History's Heroes

A German Jewish prosecutor called Fritz Bauer is on a mission to bring a notorious Nazi war criminal to justice. Adolf Eichman, one of the architects of the Holocaust, has fled Germany, his whereabouts unknown. How did Bauer find him?

With historian Jack Fairweather and Fritz Bauer’s great niece, Marit Tiefenthal.

Helena Bonham Carter shines a light on extraordinary stories from World War Two. Join her for incredible tales of deception, acts of resistance and courage.

A BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds.

Producer: Lorna Reader Executive Producer: Paul Smith Written by Alex von Tunzelmann Commissioning editor for Radio 4: Rhian Roberts

In Fascist Italy, a group of seven brothers join the resistance. The Cervis shelter fugitives on their farm and distribute anti-fascist literature. But in doing so, they make themselves targets.

With filmmaker Liviana Davi and historian Philip Cooke.

Helena Bonham Carter shines a light on extraordinary stories from World War Two. Join her for incredible tales of deception, acts of resistance and courage.

A BBC Studios Audio production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds.

Producer: Lorna Reader Executive Producer: Paul Smith Written by Alex von Tunzelmann Commissioning editor for Radio 4: Rhian Roberts

Why did a midwife risk her life to help the resistance during the Japanese occupation of Malaya? The remarkable story of how Sybil Kathigasu, with the help of her husband, secretly treated wounded soldiers and aided the guerillas.

With historian and filmmaker Tim Doughty, Coco Bently, Kathigasu’s granddaughter and Law Siak Hong, cultural activist and heritage conservationist. Helena Bonham Carter shines a light on extraordinary stories from World War Two. Join her for incredible tales of deception, acts of resistance and courage.

A BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds.

Producer: Lorna Reader Executive Producer: Paul Smith Written by Alex von Tunzelmann Commissioning editor for Radio 4: Rhian Roberts

19-year-old Madeleine Riffaud is imprisoned and tortured for assassinating a German officer in broad daylight in Paris. Upon her release, she becomes one of the key players in the French Resistance. How did she do it?

With historians Rick Stroud and Anne Sebba.

Helena Bonham Carter shines a light on extraordinary stories from World War Two. Join her for incredible tales of deception, acts of resistance and courage.

A BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds.

Producer: Lorna Reader Executive Producer: Paul Smith Written by Alex von Tunzelmann Commissioning editor for Radio 4: Rhian Roberts

In the aftermath of the Hiroshima bomb, a minister rushes towards the devastation to save his people. Little does he know that he’ll become a global hero.

With historian Kim Brandt and Koko Kondo, Kiyoshi Tanimoto’s daughter.

Archive of This Is Your Life courtesy of Reelin' In The Years Productions and Ralph Edwards Productions.

Helena Bonham Carter shines a light on extraordinary stories from World War Two. Join her for incredible tales of deception, acts of resistance and courage.

A BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds.

Producer: Suniti Somaiya Executive Producer: Paul Smith Written by Alex von Tunzelmann Commissioning editor for Radio 4: Rhian Roberts

Pamela Churchill, newly married to the Prime Minister’s son, becomes a key diplomatic figure in the war effort. How did she use her charm to help sway U.S. sentiment towards aiding Britain?

With biographer Sonia Purnell and Chris James, Pamela Churchill’s nephew.

Helena Bonham Carter shines a light on extraordinary stories from World War Two. Join her for incredible tales of deception, acts of resistance and courage.

A BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds.

Producer: Suniti Somaiya Executive Producer: Paul Smith Written by Alex von Tunzelmann Commissioning editor for Radio 4: Rhian Roberts

The Ovitz family were a group of theatrical performers from Romania, seven of whom had dwarfism. When their mother was dying she urged them to stick together, guard each other and live for one another. How did they defy the odds and survive Auschwitz?

With actor Warwick Davies, biographer Eilat Negev and historian Warren Rosenblum. Helena Bonham Carter shines a light on extraordinary stories from World War Two. Join her for incredible tales of deception, acts of resistance and courage.

A BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds.

Producer: Suniti Somaiya Executive Producer: Paul Smith Written by Alex von Tunzelmann Commissioning editor for Radio 4: Rhian Roberts

Captured by the Nazis, Lieutenant Airey Neave is sent to Colditz Castle, a high-security prisoner of war camp in Germany. No British prisoner has ever escaped from here before. After months of preparation, and armed with a careful disguise, can he evade the notorious guard patrols and their dogs?

With biographer Patrick Bishop and Marigold Webb, Airey Neave’s daughter.

Helena Bonham Carter shines a light on extraordinary stories from World War Two. Join her for incredible tales of deception, acts of resistance and courage.

A BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds.

Producer: Suniti Somaiya Executive Producer: Paul Smith Written by Alex von Tunzelmann Commissioning editor for Radio 4: Rhian Roberts

In December 1942, a small team of commandos are set to paddle their canoes through freezing enemy-infested waters to sabotage German ships in the port of Bordeaux. Operation Frankton is described as a “suicide mission”. Will Royal Marines Bill Sparks and Herbert ‘Blondie’ Hasler destroy the enemy supply lines and make it back to England alive?

With military historian Robert Lyman, and Terry Sparks, son of Bill Sparks.

Helena Bonham Carter shines a light on extraordinary stories from World War Two. Join her for incredible tales of deception, acts of resistance and courage.

A BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds.

Producer: Georgina Leslie Executive Producer: Paul Smith Written by Alex von Tunzelmann Commissioning editor for Radio 4: Rhian Roberts

Elvira Chaudoir is a Peruvian playgirl with all the right connections… and a gambling debt. She’s also a double agent, locked in a dangerous game of deception. With D-Day on the horizon, can she convince the Germans that the Allied invasion is happening in the southwest of France, and not in Normandy?

With author and historian Ben Macintyre and Sophie Stewart from the National Archives.

Helena Bonham Carter shines a light on extraordinary stories from World War II. Join her for incredible tales of deception, acts of resistance and courage.

A BBC Studios production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds.

Producer: Lorna Reader Executive Producer: Paul Smith Written by Alex von Tunzelmann Commissioning editor for Radio 4: Rhian Roberts

Helena Bonham Carter shines a light on extraordinary stories from World War Two. Join her for tales of deception, resistance and courage in History's Secret Heroes Series 4.

In 1950, a trial began for a gruesome murder, marking the first time a woman would lead a murder case in an English court. Can Rose Heilbron QC prove herself?

Stories of bold voices, with brave ideas and the courage to stand alone. Historian Alex von Tunzelmann shines a light on remarkable people from across history.

A BBC Studios production.

Producer: Georgina Leslie Written and presented by Alex von Tunzelmann Executive Producer: Paul Smith Commissioning editor for Radio 4: Rhian Roberts

Disaster strikes when Washington Roebling is building a landmark suspension bridge connecting Manhattan to Brooklyn. Can his wife Emily help him deliver an impossible engineering feat?

Stories of bold voices, with brave ideas and the courage to stand alone. Historian Alex von Tunzelmann shines a light on remarkable people from across history.

A BBC Studios Audio production.

Producer: Lorna Reader Written and presented by: Alex von Tunzelmann Executive Producer: Paul Smith Commissioning editor for Radio 4: Rhian Roberts

1849. The youngest queen of Sikh Emperor Ranjit Sing, Maharani Jindan was locked up in at Chunar fort, hundreds of miles from home. She was small, beautiful and powerful, and crucially she was the mother of 10-year-old Maharaja Duleep Singh. She had to be kept away from her kingdom in Punjab, and her young son, by order of the British East India company. But nothing would keep her from her son.

Stories of bold voices, with brave ideas and the courage to stand alone. Historian Alex von Tunzelmann shines a light on remarkable people from across history.

A BBC Studios production.

