S.C. Gwynne: R101 – The World’s Largest Flying Machine (1930)

On 11 April 1809 Thomas Cochrane, RN, made one of the most famous assaults in British naval history. At the Battle of Basque Roads – at which he destroyed much of the French Atlantic Fleet – he detonated an explosion vessel so powerful that it is still being spoken about today. This is a special and different episode of Travels Through Time. In it Peter Moore narrates the opening to his new book, A Dangerous Game: Thomas Cochrane's Life on the Edge. This illustrated excerpt features on the audiobook from Penguin, which is narrated by Ric Jerrom. Find out more and download A Dangerous Game on Audible. And read more about Thomas Cochrane on Unseen Histories. Show Notes Scene: 11 April 1809, Basque Roads Anchorage, France. People/Social Presenter: Peter Moore Producer: Maria Nolan Theme music: Egmont by Ludwig van Beethoven.

This week the critic, writer and guide Caroline Hopkinson-Woolley takes us back to 1926 to consider a mysterious event. This was the perplexing disappearance of the best-selling author Agatha Christie. Christie's disappearance happened at a moment of great tension both in her own life and in British history. That May the General Strike had upended society in a way that was both unprecedented and terrifying for the establishment. Christie, meanwhile, was simultaneously experiencing commercial success and private turmoil as her mother died and her marriage faltered. All these forces can be glimpsed in the strange disappearance of Christie shortly before Christmas that year. It is an event that has long puzzled historians and here Hopkinson-Woolley weighs the evidence. Enjoyed this? Find out more about Hopkinson-Woolley's tour of 'Literary Oxford: The Worlds of Tolkien & Lewis', departing next June. Show Notes Scene One: May 1926. The General Strike Scene Two: June 1926. Publication of The Murder of Roger Ackroyd. Scene Three: December 1926. Agatha Christie's disappearance. People/Social Presenter: Peter Moore Guest: Caroline Hopkinson-Woolley Producer: Maria Nolan Theme music: Firelight by Minka Partner: ACE Cultural Tours.

This week the award winning biographer Andrea Wulf takes us aboard Captain Cook's HMS Resolution to meet one of the most compelling of the ship's company: George Forster. When he embarked with Cook Forster was still a teenager. But fiercely clever, kind and sensitive, he would go on to distinguish himself as one of the most intriguing figures of the high Enlightenment. In this episode Wulf explains how 1772 was the year in which his life transformed. George Forster is the subject of Andrea Wulf's newly released biography. The Traveller: The Revolutionary Life of George Forster and His Search For Humanity. Show Notes Scene One: January 1772, 2 Somerset Stable Yard, Strand, London. George Forster in London, publication of his translation of Bougainville’s Voyage round the World. Scene Two: 11 July 1772, Plymouth harbour, George Forster’s first night on Resolution. Scene Three: 10 December 1772, Latitude: 51° 37’ S, Longitude: 25°28’E. People/Social Presenter: Peter Moore Guest: Andrea Wulf Producer: Maria Nolan Theme music: Firelight by Minka Partner: ACE Cultural Tours.

In this episode we explore one of the most infamous episodes in the history of art. Writer and guide Marie-Anne Mancio takes us back to the year when the Italian painter Caravaggio killed the pimp Ranuccio Tomassoni in a sword fight or organised duel on a tennis court in Rome. Caravaggio was a sublime artist. He was celebrated in his lifetime for his masterful use of light, the powerful narrative force of his paintings and his tender depictions of the human form. But as a person he was erratic. After his spectacular rise to fame around the year 1600 he was frequently in trouble with the authorities in Rome, as well as with his landlady. Marie-Anne Mancio has written extensively about Caravaggio and she leads tours to locations associated with him and his art. In this episode she ponders what really happened in that fateful, mysterious year 1606. It was a year that started auspiciously but ended with him as a fugitive. Find out more about Marie-Anne's upcoming tour, 'Caravaggio in Italy', here. Show Notes Scene One: Rome, 28 May 1606. Caravaggio kills pimp Ranuccio Tomassoni in a sword fight/organised duel on a tennis court. Scene Two: Easter 1606. Caravaggio completes his painting, Madonna and St Anne. Scene Three: Caravaggio is a fugitive in the Alban hills. While there, he likely paints the 2nd version of The Supper at Emmaus. Memento: People/Social Presenter: Peter Moore Guest: Marie-Anne Mancio Producer: Maria Nolan Theme music: Firelight by Minka Partner: ACE Cultural Tours.

In the dramatic story of the fall of the Roman Republic, the Battle of Actium is a moment of the utmost significance. A naval action, fought off the western coast of Greece, today's guest, Ellen Jones, explains how Octavian defeated his rival Mark Antony in sensational style. The tangled story of these two political rivals was complicated by the additional presence of Cleopatra, Queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt. In 31 BCS she was the consort of Mark Antony and her dramatic retreat mid-battle remains one of the enigmatic moments in the history of the times. Ellen Jones is an Egyptologist, a classics teacher and a tour guide for ACE Cultural Tours. You can read more about her upcoming tour, 'Ancient Treasures of Cairo', here. Show Notes Scene One: 32 BCE when Octavian reads Marc Antony’s will in front of the Senate. Scene Two: 2nd September 31 BCE – the Battle of Actium. Scene Three: 12th August 30 BCE – the aftermath of Cleopatra’s (and Antony’s) suicides. Memento: Mark Antony's battle plans. People/Social Presenter: Peter Moore Guest: Ellen Jones Producer: Maria Nolan Theme music: Firelight by Minka Partner: ACE Cultural Tours.