formed Special Operations Group, Delta Force, began planning a daring rescue. However, inter-service rivalry intervened, with tragic results when the American aircraft carrying the rescue teams crashed into each other in the Iranian desert.

While escaping the Egyptians 2,500 years ago, the Persian King Cambyses led his army into the desert and disappeared forever. Despite efforts in the 1930s to discover what happened to him, no clues were found until 1996 when a geologist stumbled on evidence by accident. The Egyptian authorities have suppressed news of these findings until now. The Lost Army Of King Cambyses returns to the site to uncover the truth.

Examining the strategic failures of politicians. Included: the defeat of the Crusaders at the battle of Hattin in 1187. Also: Fascist Italy led by Benitto Mussolini invades Ethiopian territory in 1935; and Ronald Reagan orders the invasion of Grenada in 1983.

When American tycoon Steve Fossett failed to return from a solo flight over Nevada in September 2007 no-one could understand how such an experienced pilot could vanish into thin air. When Fossett’s wreckage was found in the Sierra Nevada Mountains by a lone hiker in October 2008, many believed the story was over. However, ITN Factual can reveal that Fossett’s plane is one of hundreds to have vanished from the skies above Nevada in the last 50 years.

A look at the tragic consequences of underestimating the enemy. During the Second World War, the British commander of Singapore believed it to be an impregnable fortress until a numerically inferior Japanese Army overran it. Similarly, 12 years on, the French lost the mountain garrison at Dien Bien Phu after failing to anticipate the resourcefulness of General Giap and his Vietmanese peasant army.

Francis Pryor examines the history of Britain near the end of the Roman occupation. The first instalment focuses on Britain under Roman rule, revealing a much greater degree of collaboration with the natives than was previously recognised.

Were the native Americans secret cannibals? New discoveries reveal that the Anasazi tribe killed and ate their victims. Investigations further afield have found that there may have been cannibals in Mexico and Cheddar Gorge in the South of England.

Francis Pryor examines the relics of the Dark Ages to build a fuller picture of this much-maligned era. Popular belief has always held that the departure of the Romans led to barbarism in Britain, but archaeological finds have shed light on a cultured, literate society that embraced the growing Romanised Christian religion and embarked on a profitable trading relationship with the Byzantine Empire.

In March 1944 the 1st and 4th Essex Battalion's were enmeshed in one of the most bloody, dramatic British engagements of the war - five brutal days of fighting for the key obstacle on the allied route to Rome. This is the story of the men who captured the mountain top.

Embark on a journey to explore the hidden world of the Harem, a world that has long been shrouded by mystery and erotic fantasies. In the 16th century the Turkish city of Istanbul was ruled by Suleyman the Magnificent. The center of his power was Topkapi Palace - at the heart of which was the harem. Into it came hundreds of women from all over the empire and beyond. It was a place where sex could equal power. This documentary tells the story of how some of these women came to play a pivotal role in running the world's largest empire from inside the mysterious and sometimes violent world of the Harem.

In the last programme of the series Francis focuses his attention on the Anglo-Saxon invasion.

Operation Desert Storm was only a day old when Tornado pilots John Peters and John Nichol were shot down in Iraqi territory and subsequently tortured and paraded on TV. Bruised and battered, the two men mumbled incoherently into the camera, and instantly became symbols around the world of Saddam’s savagery and aggression.

Defying the curse that has haunted their family for three generations, a member of the Carnarvon family returns to the site of Tutankhamun’s tomb for the first time in 75 years. In 1922 the fifth Earl of Carnarvon died from an infected mosquito bite just weeks after discovering the tomb. From that day the family name became synonymous with the curse of the Pharoahs.

Tony Robinson is joined by science journalist Becky McCall to investigate the case of Second World War psychic Helen Duncan, whose freakishly accurate forecasts about military campaigns led to an MI5 investigation and her imprisonment under an archaic witchcraft law of 1735. Duncan was deemed a serious threat to national security, but she claimed she was merely visited by the ghosts of ex-servicemen who told her secrets she could never have known.

What’s the process of retrieving a sunken ship and preparing it for display in a museum? How do archaeologists work underwater? One of the biggest wrecks ever discovered in Spain was the ‘Triunfante’, sunk during a French siege in 1795. We follow the process from its discovery to its display in a museum and learn what makes this ship so special.

