From humble roots in Switzerland and Swabia, the Habsburg dynasty endured for 900 years, its survival due in part to genetic good fortune. As historian Martyn Rady tells Paul and Miranda, the Habsburgs gambled big on marital matches that would expand and consolidate their power across Europe - and more often than not, they hit the jackpot. Their territories came to include colonies in Africa, the Americas and Asia, further reinforcing their wealth and status. But in the 17th century, even this most adept of dynasties failed to control the forces that unleashed brutal war in central Europe.

Martyn Rady's book 'The Habsburgs: the Rise and Fall of a World Power' is published by Penguin.

'1666 and All That' is presented by Miranda Malins and Paul Lay. The producer is Hugh Costello. Original music is by George Taylor. The episode was mixed by Sam Gunn.

The 17th century has rarely been as popular with film and TV dramatists as 'sexier' periods such as the Tudors, the Romans and the Second World War. But recently, 17th-century stories and characters have emerged from the shadows. Dramas such as Mary & George and Shogun - and the docudrama series Royal Kill List - have attracted large audiences and plenty of media coverage, good and bad.

Miranda and Paul use this 17th-century moment to take an irreverent trawl through past screen attempts to capture the period. Highs have included the movies Cromwell (1970) and Witchfinder General (1968), while 2019's Fanny Lye Deliver'd and Winstanley (1975), about the leader of the Diggers, get a thumbs-down. The jury is split on controversial Oscar-winner The Favourite (2018), as well as many of the TV dramas inspired by 17th-century events.

Ultimately, Paul and Miranda agree that the finest dramatic depiction of the period came not on screen but on stage, in a play about the final days of King Charles I.

'1666 and All That' is presented by Paul Lay and Miranda Malins. The producer is Hugh Costello. Original music is by George Taylor. The episode is mixed by Sam Gunn.

Great storytelling meets historical rigour in the podcast that brings the 17th century vividly to life.

China at the start of the 17th century was wealthy, strong and well-governed – the Ming dynasty had been ruling for nearly 250 years and is generally thought of as one of the high points of Chinese civilisation. But within a few decades it suffered a cataclysmic collapse that some estimate cost the lives of 25 million people.

Paul and Miranda's guest in this episode is historian Timothy Brook, who believes that the Ming collapse was due not to administrative and political failure, as many earlier historians have argued, but to wider factors including economic hardship, globalisation and climate change. And Tim believes that the story of 17th century China is interlinked with events in Europe and the New World.

Timothy Brook's book 'The Price of Collapse: the Little Ice Age and the Fall of Ming China' is published by Princeton University Press.

'1666 and All That' is presented by Paul Lay and Miranda Malins. The producer is Hugh Costello. Original music is by George Taylor. The episode is mixed by Sam Gunn.