Bettany Hughes’ BBC2 documentary, Divine Women examined the pivotal role of goddesses and women in many religions and asked why these stories have been nearly invisible in the official histories of so many cultures. Here, Hughes, along with Rabbi Laura Janner-Klausner, focussed on the divine feminine within the Jewish religion and other ancient belief systems. Submerged with layers of ancient Jewish history are feminine aspects of god and rites for women which no longer exist. Discov...

Istanbul has always been a place where stories and histories collide and crackle. In her epic new biography, Istanbul, Bettany Hughes takes us on a dazzling historical journey through one of the world’s greatest cities as it transmogrified from Byzantium to Constantinople to Istanbul. Based on meticulous research and new archaeological evidence, this is narrative history at its finest.At the heart of the Byzantine Empire – as retold in Peter Frankopan’s engaging and highly original ...