In this bonus episode David talks to historian of religion Alec Ryrie about his remarkable new book The Age of Hitler. Since WWII ‘not being a Nazi’ has become the benchmark of moral conduct. What has this meant for our understanding of good and evil? What happened to the idea of trying to be more like Jesus? What gets warped in our view of the world if we fixate on the lessons of the Second World War? And what does it mean for all of us that this period may now be coming to an end?

In this bonus episode David and Dan continue their conversation about the myth of the decisive battle by looking at some examples. Why do historians insist that the Battle of Yarmuk in 633 changed the course of world history? Was the Battle of Hastings not the turning point in English history that we think? What did happen at Trafalgar? What about Stalingrad? And why does Warsaw 1920 perhaps qualify as the most significant battle of the 20th century?

In the second part of their conversation about the 1975 referendum on Britain’s membership of the European Community David and Robert try to explain why the 2016 Brexit referendum was so different in so many ways. Why had the parties switched positions over the intervening decades? What made different parts of the UK vote so differently in 2016 from 1975? How did Brexit win? Plus: Where is Britain’s relationship with the EU today?

In the second part of David’s discussion of the trial of Socrates he explores what the jury was thinking and what Socrates was thinking. Why didn’t he make this a trial about free speech? Why didn’t he call out his enemies as hypocrites? Why did more jury members end up voting for a death sentence than voted to convict him in the first place? And how did the trial of Socrates inspire Gandhi two millennia later?

David answers some of the many questions we’ve had about this series, on topics ranging from how Trump might stand for a third term to what impact an American pope might have on American politics. Plus, is this really the end of globalisation and what lessons are there for the rise of China in the power switch from UK to US dominance that took place a century ago?

Today’s bonus is the second part of David’s conversation with historian Edward Acton about the men who made the Russian revolution. How did Lenin and Trotsky disagree about ending the First World War and who won the argument? What happened to Trotsky’s idea of ‘permanent revolution’? And what might have happened if Trotsky not Stalin had succeeded Lenin?