

How to Invent a Country
BBC Radio 4
When did countries become countries? Misha Glenny on the borders, the stories and the people of countries worldwide.
Episodes
Mentioned books

Jul 3, 2018 • 28min
The Spectacular Rise and Fall of the Habsburgs #1
How did a small family from Switzerland become Europe's greatest dynasty?

Jun 25, 2018 • 29min
The Netherlands - Why Belgium?
There is a faultline in Europe, from the North Sea to the Alps. Belgium sits halfway.

Jun 18, 2018 • 30min
The Netherlands - The Dutch Golden Age
How Amsterdam became one of the world's leading cities in a few short decades

Jun 8, 2018 • 28min
The Netherlands - Orange Fever
How did a few boggy provinces become one of the trading heavyweights of the world?

Jun 4, 2018 • 31min
The USA - The Melting Pot
Misha Glenny on the people came to America, and the people who were there first

Jun 4, 2018 • 33min
The USA - The Borderlands
To invent a country you have to define a country. Misha Glenny on the borders of the USA.

Jun 4, 2018 • 28min
The USA - It'll Never Work!
Misha Glenny on the invention of the most powerful country in the world

Jun 4, 2018 • 28min
Germany - Germany Unified
Bismarck, Prussia ... and just how big will Germany be?

May 29, 2018 • 29min
Germany - The Rise of Prussia
Misha Glenny on how a sandy backwater called Prussia began to change the shape and size of Germany

May 29, 2018 • 30min
Germany - A Hotly Contested Piece of Real Estate
Misha Glenny presents a new history of Germany before the Nazis and two world wars, when this region was the stomping ground for foreign invaders