In this episode of Pieces of History, I’m joined by Geoff Emberling to explore the history of ancient Nubia and the Kingdom of Kush - a civilisation too often overlooked in traditional accounts of the ancient world.

We begin with Geoff’s own path into archaeology and his work in Nubia, before stepping back to place the region geographically and culturally within the wider Nile Valley. From there, we examine how Egypt-centred narratives have shaped popular understandings of the past, and what they miss about Nubia’s political power, cultural confidence, and global connections.

For those encountering Kush for the first time, we discuss who the Kushites were, what their kingdom looked like at its height, and what Nubia’s pyramids reveal about Kushite identity, religion, and authority. We also explore the long and complex relationship between Kush and Egypt — from trade and rivalry to the Kushite conquest of Egypt during the 25th Dynasty.

Drawing on recent archaeology and fieldwork, Geoff reflects on how new evidence is reshaping our understanding of Nubia, and why placing it at the centre rather than the margins fundamentally changes how we view ancient history.

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The Kingdom of Kush and the Pyramids of Nubia

In this episode of Pieces of History, I’m heading into the shadow world of organised crime with crime historian and author Scott M. Deitche, whose books and documentaries have become essential reading for anyone interested in the American Mafia. From Garden State Gangland to Cigar City Mafia and The Silent Don, Scott has built a career uncovering stories hidden in court files, surveillance tapes, and long-forgotten archives.

Our conversation focuses on the DeCavalcante crime family of New Jersey — a lesser-known but powerful organisation that operated alongside New York’s syndicates while carving out its own territory in Newark and Elizabeth. Scott charts their rise, internal tensions, brushes with law enforcement, and gradual decline, revealing how leadership, loyalty, and paranoia shaped their fate.

We also explore the challenges of researching groups built on secrecy, and the family’s pop-culture shadow through The Sopranos.

It’s a story of myth versus reality, and of how even the most hidden worlds leave a paper trail — if you know where to look.

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Scott M. Deitche - Tampa Mafia - tampamafia.com

The Other Family - Inside New Jersey’s DeCavalcante Crime Syndicate

In the second episode of Season Four, Pieces of History returns to the Belfast Hills for the next chapter of Phil Donnelly’s family journey, turning to the Joy–Dean line - a story rooted in the same landscape, but shaped by different choices and remarkable lives.

Phil’s research introduces Margaret Joy and Philip Dean, whose mid-1700s marriage crossed religious boundaries in a way that was bold for its time. We then follow one of the most surprising figures in the family tree: Fr. Joseph Joy Dean, who rose from the Hills to the Spanish royal court and later Rome, before returning to Dublin as a parish priest.

Back on Divis and Black Mountain, archaeological work at the Dean cottage reveals the realities of tenant farming, echoed in the life of Hercules Dean. Phil also uncovers the Redmond connection and the enduring tale of the “Maiden Lighthouse Lovers,” where family history meets folklore.

Across these intertwined stories, themes of resilience, migration, and faith emerge — showing how one family’s “little histories” can illuminate a far wider past.

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From the Same Hills, Different Roads – The Joy–Dean Story

The latest episode of Pieces of History journeys into the Bolivian Amazon and a vast, seasonally flooded region known as the Llanos de Mojos — a landscape that is reshaping how historians and archaeologists understand the ancient Amazon.

Long imagined as an untouched wilderness, the rainforest is now known to have been carefully shaped over centuries. Research has revealed enormous human-engineered environments of raised fields, forest islands, canals, and causeways, built through long-term planning and everyday labour.

Joining me is Dr. John Walker, Associate Professor at the University of Central Florida, whose work explores how pre-Columbian communities managed fire, water, soil, and vegetation to create sustainable agricultural and settlement systems. Drawing on his research, including his book Island, River, and Field, John explains why Mojos is best understood not as isolated “sites,” but as a lived, working landscape.

We discuss what the Llanos de Mojos actually looks like, how its systems functioned, why the myth of a pristine Amazon endured, how European contact reshaped these environments, and what Mojos ultimately forces us to rethink about humanity’s relationship with the natural world.

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Engineering the Amazon: The Lost Landscapes of the Llanos de Mojos

Episode twenty-eight of Pieces of History takes us into the Belfast Hills, where the story of the Magee family offers a rare window into life in Hannahstown in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Through the research of Phil Donnelly, we uncover how ordinary families lived under extraordinary pressure - from the legacy of the Penal Laws to the quiet resilience of faith at hidden Mass Rocks. At the centre is Edward Magee of Carnaghliss, whose farm records and surviving fragments reveal rural life on the eve of famine.

We explore kinship ties with the neighbouring Dean family and follow the poignant story of young Edward, “the boy who was left behind,” reflecting the wider experience of famine, loss, and emigration.

Blending family history with landscape and memory, this episode shows how one local story can illuminate much larger themes in Irish history.

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In the Shadow of the Hills - The Magees of Hannahstown

Episode twenty-seven of the new series of Pieces of History takes us into the turbulent final years of the Tokugawa shogunate — a period of political upheaval, foreign intrusion, and samurai-driven revolution that culminated in the Meiji Restoration. It is one of the most transformative chapters in Japan’s history, when centuries of tradition collided with the urgent need for national survival and modernisation.

