Advertise on podcast: Single Malt History with Gareth Russell

From shopkeepers with secrets hidden in their diaries to actresses dating Nazis and a socialite taking tea with the Kaiser's wife, life in a German town in the years between the two world wars is the topic of a fascinating new bestseller, "Weimar: Life on the Edge of Catastrophe." I'm joined by its author, Katja Hoyer, to discuss everyday life in the Roaring Twenties and how the heart of Germany fell under the spell of fascism.

Behind the grand houses, crowded streets, political speeches and public celebrations of nineteenth-century Belfast were lives marked by love, loss, ambition, violence, faith and politics. In nine remarkable stories, this episode explores the people and events that reveal a city in all its contradictions. From high society scandal and the Great Famine to abolitionism, heartbreak, domestic abuse and a powerful sense of community.

The royal visit to North America in 1939 by Elizabeth II's parents shone a brutal light on Britain's policy of Appeasement towards Nazi Germany and, a chance encounter on a Canadian luxury liner, helped change the future Queen Mother's life forever.

They ruled for less than a century through a war that allegedly inspired "Game of Thrones." The House of Lancaster consisted of three kings, who reigned through a tumultuous time in England's history.

What really were the Crusades? Far more than a simple conflict between Christianity and Islam, they reshaped the medieval Middle East through war, diplomacy, trade and cultural exchange. In this episode, Gareth Russell is joined by medieval historian Dr Nicholas Morton to discuss his new book The Crusader Storm, exploring the rise of the Crusader States, the Seljuk Turks, the Byzantine Empire, Saladin  -and the remarkable communities who defined the Crusades.

In 1541, a former pirate started stalking the Queen of England. At least, that's one way of interpreting the devastating and very odd behaviour of Francis Dereham, who receives the first ever deep-dive into his life in this episode of Single Malt History.

Was Jane Seymour once friends with Anne Boleyn? What did she really think of Mary Tudor? Was there a hidden reason she pleaded with Henry VIII to spare the monasteries? Join me for a conversation with Dr Elizabeth Norton about her groundbreaking new book, which draws on fresh archival evidence to offer compelling new answers to these questions - and many more. She reveals Queen Jane Seymour to have been far more complex, ambitious, clever, and politically engaged than history has long allowed. Forget the quiet, submissive queen of legend. This is the untold story of Henry VIII's third wife.

A biography six years in the making uncovers remarkable details about Anne of Cleves, including a surprising, forgotten, and eerie similarity to her tragic predecessor Anne Boleyn.

For half a century, Edward I won fame on the battlefields. He escaped rebels and vanquished his enemies. But what was the real cost of his ambitions?

Invasions, mysterious deaths, private scandals, quarrels with saints, treachery, and civil wars shaped the dramatic lives of England's four Norman kings.

James VI & I lived a life full of love - and alleged lovers - but did gossip sometimes get it wrong? Yes. But feel free to make up your own mind. This episodes looks at some of the fascinating lives of those who probably never James's lovers  - including a Scottish noblewoman so beautiful she was nicknamed "the Pearl of Lochleven," a handsome but quarrelsome rebel's son, a social- climbing knight, a dashing former soldier, and one of the most powerful noblemen in Ireland.

Was Kaiser Wilhelm II a victim of circumstance or the author of his own ruin?

Downton Abbey meets The Tudors - Dr Tracy Borman stops to discuss her new historical novel, "The House of Boleyn".

The face that launched a reformation? For centuries, the missing portraits of Anne Boleyn have excited investigation, imagination, and indignation. With her childhood home now mounting the largest exhibition of Anne Boleyn's images in history, I spoke to two of its curators Kate McCaffrey and Dr. Owen Emmerson.

How did three centuries fall apart in three years? The rise of Rasputin, plots in the military high command, riots in the cities, and a monarch's mental breakdown play out against the backdrop of one of the most brutal conflicts in human history.