
The Brothers Grimm: life of the week
HistoryExtra podcast
04/14/25
•35m
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From Snow White to Sleeping Beauty, the Brothers Grimm are best known for collecting and curating fairy tales. But, as Ann Schmiesing reveals, recording these stories for posterity was only one of their ambitious projects. Speaking to Ellie Cawthorne, she charts the lives of Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, exploring their extremely close relationship, love of folklore, political leanings and attempts to create a German dictionary.
(Ad) Ann Schmiesing is the author of The Brothers Grimm: A Biography (Yale University Press, 2025). Buy it now from Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Brothers-Grimm-Biography-Ann-Schmiesing/dp/0300221754/?tag=bbchistory045-21&ascsubtag=historyextra-social-histboty.
The HistoryExtra podcast is produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine.
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(Ad) Geoffrey Wawro is the author of The Vietnam War: A Military History (Basic Books, 2024). Buy it now from Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Vietnam-War-Military-History/dp/1541606086/?tag=bbchistory045-21&ascsubtag=historyextra-social-histboty.
The HistoryExtra podcast is produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine.
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The HistoryExtra podcast is produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine.
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