Carving out a dynasty: Mamluk soldiers shown in c1350 metalwork

They may get less attention than the pharaohs, but from the 13th–16th centuries, the Mamluks ruled Egypt and built a great civilisation, albeit one where slavery was a mundane fact of day-to- day life. Tumanby (Radio 4) is an epic drama that traces life under the dynasty, and returns for a new eight-part series on Monday 4 February.

Also listen out for Book of the Week – Threads of Life: A History of the World Through the Eye

of a Needle (Radio 4, weekdays from Monday 4 February), in which curator and textile artist Clare Hunter uncovers stories of women and men who have, down the centuries, used sewing to tell their stories. Meanwhile, From Sensuality to

Puritanism (Radio 4, February) is the story of how the nature of Islam has changed down the years.

BBC Radio Scotland carries plenty of history programming that’s available via the new BBC Sounds app for those who don’t live north of the border. Chanel’s

Scottish Love Affair ( Thursday 14 February) focuses on Rosehall House, a fishing lodge where the designer conducted an affair with Hugh ‘Bendor’ Grosvenor, the Duke of Westminster. In Best Friends Forever: Robert Burns and Mrs

Dunlop (Friday 25 January), novelist Louise Welsh explores a friendship that transcended barriers of age, sex and class.

Last B-24 (PBS America, Wednesday 13 February) charts an expedition to recover the bodies of three airmen, lost in 1944, from a Liberator bomber that crashed in the sea off Croatia.