Dan Snow

Daniel Robert Snow MBE (born 3 December 1978) is a British popular historian and television presenter. He is an ambassador of the Electoral Reform Society (ERS).

Dan Snow MBE
Snow in 2019
Born	Daniel Robert Snow (1978-12-03) 3 December 1978 (age 46) Westminster, London, England
Education	St Paul's School, London
Alma mater	Balliol College, Oxford
Occupation(s)	Broadcaster, popular historian
Organisation	Electoral Reform Society (ambassador)
Spouse	Lady Edwina Grosvenor ​ ​ (m. 2010)​
Children	3
Parents	Peter Snow (father) Ann MacMillan (mother)
Relatives	Margaret MacMillan (aunt) Jon Snow (first cousin once removed) George Snow (great-uncle) Thomas Snow (great-grandfather) David Lloyd George (great-great-grandfather) Gerald Grosvenor, 6th Duke of Westminster (father-in-law) Natalia Grosvenor, Duchess of Westminster (mother-in-law) Hugh Grosvenor, 7th Duke of Westminster (brother-in-law)
Website	twitter.com/thehistoryguy

Early life and education

Born in Westminster, London^[1] Dan Snow is the youngest son of Peter Snow, BBC television journalist, and Ann MacMillan, a Canadian and managing editor emerita of CBC's London Bureau; thus he holds dual British and Canadian nationality.^[2] Through his mother, he is the nephew of Canadian historian Margaret MacMillan and also a great-great-grandson of British Prime Minister David Lloyd George.^[3]

Snow was educated in London at Westfield Primary School (now Barnes Primary) and at St Paul's School where he was Captain of School and rowed for its VIII. He then went to Balliol College, Oxford,^[4] his father's alma mater, and graduated with first-class honours in Modern History.^[3][5] A keen rower since his secondary school days, he won the U-23 men's division at the 2000 British Indoor Rowing Championships^[6] and rowed three times in the Boat Race, winning in 2000 and losing the controversial 2001 Boat Race when club President.^[7][8]

Career

Snow presented his first programme in October 2002 just after graduating from university, co-presenting the BBC's 60th anniversary special on the Battles of El Alamein with his father Peter.^[9] The two then collaborated to present an eight-part documentary series called Battlefield Britain, which aired in 2004, and won a BAFTA Craft Award for special effects. The same year, Snow won a Sony award as one of the presenters on the LBC Boat Race coverage. Snow presented on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's specials, with his mother Ann MacMillan, for Queen Elizabeth II's funeral and King Charles III's coronation.

Snow has presented on many state occasions such as the 200th anniversary celebration of the Battle of Trafalgar, Beating Retreat 2006, the 60th anniversary of the end of World War Two, the 90th anniversary of the Armistice in November 2008, Trooping the Colour and the Lord Mayor's Show. Snow again collaborated with his father to present BBC 2's 20th Century Battlefields and its print edition.^[10] The series covers battles all around the world and is presented in similar fashion to the first Battlefield Britain.

In early 2022, Snow was part of the Endurance22 expedition that found Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton's lost vessel, Endurance, 107 years after it sank in the Weddell Sea.^[11] It was announced he would dance with Nadiya Bychkova for the 2023 Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special.

