Witness History Episodes Available now
The Confederate flag and America’s battle over race
Why an activist removed the Confederate flag from South Carolina's state house grounds
The Fall of Madrid
How the Spanish capital fell to General Franco's forces in 1939, ending a civil war
The elections that Hamas won
Palestinians voted to elect a new government in 2006. The outcome surprised everyone.
Benjamin Britten's War Requiem
The emotional first performance at the newly-built Coventry Cathedral in 1962
Tunisia’s legal brothels
For decades, Tunisia has had a system of legal brothels.
When Israel destroyed Iraq's nuclear reactor
Israeli warplanes launched a surprise attack on the Osirak nuclear reactor in June 1981
How Switzerland defeated its heroin epidemic
In the 1990s, the Swiss tried radical new policy ideas, including heroin on prescription
Afghanistan's poppy problem
Laila Haidari set up Kabul's first independent drug rehab centre in 2010
When Peru mistook missionaries for drug traffickers
The Peruvian Air Force shot down a light plane carrying American missionaries in 2001
The killing of Pablo Escobar
The Colombian drug lord was shot dead by police in December 1993
