133. Cleopatra: Queen of the Nile

Despite later mythology, Stalin was effectively a nobody during the Russian Revolution of 1917. Unlike Trotsky and Lenin, he was not on the frontline amongst the revolutionaries. How did he reveal his penchant for violence during the Russian Civil War in the following years? And ...  Show more

How did Stalin become one of the most ruthless dictators in World History? What was his childhood like in Georgia? How did he rise from a poet training to be a priest, to the ruler of the Soviet Union? In Episode 1 of this new series, Anita Anand and William Dalrymple explore the ...  Show more

Famed across the ages and around the world - everyone knows the name Cleopatra. But how did she become one of the most infamous women in history?

Born in 69BCE, a member of the Ptolemaic dynasty in Hellenistic Egypt, Cleopatra VII lived a tumultuous life. Within<stro ...

Who doesn’t know Cleopatra, legendary queen of Egypt ? A woman as beautiful as a goddess who claimed power in a world of men, seducing Roman emperor Julius Caesar and general Mark Antony before her tragic death. But this is just a small part of Cleopatra’s great accomplishment ...

The last of the Ptolemaic Pharoahs, the enduring legend of Cleopatra has captivated imaginations for centuries. Though some write her off as a manipulative femme fatale, her competence as a ruler restored her country to a world superpower. But what were the early experiences that ...  Show more

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss Cleopatra. The last pharaoh to rule Egypt, Cleopatra was a woman of intelligence and charisma, later celebrated as a great beauty. During an eventful life she was ousted from her throne and later restored to it with the help of her lover Julius ...  Show more