Chalke Talk

The podcast from the Chalke Valley History Festival
Released every Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings

Chalke Talks for THEME: Religion


  • 93. JERUSALEM: THE HOLY CITY AND THE MIDDLE EAST
    ( )

    Jerusalem is the universal city, the capital of two peoples, the shrine of three faiths; it is the prize of empires, the site of Judgement Day and the battlefield of today’s clash of civilisations. Best-selling author Simon Sebag Montefiore tells the epic history of 3,000 years of faith, slaughter, fanaticism and coexistence. 

    > PLAY
  • 97. THE DARKENING AGE: THE CHRISTIAN DESTRUCTION OF THE CLASSICAL WORLD
    ( )

    The Roman Empire had been generous in embracing and absorbing new creeds. But with the coming of Christianity, everything changed. This new faith, despite preaching peace, was violent, ruthless and intolerant. Catherine Nixey paints a dark but riveting picture of life at the time of the ‘triumph’ of Christianity and gives a gripping account of […]

    > PLAY
  • 102. MODERN IRAN: REVOLUTIONS, REPUBLIC AND WAR
    ( )

    Iran remains an enigma to most of us in the West: once Persia, a land rich in culture, exoticism and history, but more recently a country embroiled in wars and an Islamic revolution. In this talk, Ali Ansari, Professor of Iranian History at the University of St Andrews, explains why modern Iran has evolved in […]

    > PLAY
  • 109. THE PEASANTS’ REVOLT
    ( )

    In 1381, England erupted in a violent popular uprising. The Peasants’ Revolt was the biggest armed rebellion against Church and State in English history and for a short time, it looked as if all would be swept before them. Broadcaster and author, Lord Bragg vividly portrays this epic struggle between the powerful and the apparently […]

    > PLAY
  • 110. THIS ORIENT ISLE: ELIZABETHAN ENGLAND AND THE ISLAMIC WORLD
    ( )

    Professor Jerry Brotton turns his expert eye to Elizabeth I’s little-known relationship with the Islamic world, following her excommunication by the Pope in 1570. He reveals that England’s relations with the Muslim world were far more extensive than has ever been appreciated and that their influence was felt across the political, commercial and domestic landscape […]

    > PLAY
  • 124. THE ISLAMIC ENLIGHTENMENT: THE MODERN STRUGGLE BETWEEN FAITH AND REASON
    ( )

    The Muslim world has often been accused of failing to modernise, reform and adapt. But, from the beginning of the nineteenth century to the present day, Islamic society in its Middle Eastern heartlands has in fact been transformed by modern ideals and practices. Acclaimed author Christopher de Bellaigue covers 200 turbulent years of Middle Eastern […]

    > PLAY
  • 126. THE EASTER RISING 1916: REMEMBERING THE IRISH REVOLUTION
    ( )

    The desire for self-transformation, to define themselves apart from their parents and a determination to reconstruct the world, united the young and disparate of Ireland to form the revolutionary generation. By sifting through letters, journals and photographs, eminent historian Professor Roy Foster FBA examines the vivid public and private lives of the disparate group that […]

    > PLAY
  • 172. THE LIFE AND LEGEND OF THE SULTAN SALADIN
    ( )

    Few of history’s heroes can rival Saladin in his enduring attraction. In the Muslim world he is revered for reclaiming Jerusalem from the Crusaders in 1187. In the West he is famed for his chivalric virtue, despite fighting off the armies of the Third Crusade. Professor Jonathan Phillips brings alive this extraordinary man’s legacy, offering […]

    > PLAY

More podcasts - latest releases