Joining me for this episode is author and historian Romulus Hillsborough, whose decades of research into the Bakumatsu era have helped illuminate the lives, motives, and struggles of the people who shaped it. Romulus, whose work can be found at samurai-revolution.com, guides us through the downfall of the shogunate, the rise of powerful domains like Satsuma and Chōshū, and the remarkable figures — including Sakamoto Ryōma and Saigō Takamori — who forged Japan’s path into a new age. We also discuss his forthcoming book, Samurai Swordsmen: The Definitive History of the Shinsengumi, and his newly established consulting services for authors, editors, documentarians, screenwriters, and others exploring this era.

Drawing on original letters, diaries, and memoirs, we explore how Japan navigated foreign pressure, internal fragmentation, and the existential question of identity. We reflect on what surprised Romulus most in his years of research, how samurai ideology evolved during the crisis, and why the Meiji Restoration remains one of the most astonishing political transformations in world history.

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Romulus Hillsborough: https://www.samurai-revolution.com/

Meiji Firestorm: The Collapse of the Samurai World

Episode twenty-six of the new series of Pieces of History takes us to one of the most strikingly symbolic places in Cold War Europe: Mödlareuth - the tiny village once known as “Little Berlin.” With only a few dozen residents, this quiet rural community found itself split by a concrete wall after 1945, becoming an unexpected microcosm of division and ideology.

Joining me is historian Susan Berger, whose work focuses on the lived experiences of ordinary people shaped by major political events. Susan guides us through Mödlareuth’s past: what the village was like before the division, why such a small place ended up walled off, and how the emotional shock of separation transformed daily life.

Drawing on local records, oral histories, and the memories of those who lived on either side, we explore how East and West Germany treated the people of Mödlareuth, what surprised Susan most in her research, and how personal stories from the village help us understand the broader Cold War landscape.

Together, we reflect on how to balance grand historical narratives with intimate human experiences - and what Mödlareuth ultimately teaches us about borders, identity, and the communities shaped by division.

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Museum Modlareuth - https://www.moedlareuth.de/en/

'Little Berlin': The Divided Village of Mödlareuth

Episode twenty-five of the new series of Pieces of History turns its gaze to Spain - a country where landscapes, ruins, and silences still carry the weight of a conflict that ended nearly a century ago. The Spanish Civil War continues to shape identity, politics, and memory, yet much of its legacy remains contested, hidden, or unspoken.

Joining me is writer and historian Nick Lloyd, whose long connection with Spain and deep engagement with the war’s legacy come together in his powerful book Travels Through the Spanish Civil War.  Rather than offering a traditional historical account, Nick travels through the places where the war was fought and remembered - from the shattered streets of Belchite to the refugee trails across the Pyrenees - uncovering the stories embedded in Spain’s terrain.

Together, we explore the origins of the Civil War, the forces that shaped each side, and the human experiences that still echo in towns, archives, and family histories. Nick shares encounters with historians, journalists, and descendants of survivors; reflects on the emotional impact of tracing escape routes into France; and shines a light on figures like Francesc Boix, whose photographs became vital testimony at Nuremberg.

In this episode, we delve into how Spain remembers - and forgets - its civil war, examining the landscapes, memories, and moral questions that continue to define its modern identity.

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Travels Through the Spanish Civil War - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Travels-Through-Spanish-Civil-War-ebook/dp/B0DZQ7DSS3

Ghosts of Spain: Landscapes, Memory & the Spanish Civil War

Episode twenty-four of the new series of Pieces of History turns the spotlight on Uzbekistan - a country often overlooked in global discussions yet rich in history, culture, and complexity. From the Silk Road cities of Samarkand and Bukhara to the modern-day shifts reshaping its society, Uzbekistan stands at a fascinating crossroads of past and future.

Joining me is journalist and author Joanna Lillis, a long-time observer of Central Asia whose latest book, Silk Mirage: Through the Looking Glass in Uzbekistan, offers a vivid and revealing portrait of the country today. Together, we explore Uzbekistan’s geography, political dynamics, economic changes, and social transformations, uncovering the realities behind its evolving image.

In this episode, we dive into the forces shaping Uzbekistan’s identity, challenge common assumptions, and shed light on a nation navigating a complex path between tradition and modernity.

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Silk Mirage: Through the Looking Glass in Uzbekistan - https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/silk-mirage-9781350292468/

Silk Mirage: Through the Looking Glass in Uzbekistan

Episode twenty-two of the new season of Pieces of History takes us to Rathmullan - a coastal village on the shores of Lough Swilly whose story spans centuries of Irish history.

My guest is local historian and guide Deirdra Friel, who helps trace Rathmullan’s remarkable past - from the legacy of the McSweeneys and the Abbey to its surprising links with figures like Davy Crockett. We explore the dramatic kidnap of Red Hugh O’Donnell and the Flight of the Earls, events that changed the course of Ireland’s story, before turning to the turbulence of 1798, when Wolfe Tone and the French fleet appeared off the Donegal coast.

Moving into the twentieth century, Deirdra also sheds light on Rathmullan’s connection to the First World War, the arrival of the Grand Fleet, and the enduring mystery of the HMS Saldanha.
This is more than a tale of one village — it’s a journey through rebellion, resilience, and remembrance on the edge of the Atlantic.

Donegal Heritage Trails: donegalheritagetrails.com

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From Red Hugh to the Grand Fleet - Stories of Rathmullan

A podcast that delves into some renowned and lesser-known events throughout history.

Colum McGrath

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