In Our Time: History
Episodes
Ice Ages
14 Feb 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Jane Francis, Richard Corfield and Carrie Lear join Melvyn Bragg to discuss ice ages, periods when a reduction in the surface temperature of the Earth...
The War of 1812
31 Jan 2013
Contributed by Lukas
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the War of 1812, the conflict between America and the British Empire sometimes referred to as the second American ...
The South Sea Bubble
20 Dec 2012
Contributed by Lukas
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss The South Sea Bubble, the speculation mania in early 18th-century England which ended in the financial ruin of man...
The Borgias
22 Nov 2012
Contributed by Lukas
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Borgias, the most notorious family in Renaissance Italy. Famed for their treachery and corruption, the Borgias...
Hannibal
11 Oct 2012
Contributed by Lukas
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the life and achievements of Hannibal. One of the most celebrated military leaders in history, Hannibal was the Ca...
Gerald of Wales
04 Oct 2012
Contributed by Lukas
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the medieval scholar Gerald of Wales. Born around the middle of the twelfth century, Gerald was a cleric and court...
The Druids
20 Sep 2012
Contributed by Lukas
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Druids, the priests of ancient Europe. Active in Ireland, Britain and Gaul, the Druids were first written abou...
Hadrian's Wall
12 Jul 2012
Contributed by Lukas
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss Hadrian's Wall, the largest Roman structure and one of the most important archaeological monuments in Britain. Str...
Annie Besant
21 Jun 2012
Contributed by Lukas
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the life of the prominent 19th-century social reformer Annie Besant. Born in 1847, Annie Besant espoused a range o...
The An Lushan Rebellion
16 Feb 2012
Contributed by Lukas
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the An Lushan Rebellion, a major uprising against the imperial rule of the Chinese Tang Dynasty. In 755 AD a senio...
1848: Year of Revolution
19 Jan 2012
Contributed by Lukas
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss 1848, the year that saw Europe engulfed in revolution. Across the continent, from Paris to Palermo, liberals rose ...
The Ming Voyages
13 Oct 2011
Contributed by Lukas
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Ming Voyages. In 1405 a Chinese admiral, Zheng He, set sail with an enormous fleet of ships carrying more than...
The Minoan Civilisation
07 Jul 2011
Contributed by Lukas
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Minoan Civilisation.In 1900 the British archaeologist Arthur Evans began excavating some ancient ruins at Knos...
The Battle of Stamford Bridge
02 Jun 2011
Contributed by Lukas
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Battle of Stamford Bridge.In the first week of 1066 the English king, Edward the Confessor, died. A young nobl...
Xenophon
26 May 2011
Contributed by Lukas
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the life and work of Xenophon.Xenophon, an aristocratic Athenian, was one of the most celebrated writers of the an...
Custer's Last Stand
19 May 2011
Contributed by Lukas
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Battle of the Little Bighorn, also known as Custer's Last Stand.In 1876 a dispute between the American federal...
Octavia Hill
07 Apr 2011
Contributed by Lukas
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Victorian social reformer Octavia Hill.From the 1850s until her death in 1912, Octavia Hill was an energetic c...
The Iron Age
24 Mar 2011
Contributed by Lukas
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the dawn of the European Iron Age.In around 3000 BC European metalworkers started to make tools and weapons out of...
The Medieval University
17 Mar 2011
Contributed by Lukas
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the medieval universities.In the 11th and 12th centuries a new type of institution started to appear in the major ...
The Taiping Rebellion
24 Feb 2011
Contributed by Lukas
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Taiping Rebellion.In 1850 a Chinese Christian convert, Hong Xiuquan, proclaimed himself leader of a new dynast...
The Battle of Bannockburn
02 Feb 2011
Contributed by Lukas
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Battle of Bannockburn.On June 23rd 1314, Scottish forces under their king Robert the Bruce confronted a larger...
The Mexican Revolution
20 Jan 2011
Contributed by Lukas
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Mexican Revolution.In 1908 the President of Mexico, Porfirio Diaz, gave an interview to an American journalist...
Consequences of the Industrial Revolution
30 Dec 2010
Contributed by Lukas
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the far-reaching consequences of the Industrial Revolution. After more than a century of rapid technological chang...
The Industrial Revolution
22 Dec 2010
Contributed by Lukas
In the first of two programmes, Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Industrial Revolution.Between the middle of the eighteenth century and the ear...
Cleopatra
02 Dec 2010
Contributed by Lukas
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss Cleopatra. The last pharaoh to rule Egypt, Cleopatra was a woman of intelligence and charisma, later celebrated as...
The Volga Vikings
11 Nov 2010
Contributed by Lukas
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Volga Vikings. Between the 8th and the 10th centuries AD, fierce Scandinavian warriors raided and then settled...