TV historian David Olusoga to bring UK tour A Gun Through Time to London in November 2025

Acclaimed historian David Olusoga is bringing his tour A Gun Through Time to London audiences on November 3, 2025 at the Barbican Centre.

Known for his BBC series A House Through Time and Black and British: A Forgotten History, David Olugosa will take audiences on a journey into the hidden stories behind three weapons that changed the world.

A Gun Through Time delves into empires, wars and criminal underworlds, with audiences able to see each gun presented on stage.

The show looks beyond battles and military history, focusing on how firearms have shaped history and society.

David will explore the impact of three weapons: the Thompson Sub-Machine Gun, which transformed from a WWI “wonder weapon” to the notorious “Tommy Gun” of Prohibition-era America; the Maxim Gun, used to subdue African territories and later causing unimaginable devastation on the Western Front—a weapon still seen on today’s battlefields in Ukraine; and the Lee-Enfield Rifle, the soldier’s companion in both World Wars and a legacy passed through two generations of British families.

Commenting on the tour, David Olusoga said: “My first passions as a boy—when I first got into history—were the First and Second World Wars.

“But I was always much more interested in the experiences of ordinary people caught up in those great events than I was in the speeches and strategies of politicians and generals.

“So this is not a show about guns and how they work technically, nor is it about the tactics of battle.

“It’s about the cultures that emerged from the millions of people for whom these weapons became part of their lives”.

A Gun Through Time comes at a timely moment, with weapons once used on the Western Front now appearing on battlefields in Ukraine.

David explains: “I come from a generation that, unlike our ancestors, has had little contact with firearms. This makes us incredibly fortunate and unique, living in a rare era of peace.

“In the last century, two generations were conscripted into massive armies, with millions bearing arms in wars. Today, most of us have never even seen a gun, thanks to strict gun laws and a smaller military.

“This show explores how guns were once integral to life, shaping our history and culture.

“Yet, as conflicts re-emerge, the peace we've known feels fragile, with echoes of the past returning to modern battlefields and a renewed call for defence readiness in Britain”.

Tickets for David Olusoga: A Gun Through Time at the Barbican Centre on 3rd November 2025 are on sale at www.fane.co.uk/david-olusoga on Friday, November 8 at 10am.