Last stands
A last stand is a military situation in which a body of troops holds a defensive position in the face of overwhelming and virtually insurmountable odds. Troops may make a last stand due to a sense of duty; because they are defending a tactically crucial point; to buy time to enable a trapped army, person, or group of people to escape; due to fear of execution if captured; or to protect their ruler or leader.
9 episodes
Episodes in this category also belong to the following categories:
Carthage's Destruction
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the complete destruction of Carthage by Rome, a pivotal moment in world history.
12 February 2009
Featuring: Mary Beard, Jo Quinn, Ellen O'Gorman
Constantinople Siege and Fall
Melvyn Bragg discusses the 1453 siege of Constantinople. A bitter and bloody 53 days that ended a thousand years of the Byzantine Empire.
28 December 2006
Featuring: Roger Crowley, Judith Herrin, Colin Imber
Custer's Last Stand
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Battle of the Little Bighorn, also known as Custer's Last Stand, the bloody 1876 battle between Native Americans and the US Cavalry.
19 May 2011
Featuring: Kathleen Burk, Adam Smith, Saul David
The Battle of Bannockburn
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Battle of Bannockburn of 1314, an important victory for Scotland in its fight to win independence from England.
3 February 2011
Featuring: Matthew Strickland, Fiona Watson, Michael Brown
The Battle of Stamford Bridge
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Battle of Stamford Bridge, a decisive English victory over Viking forces which took place in September 1066.
2 June 2011
Featuring: John Hines, Elizabeth Ashman Rowe, Stephen Baxter
The Sack of Rome 1527
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the slaughter and chaos as a hungry army of the Holy Roman Emperor swarmed through Rome, holding the pope hostage and weakening the Papal States.
22 February 2024
Featuring: Stephen Bowd, Jessica Goethals, Catherine Fletcher
The Shimabara Rebellion
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the 1637-8 Christian uprising in Japan, which led the Shogun to close the country to foreigners for the next 250 years.
11 May 2023
Featuring: Satona Suzuki, Erica Baffelli, Christopher Harding
The Siege of Tenochtitlan
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Siege of Tenochtitlan, the event which precipitated the fall of the Aztec Empire in 1521.
27 October 2011
Featuring: Alan Knight, Elizabeth Graham, Caroline Dodds Pennock
Thermopylae
Melvyn Bragg discusses the Battle of Thermopylae, a defining clash between East and West, when King Leonidas and his defeated Spartans passed into legend.
5 February 2004
Featuring: Tom Holland, Simon Goldhill, Edith Hall