Use BBC.com or the new BBC App to listen to BBC podcasts, Radio 4 and the World Service outside the UK.

Find out how to listen to other BBC stations

Episode details

Sounds,24 Sep 2026,65 mins,

The Anglo-Zulu War

Dan Snow’s History Hit
Contains some violent scenes.

Available for over a year

In 1879, British forces marched into Zululand expecting an easy win. They were wrong. At Isandlwana, 25,000 Zulu warriors executed a devastating assault and slaughtered over 1,300 troops in an afternoon - the worst defeat in Victorian military history. That same afternoon, just a few miles away, 150 British soldiers faced 3,000 warriors at Rorke's Drift. And somehow, they held. To take us through the Anglo-Zulu War and these two epic battles, we're joined by Ian Knight, historian and author of 'Zulu Rising: The Epic Story of Isandlwana and Rorke’s Drift’. Produced by James Hickmann and edited by Dougal Patmore. Dan Snow's History Hit is a History Hit podcast. History Hit is part of Little Dot Studios, a Certified B Corp™.

Programme Website
More episodes