David Olusoga: A Gun Through Time

The Thompson Sub-Machine Gun was the wonder weapon that was supposed to end to the slaughter of the First World War. But in the hands of the gangsters of Prohibition-era American it became the infamous 'Tommy Gun'.

The Maxim gun enabled Europeans to conquer Africa in the 1890s, but 20 years later it became one of the biggest killers in European history when deployed on the Western Front. It is still being used to considerable effect on the battlefields of Ukraine.

The Brown Bess flintlock musket, standard issue to the British Army from the early 18th to mid-19th century, was famously used in conflicts from the American War of Independence to Waterloo, symbolising the height of British imperial military power.

The Lee Enfield rifle was woven into the lives of two generations of our ancestors. With 17 million of them produced it was the weapon the British Army took to war in 1914 and 1939.

See these legendary firearms up close on stage and delve into their mind-bending hidden social histories. You’ll also have the chance ask David your own questions about any historical topic.