Carthage was Rome's equal, rival and almost her conqueror. In 146 BC Roman general Scipio destroyed the city of Carthage so painstakingly and utterly that not a single building was left standing.

Carthage was Rome's equal, rival and almost her conqueror. In 146 BC Roman general Scipio destroyed the city of Carthage so painstakingly and utterly that not a single building was left standing.

Gold, Silver & Slaves looks at how the business of slavery was a case of slave-trading by complicit Africans, fuelled by the greed of African kings. This is the untold story of the greatest slaving nation in history. Up till now, Britain’s place in the history of slavery has been as the country that abolished the international slave trade.

Exploring what really happened at Herculaneum following the eruption of Vesuvius. Pompeii, the lost Roman city buried by the eruption of Vesuvius in 79AD, has long been a source of fascination to archaeologists. But its sister city Herculaneum, buried in the same eruption but to a much greater depth than Pompeii, reveals far more detail of how the Romans lived.

Looks at the life of the Roman emperor Vespasian, from childhood to his death in 79 AD. Provides insight into the sophisticated workings of the Roman Empire.

Unfinished Business looks at how Liverpool became the greatest slaving port in human history. This is the untold story of the greatest slaving nation in history. Up till now, Britain’s place in the history of slavery has been as the country that abolished the international slave trade.

Focusing on women of royalty such as Pharaoh Hatshepsut and Queen Nefertari, as well as women of high profession such as Lady Peseshet, the earliest female doctor known to the world, Fletcher reveals an ancient civilization unparalleled in its sexual equality.

They are two of history’s most talked about figures, but how much do we really know about the ill-fated lovers? What were their real characters and motives? Why did one of them lose their head? And how did their actions change the course of history forever?

They are two of history’s most talked about figures, but how much do we really know about the ill-fated lovers? What were their real characters and motives? Why did one of them lose their head? And how did their actions change the course of history forever?

The Old Corruption challenges the accepted version of the history of abolition, that the passive, suffering slaves were freed by benevolent white crusaders, revealing the corruption of the plantations owners, and how the inhuman treatment of African people was finally acknowledged.

Researching a climatic catastrophe that rocked the Earth in A.D. 535, causing two years of darkness, famine, drought and disease. Written records from China, Italy, Palestine and many other countries suggest a huge catastrophe blighted the world in 535AD. But the cause of it has been uncertain.

A devastating volcanic eruption in A.D. 535 leads to the emergence of new nations and religions. Written records from China, Italy, Palestine and many other countries suggest a huge catastrophe blighted the world in 536AD. But the cause of it has been uncertain.

In 1942, determined to prove that France was leading the fight against Nazism, General de Gaulle offered Stalin a squadron of French pilots to fight on the Soviet front. That regiment, known as Normandy-Niémen, were legendary, winning 273 aerial victories. But the men paid a heavy price. 43 pilots were killed during combat.

The Tirpitz. Winston Churchill referred to it as “The Beast”, a formidable, 53,000 tonne battleship that was arguably the most potent symbol of Hitler’s naval power. Churchill made its destruction a top priority, to be sunken at all costs. This is the story of perhaps the most important and daring air raid carried out by the legendary RAF squadron known as The Dambusters.

This is history like you’ve never seen it before. Dan delivers his extraordinary take on one of the most visceral and violent chapters in British History. The series begins with Henry II, a control freak betrayed by his own wife and children after the murder of Archbishop Thomas Becket. Episode two reveals the collapse of friendship between Henry III and Simon de Montfort, spiraling into bloody civil war. Edward II’s obsession with revenge tears England apart in episode 3. Finally, episode four tells the story of the boy king tyrant, Richard II, one of the most vicious and inventive despots in history.

Once the biggest and most influential city on the planet, founded by Alexander the Great and home to Cleopatra, Archimedes and the largest library in the world. How did this shining beacon for civilisation and knowledge meet its classical demise?

This is history like you’ve never seen it before. Dan delivers his extraordinary take on one of the most visceral and violent chapters in British History. Episode two reveals the collapse of friendship between Henry III and Simon de Montfort, spiraling into bloody civil war.

