Great Battles in History

About Great Battles in History

Welcome to Great Battles in History. This podcast explores some of the most famous and most important battles in world history from ancient times to the Second World War. Each episode dives deeply into a single battle, investigating its origins, the course of combat, and the outcomes. We will examine the contending forces, including some of history’s most celebrated armies, navies, and air forces. We will meet great captains like Hannibal Barca, Saladin, Napoleon, and Chester Nimitz. We will also delve into the experiences of the soldier at the sharp end: the Spartan hoplite at Thermopylae, the English longbowman at Agincourt, the mounted samurai at Nagashino, the Soviet tanker at Kursk. Battles are regarded as events that change the course of history; the most important have been described as decisive. We will come to question this idea, for, as we’ll see, while a handful of battles do qualify as momentous, epochal turning points, most others—including not a few widely considered decisive—changed very little if anything at all. Finally, battles are more than just exercises of pure strategy and tactics; they are artifacts— creations of the political, social, economic and cultural forces of their times. To investigate great battles is to open up history in its widest sense.

Publisher

Darryl Dee

Category

education · history · society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

30 Jun 2020

Latest episode

1 Dec 2025

Latest episodes

50 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   1 Dec 2025

   Trailer-the Battle of Poltava

   Send us a text Fought on July 8, 1709, the Battle of Poltava was the turning point of the Great Northern War. It was the climax of the long duel between two of the greatest monarchs of the age: King Charles XII of Sweden and Tsar Peter I of Russia. Poltava marked the end of the Stormaktstiden, Sweden's Age of Empire, and the rise of Russia as a great power.

2. 

   30 Oct 2025

   The Battle of Breitenfeld

   Send us a text The battle of Breitenfeld was fought on September 17, 1631. It was one of the largest and most important battles of the Thirty Years' War. It was the most famous victory of Gustavus Adolphus, Sweden's hero-king. It was the beginning of the Stormaktstiden, Sweden's Age of Empire. If you're enjoying Great Battles in History, please follow it and rate it on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen. And if you'd like to give me more support, then please consider buying...

3. 

   21 Mar 2025

   Trailer-The Battle of Breitenfeld

   This episode previews the Battle of Breitenfeld, a pivotal clash in the Thirty Years' War where King Gustavus Adolphus secured a major victory, initiating Sweden's imperial age.

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

4.9 / 5

44 ratings

Spotify

4.9 / 5

207 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 20 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

12

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

67

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Guest appearances

Does not typically book guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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