Television

Year	Work	Channel	Notes
2002	El Alamein	BBC Two	60th anniversary special of the Battle of El Alamein. Co-presented with Peter Snow.[9]
2004	Battlefield Britain	BBC Two	Won – 2004 BAFTA Craft Awards (Visual Effects).[12]
2005	Trafalgar 200	BBC Two	Co-presented with Neil Oliver.[13]
2006	Shipwreck: Ark Royal	BBC One
2007	20th Century Battlefields	BBC Two	Co-presented with Peter Snow.
	Edwardian Winners and Losers	BBC Four	[14]
	In Living Memory	BBC One	[15]
2008	What Britain Earns	BBC Two	Co-presented with Peter Snow.[16]
	Britain's Lost World	BBC One	Co-presented with Kate Humble and Steve Backshall.[17]
	Hadrian	BBC Two BBC Wales	Won – 2009 BAFTA Cymru (Best Presenter).[18]
	50 Things You Need To Know About British History	History Channel
	My Family at War	BBC One	[19]
2009	Grouchy Young Men	Comedy Central	Cameo (pilot only).
	Montezuma	BBC Two
2010	Empire of the Seas: How the Navy Forged the Modern World	BBC Two
	Battle for North America	BBC Two	[20]
	Little Ships	BBC Two	[21]
	Dan Snow's Norman Walks	BBC Four BBC Two	[22]
	How the Celts Saved Britain	BBC Four	[23]
2011	Filthy Cities	BBC Two
	China's Terracotta Army	BBC One	[24]
	National Treasures Live	BBC One
2012	Dig WW2 with Dan Snow	BBC One Northern Ireland History Channel	Three-part series investigating stories of World War II battlegrounds through excavations and dives.[25]
	Battle Castle	History Channel Discovery Channel
	Rome's Lost Empire	BBC One
2013	Locomotion: Dan Snow's History of Railways	BBC Two	Three-part series exploring the history of rail transport in Great Britain from its beginnings in the 18th century until the World War II.[26]
	A History of Syria with Dan Snow	BBC Two	This World episode exploring Syria's complex past and the roots of the current crisis.[27]
	The Dambusters: 70 Years On	BBC Two	Episode marking the 70th anniversary of the Dambuster raids, presenting veterans accounts of the events.[28]
	D-Day: The Last Heroes	BBC One	Two-part series exploring the story of the D-Day landings planning and execution through the accounts of surviving veterans.[29]
	Dan Snow's History of Congo	BBC Two	This World episode exploring Congo's history of slavery, colonialism, endemic corruption and war.[30]
	Airport Live	BBC Two	Originally intended to be one of the presenters, but was unable to because of family reasons; involved in pre-recorded clips.
	Have I Got News For You	BBC One
2014	Operation Grand Canyon with Dan Snow	BBC Two	Two-part series recreating John Wesley Powell's 1869 trip of the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon, where a team of nine men in period-correct boats and equipment navigates the canyon's 280 miles of river.[31]
	Dan Snow's History of the Winter Olympics	BBC Two	Episode exploring the 20th and 21st centuries political upheaval impact at the 90 years of the Winter Olympic Games.[32]
	The Birth of Empire: The East India Company	BBC Two	Two-part series exploring the story of the East India Company and how it changed British lifestyle, creating an empire and today's global trading systems.[33]
2015	Armada: 12 Days to Save England	BBC Two	Three-part series exploring the story of the Spanish Armada using discovered documents and computer-generated imagery.[34]
	World's Busiest Railway 2015	BBC Two	Four-part series, exploring the science, systems and staff at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus in Mumbai. Co-presented with Anita Rani and Robert Llewellyn.[35]
2016	The Vikings Uncovered	BBC One	90 minute episode exploring the Vikings expansion to the west and uncovering new settlements.[36]
	New York: America's Busiest City	BBC Two	3x60 minute episodes exploring New York City, co-presented with Anita Rani, Ant Anstead and Ade Adepitan
	Hunting the Nazi Gold Train	BBC Two	60-minute episode exploring Project Riese, Schloss Fürstenstein and the search for the "Nazi gold train".
Operation Gold Rush	BBC Two	3x60 minute episodes exploring the Klondike gold rush.
Dan Snow on Lloyd George: My Great-Great-Grandfather	BBC Wales	60 minute episode exploring the personal life and political career of David Lloyd George. First broadcast on 7 December 2016.[37]
2017	1066: A Year to Conquer England	BBC Two	3x60 minute episodes exploring the events of 1066 in English history
2020	Tutankhamun With Dan Snow	Channel Five	4x60 minute episodes about the history of Tutankhamun.[38]
	The Dambusters	Channel Five	3x60 minute episodes about the RAF's 617 'Dambusters' squadron during WW2.[39]
2022	Dan Snow: Into the Valley of the Kings	Channel Five	Documentary exploring the history of the Valley of the Kings.[40]
	Into Dinosaur Valley with Dan Snow	Channel Five	Documentary about America's most significant dinosaur fossil discoveries.[41]
2023	The Black Death	Channel Five	Two-part documentary series.[42]
	Pompeii: The Discovery with Dan Snow	Channel Five	Documentary about the ancient Roman city of Pompeii.[43]
2024	Atlantis: The Discovery with Dan Snow	Channel Five	Documentary about the lost city of Atlantis[44]
	Stonehenge: The Discovery with Dan Snow	Channel Five	Documentary about the prehistoric megalithic Stonehenge[45]
	The Terracotta Army with Dan Snow	Channel Five	Documentary about the mausoleum complex of the First Qin Emperor of China and its Terracotta Army[46]
	The Colosseum with Dan Snow	Channel Five	Two-part documentary (The Arena of Death and Blood & Sand) about the history of the Colosseum[47]
2025	Dan Snow & the Lost City	Channel Five	Documentary about Machu Picchu.[48]
	Pompeii: Life in the City with Dan Snow	Channel Five	Upcoming four-part documentary series.[49]

Radio

• Art in the Trenches, Radio 4
• At War with Wellington, Radio 4
• Prince of Wales, Radio 4, a look at the history of the office of Prince of Wales and the current occupant

Online

• Dan Snow’s, History HitNetwork^[50]
• The Historic Present Pod, Charlie Gordon & Jonah Howe^[51]

