Presenter Richard Holmes retraces Henry V's route to Agincourt, where in 1415 he won a remarkable victory against a French force that outnumbered him by five to one. It's a story of both heroism and brutality.
Richard Holmes explores Wellington's victory against Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, which caused the fall of the most powerful European empire since that of Rome. He explores the region as it is today and, using testimony, letters and dispatches, tells the story of the epic battle.
The British troops who marched against the Germans in August 1914 believed the war would be over by Christmas. But at Mons they learned that the old world of swords and bugles would be swept away by the machine gun and the shell. Richard Holmes follows in their footsteps as they retreated south from Mons.
Richard Holmes walks through the fields where the Battle of the Somme took place on 1 July 1916 and 57,000 soldiers were killed or wounded in the space of a few hours. Testimony, dispatches and letters tell the story of the Somme campaign up until its conclusion in 1916.
In May 1940 the Germans staged a lightning invasion of Belgium and France in a new kind of armoured warfare called 'blitzkrieg'. Richard Holmes traces their route to the French city of Arras, where a small British force launched a counterattack that gave the Allies vital breathing space.
Goodwood was the name chosen for the British armoured breakout from the Normandy bridgehead in 1944. The operation was later called 'the death ride of the armoured divisions'. Richard Holmes follows in the tracks of the tanks and a tank crew member tells of the horrors of 'brewing up'.
Professor Richard Holmes walks and rides over the Hastings battlefield that marks a turning point in British history, handling the weapons and equipment of the period and becoming a Norman knight to reveal just how close William the Conqueror came to defeat.
Professor Richard Holmes journeys to historic British sites. He visits a battlefield on which the course of British history was changed, as Henry Tudor's dynasty toppled that of King Richard III.
In 1645, Charles I lost his struggle against parliament during the decisive crash of the English Civil War. Professor Richard Holmes follows the campaign that led to the Battle of Naseby, starting at the king's headquarters in Oxford.
Few battles resound down the centuries as loudly as the Boyne. The defeat of James II by William III in 1690 is commemorated every July, when the Protestant marching season begins in Northern Ireland.
Professor Richard Holmes walks the French beaches and breakwaters from which thousands of British troops escaped capture in May 1940. German tanks had overwhelmed British and French troops and were poised to seize the British Expeditionary Force.
One night and one image encapsulate the London Blitz - December 29th 1940, the night of the second great fire of London when St Paul's rose in its glory above the smoke and flames. Richard Holmes traces the night's events, from the sector control room where the incoming raiders were plotted through to the efforts of the firemen to save St Paul's