Producer: Suniti Somaiya Written and presented by Alex von Tunzelmann Executive Producer: Paul Smith Commissioning editor for Radio 4: Rhian Roberts

Alex von Tunzelmann meets Professor Keith Allen to discuss Margaret Cavendish’s remarkable legacy. Keith, who is professor of philosophy at the University of York, has been researching Margaret Cavendish and neurodiversity. He argues that Cavendish may have had one or more forms of neurodivergence, based on the descriptions she herself gave of her life and experience.

Cavendish clung to the hope of future fame. She knew that her work was misunderstood within her own time. Lady Dorothy Osborne remarked that there are "soberer people in Bedlam” - the psychiatric hospital. Centuries later, she was still being misunderstood. Virginia Woolf claimed that Cavendish was like “a giant cucumber,” choking the roses and carnations in an otherwise orderly garden of 17th century literature. Are these accusations fair?

Stories of bold voices, with brave ideas and the courage to stand alone. Historian Alex von Tunzelmann shines a light on remarkable people from across history.

A BBC Studios Audio production.

Producer: Lorna Reader Written and presented by Alex von Tunzelmann Executive Producer: Paul Smith Commissioning editor for Radio 4: Rhian Roberts 7Status:

In 17th Century Europe, a young woman escapes civil war and discovers a love of scientific learning and a remarkable literary talent.

Stories of bold voices, with brave ideas and the courage to stand alone. Historian Alex von Tunzelmann shines a light on remarkable people from across history.

A BBC Studios production.

Producer: Lorna Reader Written and presented by Alex von Tunzelmann Executive Producer: Paul Smith Commissioning editor for Radio 4: Rhian Roberts

In 1950s South Africa, under the system of apartheid, a powerful song catches fire among Black communities. But to sing it could result in imprisonment. Its author - the musician, poet and union organiser Vuyisile Mini - prepares to put his life on the line.

Stories of bold voices, with brave ideas and the courage to stand alone. Historian Alex von Tunzelmann shines a light on remarkable people from across history.

A BBC Studios production.

Producer: Michael LaPointe Written and presented by Alex von Tunzelmann Executive Producer: Paul Smith Commissioning editor for Radio 4: Rhian Roberts

In 19th Century France, a young woman escapes a life of drudgery, faces her fears and finds worldwide fame as an aeronaut. Sophie Blanchard performs for Napoleon and eventually becomes the official aeronaut of the Restoration. But as her hot air balloon shows become more and more ambitious, can she keep cheating death?

Stories of bold voices, with brave ideas and the courage to stand alone. Historian Alex von Tunzelmann shines a light on remarkable people from across history.

A BBC Studios production.

Producer: Lorna Reader Written and presented by Alex von Tunzelmann Executive Producer: Paul Smith Commissioning editor for Radio 4: Rhian Roberts

Alex von Tunzelmann meets Dr Eleanor Janega to discuss Eleanor of Aquitaine, the extraordinary medieval woman who became Queen of France, then Queen of England. Dr Janega is a broadcaster and historian who was named after the great queen. Looking at key moments in her life, Alex wants to better understand the queen’s real impact on history and, crucially, whether this medieval icon actually had agency.

Stories of bold voices, with brave ideas and the courage to stand alone. Historian Alex von Tunzelmann shines a light on remarkable people from across history.

A BBC Studios Audio production.

Producer: Suniti Somaiya Written and presented by Alex von Tunzelmann Executive Producer: Paul Smith Commissioning editor for Radio 4: Rhian Roberts

Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine was in her 70s when disaster struck in the 1190s. Her sons were often at loggerheads and causing trouble. This time, her crusading son Richard the Lionheart had got into a spot of trouble and got himself kidnapped on his way back from the Holy Land. It was down to Eleanor to save her son, her dynasty and the realm.

Stories of bold voices, with brave ideas and the courage to stand alone. Historian Alex von Tunzelmann shines a light on remarkable people from across history.

A BBC Studios Audio production.

Producer: Suniti Somaiya Written and presented by Alex von Tunzelmann Executive Producer: Paul Smith Commissioning editor for Radio 4: Rhian Roberts