This is history like you’ve never seen it before. Dan delivers his extraordinary take on one of the most visceral and violent chapters in British History. Edward II’s obsession with revenge tears England apart in episode 3.

This is history like you’ve never seen it before. Dan delivers his extraordinary take on one of the most visceral and violent chapters in British History. Episode four tells the story of the boy king tyrant, Richard II, one of the most vicious and inventive despots in history.

Krushchev’s decision to place nuclear weapons in Cuba sparked the Cuban Missile Crisis. But what’s relatively unknown is that he was responding to an earlier perceived threat from America: the stationing of nuclear weapons in Murge, Italy - within striking distance of the USSR. We reveal how Murge was transformed unwittingly into a theatre of the Cold War.

Documentary exploring the murky circumstances behind the escape of one of Britain’s most notorious spies. In 1963, at the height of the Cold War, a well-educated Englishman called Kim Philby boarded a Russian freighter in Beirut and defected to Moscow from under the nose of British Intelligence. For the best part of thirty years he had been spying for the Soviet Union, much of that time while holding senior jobs in MI6.

Lost Worlds investigates the very latest archaeological finds at three remote and hugely significant sites - Angkor Wat, Troy and Persepolis.

A moving and intimate portrayal of Nelson Mandela filmed on the campaign trail in the days leading up to South Africa's first democratic election.

The Roman empire was a time of power and brutality, fuelled by violent games and bloodbaths. However, it was also abundant in refinement and extreme sensuality. Food and cooking was an key indicator of success, with quality and abundance of dishes the primary measure. As the first and largest european civilisation, Rome was at the epicentre of culinary innovation, with an acute emphasis on vegetables, meat and spices.

Sexpionage tells the stories of two women who were seduced by secret agents working for the East German intelligence service, the Stasi. At the height of the Cold War the Stasi would regularly despatch their agents to the West German capital, Bonn, armed with the task of forming long term relationships with single women working at embassies or government ministries.

In 1495 a new disease hit Europe. It was deadly, devastating and attacked those who were promiscuous, well-heeled and well-travelled. But what was Syphilis and where had it come from? The traditional view has been that syphilis was part of "the Columbian exchange" – one of the things, along with tobacco and the potato, that the New World gave the Old.

This programme includes an award-winning trilogy whose theme is the miraculous resilience of the human spirit in the face of adversity.

This is an extraordinary story of the most disturbing witch trial in British history and the key role played in it by one nine-year-old girl. Jennet Device, a beggar-girl from Pendle in Lancashire, was the star witness in 1612 in the trial of her own mother, her brother, her sister and many of her neighbours; thanks to her chilling testimony, they were all hanged.

This landmark documentary was produced 5 years after the end of The Falklands War and features interviews and insights from both the Argentinian and British sides.

Recently a team of fossil hunters working in Kenya came upon a set of fossilised teeth and a series of bones. Their find set in motion a chain of events that ignited excitement across the scientific world, for if they were correct in their findings, not only would they have found the oldest human ancestor, but much of the received wisdom humankind’s evolution would have to be rewritten.

Prince Charles Edward was Queen Victoria’s favourite grandson. In 1900, the sixteen-year-old Prince was the only viable British contender for the hugely wealthy Dukedom of Saxe Coburg and Gotha in Germany. Ordered to go by Queen Victoria, he took the title and was transformed from a British Prince into a German Duke – Herzog Carl Eduard. The course of his life was altered in ways neither he nor Queen Victoria could have ever imagined.

The Spartans chronicles the rise and fall of one of the most extreme civilisations the world has ever witnessed. A civilization that was founded on discipline, sacrifice and frugality where the onus was on the collective and the goal was to create the perfect state, and the perfect warrior.

The Spartans chronicles the rise and fall of one of the most extreme civilisations the world has ever witnessed. A civilization that was founded on discipline, sacrifice and frugality where the onus was on the collective and the goal was to create the perfect state, and the perfect warrior.

The Spartans chronicles the rise and fall of one of the most extreme civilisations the world has ever witnessed. A civilization that was founded on discipline, sacrifice and frugality where the onus was on the collective and the goal was to create the perfect state, and the perfect warrior.

