Hot History

The 1972 Rothschild Ball is the focus here, exploring one of the most extravagant and surreal parties ever thrown. Set at the Rothschild family’s French château, the episode looks at the hosts, the bizarre fashion, the lavish table settings, and the high-society guest list.

Jane Austen is the focus here, with a crash course on her family life, education, and career in Georgian and Regency England. The episode connects her world of class, women, money, and power directly to the themes that define her work, with plenty of Mr. Darcy along the way.

The episode closes the Romanov series with the family’s deaths in 1918 and the long-running rumor that one grand duchess may have survived. It looks at the end of the dynasty while leaving room for the question that has haunted the story ever since: did one Romanov remain?

This fifth installment follows the collapse of imperial Russia through Rasputin’s death, Bloody Sunday, and Tsar Nicholas II’s abdication. As Lenin returns and the Revolution gains force, the Romanovs shift from rulers to prisoners under house arrest.

This episode follows the Romanovs from 1905 to 1915, tracing Bloody Sunday, Rasputin’s rise, communist ideas, and the opening of World War I. It focuses on the back half of the tsar’s rule as pressure builds around the dynasty.