Daniel Robert Snow (born 3 December 1978) is an English television presenter. He has presented and appeared in many popular history-related programmes for the BBC and is the "History Hunter" for The One Show.^[1]

Early life and background[link]

Dan Snow is the youngest son of Peter Snow, BBC television journalist, and Ann MacMillan, Managing Editor of CBC London Bureau. Dan therefore has joint British/Canadian citizenship. Through his mother, he is the nephew of Canadian historian Margaret MacMillan, and a great-great-grandson of British Prime Minister David Lloyd George.^[2] One of his father's cousins is the Channel 4 news reporter Jon Snow.

Education[link]

Snow was educated at Barnes Primary School and St Paul's School, an independent school in Barnes in south London, where he was Captain of the School, followed by Balliol College at Oxford.^[3] He rowed three times in the University Boat Race, winning in 2000 and losing a controversial race, when president, in 2001. He received a double first-class honours degree in Modern History.

Life and career[link]

In 2003, Snow and his father made a programme on El Alamein to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the battles and followed this up with an eight-part series on BBC2 in 2004 called Battlefield Britain. This won a BAFTA award for special effects. The same year Snow won a Sony award as one of the presenters on LBC Boat Race coverage.

He has made numerous history programmes for the BBC. He also presents on many of the 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 City Salute. Dan Snow also presented BBC 2's 20th Century Battlefields. This covers battles all around the world and is presented in similar fashion to the first Battlefield Britain which was broadcast in various markets in 2006 and is available on DVD. The second series can also be viewed on the Military Channel. In June 2008, Dan Snow was in a three-part series which was called 'Britain's Lost World' on BBC 1. Along with Kate Humble and Steve Backshall, he stayed on the island of St Kilda, Scotland, to find out more about its history and wildlife. In the TV programme My Family at War he was critical of Thomas D'Oyly Snow, his great-grandfather, who commanded VII Corps on the first day on the Somme.

On Sunday 18 April 2010 Snow and a few friends took three rigid-hulled inflatable boats from Dover to Calais to help 25 people return to the UK after they were stranded in France by the air travel disruption after the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruption in Iceland. When they arrived at Calais they were told by the French authorities that they could not return to collect any more people.^[4]

In November 2011 Snow teamed up with the Irish army to fire a M1919 Browning machine gun which he had excavated from a Spitfire which crashed in Donegal while being flown by Bud Wolfe. Despite being in a peat bog for 70 years the machine gun fired without a hitch.^[5]

Personal life[link]

On 27 November 2010, Snow married Lady Edwina Grosvenor, the second daughter of the 6th Duke of Westminster.^[6] They have one daughter, Zia (b. 2011).

Broadcast works[link]

Television

• 2003: El Alamein, with Peter Snow, for the 60th anniversary of the battle
• 2004: Battlefield Britain, with Peter Snow, on eight of the most famous battles in British history
• 2006: Trafalgar 200 BBC2, for the anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar
• 2006: Shipwreck: Ark Royal, on the discovery of HMS Ark Royal sunk in 1941
• 2006: Edwardian Winners and Losers, BBC4, on Edwardian society and politics
• 2006–08 20th Century Battlefields, BBC2, on various battles through the 20th century
• 2007: In Living Memory, BBC1, a documentary about the new British Armed Forces Memorial
• 2007 China's Terracotta Army, BBC2, on the Terracotta Army
• 2008: What Britain Earns, BBC2, a national survey of people's incomes
• 2008: Britain's Lost World, BBC1, on the history and wildlife of St Kilda
• 2008: Hadrian, BBC2, on the life and legacy of Roman Emperor Hadrian
• 2008: 50 Things You Need To Know About British History, The History Channel
• 2008: My Family at War, BBC1
• 2009: Grouchy Young Men, Comedy Central
• 2009: How the Celts Saved Britain, BBC4
• 2009: Montezuma, BBC2
• 2010: Battle for North America: The Battle of Quebec, BBC2
• 2010: The Empire of the Seas, BBC2
• 2010: Little Ships, BBC2. Achieved the highest Appreciation Index for any programme on any channel in the month of June 2010.
• 2010: Norman Walks, BBC4; BBC2
• 2011: Filthy Cities, BBC2
• 2011: National Treasures Live, BBC1
• 2012: Dig WW2 with Dan Snow, BBC1 Northern Ireland, on historical sites and excavations of various sites in Ireland

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

Books[link]

• 2004: Battlefield Britain. London: BBC Books ISBN 0-563-48789-5, co-author with Peter Snow
• 2007: The World's Greatest Twentieth-century Battlefields. London: BBC Books ISBN 0-563-52295-X, co-author with Peter Snow
• 2009: Death or Victory: the Battle of Quebec and the birth of Empire. London: Harper Press ISBN 0-00-728620-1

Awards[link]

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• 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

References[link]

External links[link]

• Video guides
• Relative Values
• Q&A in the Guardian
• Agent
• English Heritage Films
• Daily Telegraph interview about his rowing
• Video podcasts to accompany his latest series
• Dan Snow at the Internet Movie Database