Before it became the setting for the hit series 'Downton Abbey', Lord and Lady Carnarvon opened the doors of Highclere Castle, their stunning lakeside country house, for a documentary all about the running of their rambling estate in Hampshire.

Britain would have lost her empire and the war in 1942 had Axis forces beaten the British army in the Middle East. Tim Collins re-investigates Britain’s critical desert campaign, and the controversial battle tactics needed to take on the unbeaten Panzer army in total war, preventing Hitler from gaining Egypt, Iraq and the oilfields.

This is the story of a final showdown between two titans of war in uninhibited warfare without buildings, cities or populations. In 1942 The British Army was being pushed back towards Cairo at a rate of almost 100 miles a day. Within a week, Rommel would take Egypt. The allies would lose the Mediterranean, Asia, the Iraq oilfields and its nascent US ally.

Britain’s Wicca Man tells the extraordinary story of Britain's fastest growing religious group - Wicca - and of its creator, an eccentric Englishman called Gerald Gardner.

ALICE IN WONDERLAND is said to be the most quoted book in print, second only to The Bible, with a passionate army of fans who regularly congregate around the world to celebrate its rich and playful world. But what of its creator, the mild-mannered and unassuming Oxford University Math Don, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, aka. Lewis Carroll?

This feature-length documentary examines Islam's rich and significant contribution to western art and culture. Presenter and art critic, Waldemar Januszczak, sets out on an epic journey of discovery across the Muslim world from Central Asia to the heart of the Middle East and beyond.

Uncle Hitler introduces us to the descendants, family members, acquaintances and employees of Adolf Hitler. The documentary focuses on exploring the unknown story of Hitler's family and the dramatic fates of those related to the most hated man in history.

Between the years 950 AD to 1290 AD, on the Northern border of South Africa, traversing the conference of the Shashi – Limpopo Valley, which today divides Botswana, Zimbabwe and South Africa, existed an ancient African Kingdom, called Mapungubwe. From the Iron Age to present day this unique one-hour film explores the history and tells the story of this remarkable city.

At the end of the Second World War, ten thousand prisoners of war anticipated liberation courtesy of the advancing Russian Red Army. The Nazis dashed these hopes. They forced the prisoners to march out of Stalag Luft III in the dead of winter toward the centre of a collapsing Third Reich in order to keep the P.O.W.’s as hostages. ‘Forced March to Freedom’ tells the story of this amazing test of endurance through the eyes of Robert Buckham of West Vancouver, a bomber pilot and artist who produced countless sketches and water-colours of prison camp life, as well as one of the only chronicles of the forced march itself.

Akhenaten is ancient Egypt's most mysterious and puzzling pharaoh - for no apparent reason he destroyed the established religion of Egypt and moved 50,000 people to a lonely bay on the edge of the Nile, where he built a magnificent city from scratch. Why Akhenaten unleashed this astounding revolution has never been fully explained. Now the Egypt Detectives set about uncovering the real portrait of the rebel pharaoh.

The personalities and spectres of Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin loom large in the events of the twentieth Century. They were similar in some respects and yet very different in others.

The Coronation in 1953 appeared to be a glittering triumph for the House of Windsor. But behind the scenes there was a three-cornered story of jealousy and rivalry at the highest level.

An examination of the mental battles waged between 20th-century leaders Winston Churchill and Franklin D Roosevelt during the first two years of their relationship. A duel of false promises, evasion and delusion ensued, which was far removed from the more familiar image of friendship and loyalty.

Egypt is full of mysteries. One of them is the Pharaoh who's moving statue travelled thousands of kilometres without cranes, trucks or even a wheel. How was it done? Time to bring in the Egypt Detectives.

Archaeologists have made an astonishing claim that could change our understanding of the life of Tutankhamun forever. Many of the burial goods found in Tutankhamun's tomb may not have been his at all. Working with Tutankhamun expert Nicholas Reeves, the Egypt Detectives try to determine the daunting problem faced by his successors and how it was solved.

Lost Worlds investigates the very latest archaeological finds at three remote and hugely significant sites - Angkor Wat, Troy and Persepolis. Lost Worlds travels to each site and through high-end computer graphics, lavish re-enactment and the latest archaeological evidence brings them to stunning televisual life.

