Dan Snow is one of the most revered popular historians in Britain. In 2002, Dan came onto the scene with his acclaimed BBC documentary El Alamein, charting the events of the Second World War battle for its 60th anniversary. In every year since, he has released several popular history programmes, covering everything from Rome to China, the Vikings to the Nazis, and the history of Britain. He is also an ambassador of the Electoral Reform Society. His latest series - Pompeii: Life In the City - comes to Channel 5 later this year.
Why did we invite him on?
England’s history is subject to much acclaim and derision. To some, it’s a shameful story of conquest, pillaging, and theft; to others, it’s the birth and nurturing of the modern world. Wherever you land, it’s undeniably fascinating.
We’ve long admired Dan’s work, and when we decided we wanted to host a discussion about England’s complicated past, we knew he was the man for the job.
What did we learn?
Capturing the history of England with any meaningful degree of resolution and range is a Herculean task - doing so in under two hours is near-impossible. But Dan gives it his best shot; in the opening 15 minutes, he lays out how the country came to resemble anything akin to what we see today, and how deep its roots dig. Dan generously guides us through a complex tale of invasions, cleansings, battles, the rise and fall of whole societies, and the collaboration of small kingdoms. For as much as debating is done about England, it’s not clear how many people truly understand it? What percentage of the population could identify the different groups that make up the ‘natives’, much less describe how and where they emerged? This story cannot be reduced any further than Dan has already managed, so that part we will leave to him.
But that - miraculously - is only a fraction of what we covered.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to TRIGGERnometry to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.