History

How Did We Get Here...? Egypt
Stephen Sackur uncovers the history behind the upheavals in Egypt.
04 Feb 2011,30 mins
The Museum of Bad Vibes
Releasing The Bad Vibes
The four objects are back in storage but where does The Museum of Bad Vibes go from here?
09 Aug 2022,35 mins
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Tibet Remembered
A portrait of pre Chinese Tibet through the voices of the British who worked there.
23 Sep 2013,28 mins
Something Old, Something New
From Sheffield to South Carolina, Johny Pitts explores alternative Black British identity.
06 Oct 2015,30 mins
Fidel Castro: Beyond La Revolución
As Cuba faces fresh crisis, Will Grant explores what the island's future holds.
15 Aug 2026,57 mins
Jutland: The Battle that Won the War
Lord West explains why Jutland was the most important battle of the First World War.
22 May 2016,28 mins
Remembering Tryweryn
Guto Harri explores the event that shaped Welsh art and literature for a generation.
06 Feb 2020,28 mins
The Trumpet Shall Sound
Jazz composer Julian Joseph goes in search of black classical musicians from the past.
04 Dec 2007,30 mins
Foreign Bodies
Series 3
Nigeria
Helon Habila and CM Okonkwo on the flourishing new tradition of Nigerian crime fiction.
21 Nov 2014,15 mins
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A Right Royal Rescue
HRH the Duke of Edinburgh recalls his role in a daring rescue during WWII.
27 Jan 2006,28 mins
Syrena Songs
The story of Poland's Syrena Records, a label that defined a nation.
12 Jan 2016,30 mins
From Dunkirk to D-Day
Charles Wheeler recalls the epic of strategic success that made victory possible.
05 Jun 2004,45 mins
Pepys the Musician
Lucie Skeaping hears music written for Pepys, played for the first time since his death.
04 Apr 2017,30 mins
Inside the Academie Francaise
Agnes Poirier explores the role of the body which protects the French language.
23 Dec 2011,30 mins
The Lost Songs of Hollywood
Julia Kogan explores the little-known personal music of exiled composers in Los Angeles.
12 Nov 2015,30 mins
Who Are the '22?
David Cannadine tells the story of the origins of the 1922 Committee.
29 Aug 2022,28 mins
How New Is the New Philanthropy?
Two 'New Philanthropies'
Hugh contrasts the role of philanthropy today with that of the middle of the 20th century.
26 Dec 2011,30 mins
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The Cuban Missile Crisis: As Seen From Moscow and Havana
Allan Little pieces together the "untold" side of the Cuban Missile Crisis.
23 Oct 2002,45 mins
The British Road to Bolshevism
Martin Rosenbaum explores how events in London played a role in the Russian Revolution.
16 Oct 2017,28 mins
The Aberdovey X-Troopers
The story of how Wales helped Jewish refugees fight the Nazis.
27 Jan 2025,30 mins
Lies My Teacher Told Me
5. Northern Ireland-Healing History?
In the 1970's, a new kind of history teaching began in Northern Ireland.
31 Jan 2020,14 mins
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Who found Machu Picchu?
Hugh Thomson travels to Peru's ancient wonder to unearth the truth behind its discovery.
05 Oct 2011,30 mins
A Brief History of TIM
Lynne Truss explores the history of the Speaking Clock. With Professor Stephen Hawking.
16 Jul 2016,30 mins
When Yorkshire Played New York
A legendary match leads us into the extraordinary cultural history of cricket in America.
19 Jul 2017,30 mins
The Unconscious Life of Bombs
Daniel Pick traces how aerial bombardment has made the unconscious mind a field of battle.
11 Dec 2017,30 mins
One Man's War
Katie Derham delves into the fascinating world of musical life during the Second World War
09 Oct 2012,30 mins
Poetry Idol
Shahidha Bari goes in search of the biggest poetry competition in the Middle East.
23 Mar 2014,30 mins
The Great Inflation
How has the experience of hyperinflation in Germany in 1923 shaped the past 100 years?
20 Mar 2023,28 mins
Mao's Golden Mangoes
Benjamin Ramm explores one of the strangest chapters in China’s history - mango mania.
12 Feb 2016,30 mins
Haiti - Descent Into Anarchy
Mike Thomson looks at Haiti's long descent into anarchy.
14 Apr 2024,28 mins