Two kings, two revolutions, and two podcasters ready to unpack it all! In this collaboration with David Crowther of The History of England, we explore the English and French Revolutions. Part I examines the characters of Charles I and Louis XVI...
From monsters to myths, this episode unpacks the Vendée with Professor Jean-Clément Martin. One of the foremost authorities on the civil war, Martin shows how factional politics transformed local unrest into a national catastrophe. We explore how...
Displaced and destitute, the Vendée’s children faced an uncertain future. This episode extra follows their grim paths through prison cells and beyond, exploring survival, exploitation and neglect. NOT A PATREON SUPPORTER OF THE SHOW? Want to...
Amid the slaughter at Nantes, what did the Convention and Committee of Public Safety know about the mass drownings in the west? This episode extra traces cryptic letters and shifting priorities to uncover how Paris responded to one of the...
From Paris to Moscow, this episode extra further explores whether the Vendée can be classed as genocide. Uncover the competing definitions, political compromises and historical arguments that continue to fuel one of the Revolution’s most contentious...
From the mass drownings to hell columns, this episode charts the Republic’s campaign to exterminate the western rebellion. Uncover the rivalries and atrocities that turned victory into massacre, and the controversial question of whether these events...
With mass graves uncovered in 2009, this bonus episode explores the grim aftermath of the Battle of Le Mans. Drawing on forensic evidence and eyewitness accounts, it unpacks the brutal reality of the conflict and the Vendée’s contested legacy...
Searching for salvation, the royalists found hell. Retreat became catastrophe, and battles turned to massacres. This episode explores the rise of ultra-radical commanders and the Convention’s embrace of total war. It unpacks military defeats on both...
Unpack the grim fates of Republican generals. From scapegoats like Marcé and Quétineau to the downfall of Nantes’ unlikely saviour, discover how paranoia, politics, and military disaster turned misfortune into a capital crime. NOT A PATREON...
As the royalists surged through western France, the Republic’s response was pitiful. But when the time came to strike at Paris itself, the insurgents chose Nantes instead. This episode charts the defining battles of early 1793. From tremendous...