Pax Britannica: A History of the British Empire

Samuel Hume

A Podcast History of the British Empire

  • 32 minutes 48 seconds
    04.10 - The Cabal

    With the downfall of Clarendon, the CABAL takes centre stage in Restoration politics. But it's never so simple...

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    26 January 2026, 11:32 pm
  • 34 minutes 56 seconds
    04.09 - The Raid on the Medway

    Bankruptcy forces the Royal Navy into port. I'm sure it'll be safe.

    • Nicholas Rodgers, The Command of the Ocean: A Naval History of Britain, Volume 2, 1649–1815
    • Anna Keay, The Restless Republic, 2022.
    • Rebecca Rideal, 1666: Plague, War, and Hellfire, 2016.
    • Frank Fox, The Four Days' Battle: The Greatest Sea Fight of the Age of Sail, 2009.
    • David Onnekink & Gijs Rommelse, The Dutch in the Early Modern World.
    • Steve Murdoch, The terror of the Seas: Scottish Maritime Warfare, 1513-1713, 2010.

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    19 January 2026, 9:05 am
  • 44 minutes 27 seconds
    04.08 - The Four Days' Battle

    The Royal Navy and the Dutch fleet square off. Michiel de Ruyter needs to clear the way for the merchant fleet to get home, or else the Dutch economy might collapse. George Monck, Duke of Albemarle, is outnumbered and outgunned, and Prince Rupert races to join him.


    • Nicholas Rodgers, The Command of the Ocean: A Naval History of Britain, Volume 2, 1649–1815
    • Anna Keay, The Restless Republic, 2022.
    • Rebecca Rideal, 1666: Plague, War, and Hellfire, 2016.
    • Frank Fox, The Four Days' Battle: The Greatest Sea Fight of the Age of Sail, 2009.
    • David Onnekink & Gijs Rommelse, The Dutch in the Early Modern World.
    • Steve Murdoch, The terror of the Seas: Scottish Maritime Warfare, 1513-1713, 2010.


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    12 January 2026, 8:05 am
  • 35 minutes 20 seconds
    04.07 - A City of Ash

    After the Great Fire of London, the city needed to be rebuilt.

    • Rebecca Rideal, 1666: Plague, War, and Hellfire
    • Jacob Field, London, Londoners and the Great Fire of 1666: Disaster and Recover.
    • Clare Jackson, Charles II: The Star King

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    5 January 2026, 8:05 am
  • 53 minutes 12 seconds
    Slavery throughout History with Patrick Wyman

    Today I speak with Dr Patrick Wyman, host of The Fall of Rome, Tides of History, and his new show Past Lives. He's also published The Verge: Reformation, Renaissance, and Forty Years that Shook the World, and has a forthcoming book, Lost Worlds: How Humans Tried, Failed, Succeeded, and Built Our World.


    We talk about public history, slavery, and the podcast industry!

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    22 December 2025, 8:05 am
  • 42 minutes 20 seconds
    04.06 - The Great Fire of London

    From a bakery on Pudding Lane, a fire destroys most of the City of London.

    • Rebecca Rideal, 1666: Plague, War, and Hellfire
    • Jacob Field, London, Londoners and the Great Fire of 1666: Disaster and Recover.
    • Clare Jackson, Charles II: The Star King

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    24 November 2025, 8:05 pm
  • 31 minutes 58 seconds
    04.05 - The Great Plague of London

    The Bubonic Plague, Yersinia Pestis, arrives in London at the end of 1664. By the end of 1665, it will have killed 200,000 people all across England and Wales.

    • Evelyn Lord, The Great Plague: A People's History.
    • Dorothy Moote, The great plague: the story of London's most deadly year.
    • Charles River, The Great Plague of London: The History and Legacy of England’s Last Major Outbreak of the Bubonic Plague
    • Rebecca Rideal, 1666: Plague, War, and Hellfire.

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    10 November 2025, 8:05 am
  • 31 minutes 59 seconds
    04.04 - The Royal Navy Reborn

    The Second Anglo-Dutch War begins, and we take a closer look at the Royal Navy of the Restoration.

    • Jonathan Healey, The Blazing World, 2023.
    • Nicholas Rodgers, The Command of the Ocean: A Naval History of Britain, Volume 2, 1649–1815
    • Anna Keay, The Restless Republic, 2022.
    • Rebecca Rideal, 1666: Plague, War, and Hellfire, 2016.
    • Charles Wilson, England’s Apprenticeship: 1603-1763, 1975.
    • David Veevers, The Origins of the British Empire in Asia, 1600-1750, 2020.
    • John Childs, General Percy Kirke and the Later Stuart Army, 2014.
    • Philip Stern, The Company-State: Corporate Sovereignty and the Early Modern Foundations of the British Empire in India, 2011.
    • Edwin Burrows, Mike Wallace, Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898, 1999.
    • Julie Svalastog, Mastering the Worst of Trades: England’s Early Africa Companies and their Traders, 1618–1672, 2021.

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    20 October 2025, 9:00 pm
  • 50 minutes 17 seconds
    The Stuarts, the Scottish Restoration, and Devil-Land with Professor Clare Jackson

    The Mirror of Great Britain: A Life of James VI&I

    Devil-Land: England under Siege, 1588-1688

    Charles II: The Star King

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    13 October 2025, 7:05 am
  • 34 minutes 45 seconds
    04.03 - The First Scramble for Africa

    New trade policies annoy the Dutch, and new English companies attempt to force their way into West African markets. New Amsterdam becomes New York. The Second Anglo-Dutch War begins.

    • Jonathan Healey, The Blazing World, 2023.
    • Anna Keay, The Restless Republic, 2022.
    • Rebecca Rideal, 1666: Plague, War, and Hellfire, 2016.
    • Charles Wilson, England’s Apprenticeship: 1603-1763, 1975.
    • David Veevers, The Origins of the British Empire in Asia, 1600-1750, 2020.
    • John Childs, General Percy Kirke and the Later Stuart Army, 2014.
    • Philip Stern, The Company-State: Corporate Sovereignty and the Early Modern Foundations of the British Empire in India, 2011.
    • Edwin Burrows, Mike Wallace, Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898, 1999.
    • Julie Svalastog, Mastering the Worst of Trades: England’s Early Africa Companies and their Traders, 1618–1672, 2021.


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    6 October 2025, 7:05 am
  • 26 minutes 26 seconds
    04.02 - The Seven Islands of Bombay

    Charles II marries Catherine of Braganza, and the Portuguese Princess brings her new husband the city of Tangiers and the islands of Bombay. One of these will become a stronghold of the British Empire. The other will not.

    • Alice Hunt, Republic, 2024.
    • Michael Braddick (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of the English Revolution, 2015.
    • Jonathan Healey, The Blazing World, 2023.
    • Anna Keay, The Restless Republic, 2022.
    • Rebecca Rideal, 1666: Plague, War, and Hellfire, 2016.
    • Charles Wilson, England’s Apprenticeship: 1603-1763, 1975.
    • David Veevers, The Origins of the British Empire in Asia, 1600-1750, 2020.
    • John Childs, General Percy Kirke and the Later Stuart Army, 2014.
    • Philip Stern, The Company-State: Corporate Sovereignty and the Early Modern Foundations of the British Empire in India, 2011.

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    29 September 2025, 7:05 am
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