Books

• Snow, Dan; Snow, Peter (2004). Battlefield Britain. London: Random House (BBC Books). ISBN 0-563-48789-5.
• Snow, Dan; Snow, Peter (2008). 20th Century Battlefields. Random House (BBC Books). ISBN 978-144-8140-596.
• Snow, Dan (2009). Death or Victory: the Battle of Quebec and the birth of Empire. London: Harper Press. ISBN 978-0-00-728620-1.
• Snow, Dan; Pottle, Mark (2011). The Confusion of Command: The Memoirs of Lieutenant-General Sir Thomas D'Oyly 'Snowball' Snow 1914 -1918. Frontline Books. ISBN 978-1848325753.
• Snow, Dan (2012). Battle Castles: 500 Years of Knights and Siege Warfare. London: Harper Press. ISBN 978-0-00-745558-4.
• Snow, Dan; Snow, Peter (2015). The Battle of Waterloo Experience. Andre Deutsch Ltd. ISBN 978-0233004471.
• Snow, Dan; Snow, Peter (2018). Treasures of British History: The Nation's Story Told Through Its 50 Most Important Documents. Welbeck Publishing. ISBN 978-0233005621.
• Snow, Dan (2018). On This Day in History. London: John Murray. ISBN 978-1473691278.
• Snow, Dan (2024). History Hit Story of England: Making of a Nation. London: Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 978-1399726160.

Awards and honours

Snow was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2019 Birthday Honours for services to history.^[52] In 2019 Snow was awarded a Doctor of Letters (DLitt) honoris causa from Lancaster University.^[53] Other awards and honours include:

• BAFTA (Visual Effects) for 'Battlefield Britain'
• Sony Award (Best Live Coverage) for Boat Race Day
• BAFTA Cymru (Best Presenter) for 'Hadrian'
• Maritime Media Award for best television, film or radio for 'Empire of the Seas'
• 2011 History Makers Award (Most Innovative Production) for 'Battle for North America' a 1-hour special on Snow's book 'Death or Victory.' Produced by Snow's production company Ballista
• Voice of the Listener & Viewer Special Award 2013

Personal life

Ancestors of Dan Snow

16. Rev. George D'Oyly Snow 8. Sir Thomas D'Oyly Snow 17. Maria Jane Barlow 4. Brig. John FitzGerald Snow 18. Maj. Gen. John Talbot Coke 9. Charlotte Geraldine Coke 19. Charlotte FitzGerald 2. Peter Snow 20. John Pringle 10. Seton Sidney Pringle 21. Maria Adelaide King 5. Margaret Mary Pringle 22. Dr. Andrew McMunn 11. Ethel Louisa McMunn 23. Mary Jane McMunn 1. Daniel Robert Snow 24. John MacMillan 12. Robert Thurston MacMillan 25. Mary McWilliams 6. Robert Laidlaw MacMillan 26. William Laidlaw 13. Elizabeth Morrell Laidlaw 27. Sarah Wyllie 3. Ann Elizabeth MacMillan 28. Dr. Robert Davies Evans 14. Sir Thomas John Evans 29. Elizabeth Ann Jones 7. Eluned Jane Evans 30. David Lloyd George, 1st Earl Lloyd-George of Dwyfor 15. Lady Olwen Elizabeth Lloyd George 31. Dame Margaret Lloyd George

On 27 November 2010, Snow married the criminologist and philanthropist Lady Edwina Louise Grosvenor,^[54] second daughter of The 6th Duke of Westminster.^[55] The couple have three children, the eldest and youngest being daughters. Their home, in the New Forest, has a private beach.^[56]

On 18 April 2010, Snow and a few friends took three rigid-hulled inflatable boats from Dover to Calais to help 25 people return to Britain, after they had been stranded in France by the air travel disruption after the Icelandic eruption. At Calais they were told by the French authorities that they could not return to collect any more.^[57]

In August 2011, he chased a group of rioters through Notting Hill in west London before tackling and performing a citizen's arrest on a looter who was fleeing from a shoe shop.^[58][59]

Snow serves as President of the Council for British Archaeology and is a member of the Royal Historical Society.^[60] As an atheist and a humanist, he is a Patron of Humanists UK^[61] and an Honorary Associate of the National Secular Society.^[62] He is also an advocate for political reform, being the Electoral Reform Society's first ambassador. He played a prominent part in the 2011 Alternative Vote referendum in the UK; after he released a viral video, the campaign used a version of it, featuring him, as their final referendum broadcast.

In August 2014, Snow was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to The Guardian expressing their hope that Scotland would vote to remain part of the United Kingdom in September's referendum on that issue.^[63] In June 2019, Snow wrote in a Twitter thread ^[64] if Brexit happened and if the Scottish National Party won a majority of votes in Scotland, he would "get" why Scottish people would want to have a second referendum, as leaving the European Union could "put up barriers" for Scotland. He was then asked if this meant he now advise Scots to vote for independence, and he replied "No way. One thing Brexit has taught me is the utter insanity of trying to rip countries apart".^[65]

Snow was one of sixteen board members of More United, which endorsed candidates in parliamentary elections that support their values. The movement was set-up in July 2016 "to stand up for our values of opportunity, tolerance, the environment, democracy, and openness".^[66]

Snow is an Honorary Captain in the Royal Naval Reserve.^[67]