Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Picture mammoths munching on tundra as Britannia cuddles with Europe, then picture it cast adrift by rising seas. From giant deer to flint-wielding humans, prehistory brims with tales of survival and innovation. Meet Cheddar Man, his skull scraped clean – was it cannibalism or ritual? Imagine Stonehenge rising, silent guardian of secrets, while Britons build hill forts and bronze shines bright. Then, iron creeps in, Celts paint the land with their language, and a Greek maps it with a walking stick. Trade explodes, coins fly, and walled towns sprout against barbarian threats. Farmers till the land, weak ale sloshes in cups, and mead fuels feasts where Druids, whispers of human sacrifice clinging to their robes, preside. But in the Lindow Man’s bloodstained bog, mystery lingers. Soon, Rome’s shadow stretches across the channel, promising a clash for the ages. Britannia’s prehistoric saga is just getting started!
Just started listening to this podcast. Really good so far and the accent doesn’t bother me at all.
That’s great to hear, Stuart. Thanks for listening!
Your lecture is fantastic, clear, and easy to follow.I would like learn more about the history of British, and especial when it become Great Britain. Also, I would ask you to post scripts of podcast because the English is my second language.
Thanks for listening, Joy! I’ll see what I can do about transcripts. The problem is that I tend to either simply go off notes, or if I’m working with a script I go off-script on tangents. Consequently, any script I put up wouldn’t track perfectly unless I wrote it after the fact, and that would require a bunch of work.
I really appreciate your hard work.
Heavens, talk about a giant deer! Geez.
Anyhow, just wanted to pop in and say hi, I just found your podcast and I love it. Can’t wait to listen to more!
I know, right? That’s who should be pulling santa’s sleigh. It would be way more impressive than reindeer. ;)
OMG, yes! Giant deer are way better than reindeer. :D (Made me laugh!)
I love your podcast. I just found it last week and was able to download several episodes for a long trip out of state. It made long waits in airports much easier.
A comment on the Celts. It helps to think of Celts as a language group rather than a united “people”. Yep, they spoke variations on the same language, but that did not ensure cohesion. Imagine that:)
BTW, on the wonder of the internet. I was taught that Manx was a dead language, (yes, that was when I was in college, which was before the earth had cooled) but an internet search gave a UTube recording of the last native Manx speaker, and offers of Manx language lessions.
Who knew?
Wow! I’ll have to check that Manx video out. Thanks! :)
Just discovered your podcast, and am looking forward to working my way through, but I couldn’t suppress a groan at your mention of the druids and Stonehenge.
The druids were, roughly speaking, the priestly and professional class among Celtic language speaking cultures which, as you point out, didn’t arrive until much later.
What came first, the Druids or the Celts? Things took an incredibly long time back then.
I’m listening to these podcasts for the first time. My school history lessons (I’m in my 20s) were boring, and uninformative, and so I know very little about the history of the country I live in. Now I can finally catch up! Thanks for making these great podcasts! Also, RE the accent comment up there ^, I think it’s quite appropriate that you don’t have a BBC English voice, given the culturally eclectic nature of the Britain and its past.
Just started listening. I’ve never had an interest in British History. I went to private school and history was about as interesting as latin. I went on to study Chemistry instead at Uni. I took an interest after reading ‘The Saxon Chronicles’ by Bernard Cornwell and i found one of your pod’s on Saxon history. I’m starting from the start now. Looking forward to getting clued up.
So glad I found this Podcast! Makes my morning and evening commutes to work wonderfully entertaining!
Welcome! And drive safe :)
Found your podcast about 6 weeks ago. Now that ive listened to all the back episodes im stuck waiting a whole week for the next one. Love it though and you have really added to what i learned in medeval history in college! (Yes im a huge history nerd. It was even an elective)
My children and I have just begun listening to your podcast! We are in love! We have been breezing through it, and it has given us such a beautiful love of our ancestry. Thank you for creating this!
Really loving these podcasts. Thank you.
Love this, thank you so much.
Small note – the Giant deer displayed at Crystal Palace park, along with the Giant Sloth, are modeled on specimens at Chicago’s Field Museum.
I’m an american teenager disappointed with my school’s history department and its inability to cover anything in depth. Just found this site today; I’ll be sure to start listening. Thanks for all your work!
Sadly it was the same in my day as well and I only graduated high school in 2008. Most of the history taught in U.S.A public schools leaves much to be desired and is in no way comprehensive. I’m glad you are searching elsewhere for what your education may lack. Its an amazing podcast and he has a way of describing the events that captures your attention and keeps it for hours after you have stopped listening. In fact he even makes references to different materials and resources for certain events and time periods and even explains to some extent their level of credibility. Wish I had this when I was still in school.
Quite a lot of woffle, I’m afraid.
How do you spell the man that was believed to be eaten?
I’ve just discovered the podcast, and it looks like I have a long way to go before I’m all caught up! No worries, though. This is exactly the kind of information I’ve been looking for to assist in the kind of research that I’m doing. Thank you for everything you do!
Reading these comments, I realize now how lucky I was. My history teachers and classes from grade schools through grad school were all good to exceptional: none ere boring, pedantic, or superficial.Only as an adult did I begin to realize how unusual my experience was.
I binged the entire Anglo-Saxon era and just made it to the most current current episode. So now I’ve started from the very beginning and will go to the start of the Anglo-Saxon erat.