The Han Dynasty is established by Liu Bang, who crowns himself it's first Emperor Gaozu.  But though this is the beginning of a golden age for China, it get's off to a rough start, as to the north the steppe tribes have united into the terrifying Xiongnu Empire under the ancestor of Attila the Hun and Genghis Khan: Batur Chanyu.  Within the empire itself, a murder-happy Empress Lü will inadvertently incite rebellions against her husband's rule.

#24 - W. Han 2: Xiongnu to the Left of Me, Rebels to the Right...

The young Emperor Wu of Han struggles to step out of the shadow of his grandmother and seize power in his own right.  Meanwhile, he has sent an emissary behind enemy lines to find what mysterious peoples and empires lie far to the West, but it's uncertain what he'll find... or if he'll live to tell the tale.

#27 - W. Han 5: Go West, Young Han!

Tensions between the Han and Xiongnu Empires boil over into full-scale war after decades of humiliation at the hands of the northern horse-lords.  When the traditional methods of neutralizing Xiongnu power fails, Emperor Wu must turn to a new generation of strategists to turn the Xiongnu's own strength against them: cavalry.

#28 - W. Han 6: The Sino-Xiongnu War

In this last of three parts of Wu of Han, with the back of the once-mighty Xiongnu Empire broken, Emperor Wu's Han turns to the South, North, and West to gobble up most of its neighbor states in an orgy of expansion.  At home, the aging Wu must contend with peasant uprisings, witchcraft directed against him, and his own building paranoia... any of which could destabilize that which he's spent a lifetime building.

#29 - W. Han 7: Every Direction But The Sea

Following the historically long reign of Emperor Wu, the Han Empire struggles to find a replacement, in light of the designated heir being dead.  The first choice will die without ever having tasted real power, the second an incompetent buffoon who won't last a month in office, until finally a real alternative can be found from the most unlikely of places: prison.

#30 - W. Han 8: Getting Over Wu

The Han Dynasty has slipped into a malaise that seems difficult to pull out of. Emperor Yuan is an indecisive Confucianist, his successor Cheng an impotent and free-spending hedonist, and Ai a flamboyant grandma's boy who will try to bequeath the entire Empire to his male lover Dong Xian, with less than successful results.  Is this the end for Han?

#31 - W. Han 9: The Decline Of Han

Confucian Wang Mang overthrows Han and sets up his Xin Dynasty to renew the Golden Age of Zhou through land nationalization, wealth redistribution, and currency reform. It seemed like a great idea on paper, but in practice things begin to horribly wrong almost immediately.

#32 - Xin 1: Han, Interrupted

In the power vacuum left by the defeated Xin Dynasty's collapse,  no fewer than six claimants to the long-vacant Throne of Han will vie for power... one backed by the Lülin Rebels, another by the Red Eyebrow Army, another a northern lord with an axe to grind, and a fortune-teller playing the role of a lifetime... who will emerge victorious to reunify the fractious Chinese Empire?

#34 - E. Han 1: One Han, Two Han, Red Han, True Han

It is a Golden Age for the Eastern Han.  After decades of tumult, famine, and civil war, the Chinese Empire is poised once again to reclaim its status as preeminent East Asian power.  Retaking the abandoned Western Vassal Kingdoms, sending envoys to India and even Rome, and at long last finishing the 200 year old war with the rapidly disintegrating Xiongnu Empire to the north.

#35 - E. Han 2: Reclamation

South of the Huai River, The Eastern Jin discover that a house divided against itself cannot long stand.  Meanwhile in the north, the barbarian kings have turned on each other with the Xiongnu emperor of Han Zhao squaring off against the Jie Prince of Later Zhao.

#51 - 16K 4: Infighting

An audio journey through the 5000 year history of one of the world's oldest continuous civilizations.

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