From the 900-year-old remains of Angkor Wat in the Cambodian jungle the staggering City of the God Kings is recreated. From Project Troia, in North West Turkey, the location of the biggest archaeological expedition ever mounted the lost city is stunningly visualised and finally from Persepolis the city and the great Persian Empire are brought to life.

A body inside a coffin which it is too large for, missing genitals, and an obvious overbite are the clues which set the Mummy Investigation Team on the trail in this mystery. They know who the coffin was made for – a female Egyptian temple dancer – what they need to know is who rests there now and why this mummy is in such strange condition.

A team of experts excavates a famous WW1 battlefield in search of a top secret tunnel and a giant 60-foot flame-thrower. Historian Peter Barton and archeologist Tony Pollard travel to northern France to find secret tunnels and a giant flamethrower lost for almost a century.

Built for use during the opening day of the Battle of the Somme, the bloodiest clash of WW1, this 60 foot weapon of terror fired a blast of flaming oil over 100 yards long. Barton hopes to recover the machine and with the help of the British Royal Engineers, build a working replica at a specially built test site. For the first time in almost a century, this mechanical dragon will roar once more.

Marking the centenary of World War One, historian David Reynolds explores the enduring shadow the conflict has cast over Britain and Europe in the century that followed. Travelling to locations across Europe, from Slovenia to the Sudetenland, Belfast to Berlin, David Reynolds traces the war’s legacy, arguing that it unleashed forces we still grapple with today.

This remarkable series also looks again at how the experience of war haunted the generation who lived through it, in particular the soldiers who survived it – dynamic characters such as Benito Mussolini, Eamon de Valera, Philippe Petain, James Ramsey MacDonald and Thomas Masaryk. Reynolds examines how these men shaped the peace that followed war, often in unpredictable ways.

Marking the centenary of World War One, historian David Reynolds explores the enduring shadow the conflict has cast over Britain and Europe in the century that followed. Travelling to locations across Europe, from Slovenia to the Sudetenland, Belfast to Berlin, David Reynolds traces the war’s legacy, arguing that it unleashed forces we still grapple with today.

Intrigue and mystery have always surrounded the pyramids. Mysteries abound about how and why they were built, but questions still remain unanswered about where they were constructed. With Miriam investigating the geology of the Nile Valley and Dominic the Egyptian religion and myth, the Egypt Detectives try and piece together some logic behind the geography of the royal tombs.

On a desolate mountain top in California lives the world’s oldest organism – a gnarled and twisted bristlecone pine. The scientist who discovered the tree gave it the name Methuselah. It was a seedling when the Egyptian pyramids were being built and a mature tree at the time of Christ. It is now over 4,000 years old.

This programme follows the award-winning trilogy whose theme was the miraculous resilience of the human spirit in the face of adversity. The original trilogy examined London, Berlin and Leningrad, and showed how their people coped with the ravages of World War II. This one-off studies Paris and the effects that the war had on the French nation.

The Dark Ages have been misunderstood. History has identified the period following the fall of the Roman Empire with a descent into barbarism – a terrible time when civilisation stopped. Waldemar Januszczak disagrees.

The Dark Ages have been misunderstood. History has identified the period following the fall of the Roman Empire with a descent into barbarism – a terrible time when civilisation stopped. Waldemar Januszczak disagrees.

The Dark Ages have been misunderstood. History has identified the period following the fall of the Roman Empire with a descent into barbarism – a terrible time when civilisation stopped. Waldemar Januszczak disagrees.

The Dark Ages have been misunderstood. History has identified the period following the fall of the Roman Empire with a descent into barbarism – a terrible time when civilisation stopped. Waldemar Januszczak disagrees.

They invented the alphabet and modern navigation and introduced wine to Europe. But after the sacking of Carthage by the Romans in 146 BC and the destruction of their famous library, the world was left with very little evidence of Phoenician life and culture.

In 1934, Pamela Travers created the ‘practically perfect’ woman in Mary Poppins who bought order into the chaos of people’s homes. Decades later, the magical English nanny is still adored by children and parents alike.