Show Notes
In 1922, a murder happened in Belfast that was so horrific that everyone - from Winston Churchill to Michael Collins - condemned its savagery. Yet, the killers were never brought to justice. A century later, I’m joined by historian Dr. Edward Burke, author of the new book “Ghosts of a Family,” who set out to solve the mystery of Ireland’s greatest unsolved cold case.
More from Single Malt History with Gareth Russell
At the decadent court of Charles II, his Italian sister-in-law established herself as a patron of female artists, but, at the same time, faced scandal and betrayal from within her own family. I'm joined by Dr. Breeze Barrington, author of "The Graces: The Extraordinary Untold Lives of Women in the Restoration Court."
In a must for "Wolf Hall" fans, Dr. Miranda Malins stops by to discuss how the Cromwells rose from obscurity to serve Henry VIII, mould a church, challenge Anne Boleyn, and overthrow a king.
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.