The Hanoverian Succession

Misha Glenny and guests discuss the group which came to be known as the Levellers and emerged during what would become arguably one of the bloodiest and most turbulent periods of English history. After the First English Civil War, the Levellers started calling for reforms to achi ...  Show more

Misha Glenny and guests discuss an ancient civilisation who lived over 2000 years ago in the southwest of modern-day Libya. During prehistoric times, the Sahara Desert was greener and even had large lakes, but for the last 5000 years it has been a hyperarid environment. Extreme s ...  Show more

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the intense political activity at the turn of the 18th Century, when many politicians in London went to great lengths to find a Protestant successor to the throne of Great Britain and Ireland and others went to equal lengths to oppose them. Queen A ...  Show more

March 2025 marks the 400th anniversary of the death of King James VI and I, and the succession of his son Charles I. Crowned King of Scotland at just 13 months old in 1567 and later succeeding Elizabeth I in England in 1603, James envisioned a unified United Kingdom. However, ...

With the accession of James I and VI in 1603, Scotland was assimilated into the composite monarchy of the United Kingdom. James, an eccentric, insecure and rambling figure, preoccupied with witches, was himself an alien in his new English court. Even at this stage though, it seem ...  Show more

"Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown…” Henry IV has been portrayed as both a shadowy, obscure figure, and a strong king who was loved by his people. Prior to ascending the throne, Henry, the son of John of Gaunt, was admired for his glamour, clemency, courage and strong fait ...  Show more