The Reith Lectures

French poet Jacques Darras delivers the fourth of his Reith Lectures entitled 'Beyond the Tunnel of History'. He explores the question: 'Have the enormities of the Second World War, like the Holocaust and the dropping the atomic bomb, caused us to ignore the lessons of the First?'In his fourth lecture entitled 'Remembering the Somme', Jacques Darras explores the memories of the First World War. He explains the importance of all parts of history and the need for them to be remembered.

French poet Jacques Darras delivers the third of his Reith Lectures entitled 'Beyond the Tunnel of History'. He argues that with the opening of the Channel tunnel a new age of mobility is within everyone's grasp. Many can now follow in the footsteps of the wealthy and literary by going on their very own 'Grand Tour' of Europe. This freedom, Darras argues, will bring cultures closer together and unify Europe. In his third lecture entitled 'Highways of Freedom', Jacques Darras explores the new European nationality. He evaluates how Western and Eastern Europe alike are throwing into the melting-pot the old national territorialities of earlier history. He explains how this is creating a new mobility - and thus new freedoms - for all Europeans.

French poet Jacques Darras delivers the second of his Reith Lectures entitled 'Beyond the Tunnel of History'. He explores the concept of multicultural cities and draws from examples. He highlights the city of Bruges during the Burgundian era as a beacon of advancement in European unification. In his second lecture entitled 'The Golden Fleece', Jacque Darras argues that the reason why it was such a prosperous city is because it was multicultural. Its multilingual artists, merchants and bankers could spread their music, painting, wines and wools all over the world. His almost mythical description of Burgundy is used as an antidote to concept of nationalism.

French poet Jacques Darras delivers the first of his Reith Lectures entitled 'Beyond the Tunnel of History'. Taking inspiration from the formation of the Channel Tunnel, Durras looks back through the shared history of France and Britain and suggests that their respective national pasts will need to be reinterpreted in the light of a shared future. In his first lecture entitled 'The Time Traveller', Jacque Darras asks the question, now that their destinies are increasingly converging within a wider Europe, how will the two cultures reconcile with each other? To answer this question he explores the embodiment of democracy within the civic squares of Europe. He uses the historic architectural landmarks to evaluate how France and Britain might still form a multicultural Europe.

Geoffrey Hosking, Professor of Russian History at University College London, debates the role of pluralist politics in the sixth of his Reith Lectures entitled 'The Rediscovery of Politics'.In this lecture entitled 'The Paradox of Gorbachev's Reforms', Professor Hosking explores the role that Mikhail Gorbachev has played as the General Secretary of the Communist Party for the Soviet Union and what lasting effect he will have on the State. He considers how the state will develop and asks can a totalitarian system evolve straight into a democracy?

Geoffrey Hosking, Professor of Russian History at University College London, explores Soviet religion in the fifth of his Reith Lectures entitled 'The Rediscovery of Politics'.In this lecture entitled 'Religion and the Atheist State', Professor Hosking analyses what part religion has to play in reuniting the Soviet peoples and explores the recent easing of tensions between the Soviet state and the Church. Can faith act as a potential antidote to the problem of demoralisation?

Geoffrey Hosking, Professor of Russian History at University College London, explores national aspirations in the fourth of his Reith Lectures entitled 'The Rediscovery of Politics'.In this lecture entitled 'The Flawed Melting Pot', Professor Hosking discusses the national desires and ambitions of the various Soviet peoples. He explores how nationalism will affect the Soviet Union.

Geoffrey Hosking, Professor of Russian History at University College London, explores changes in Soviet behaviour his third Reith lecture from his series entitled 'The Rediscovery of Politics'. In this lecture entitled 'A Civil Society in Embryo', Professor Hosking examines a trend which could mark the beginning of the end of totalitarianism in the Soviet Union. He considers the civil rights movements and environmentally conscious industrialisation as turning points in society. He believes the Soviet Union now has the elements needed to form civil society and move away from an authoritarian state.

Geoffrey Hosking, Professor of Russian History at University College London, explores the issues of a collective memory in his second Reith lecture from his series entitled 'The Rediscovery of Politics'. In this lecture entitled 'The Return Of The Repressed', Professor Hosking describes how Soviet society is recovering from a state of communal amnesia. Only with a common history can a society move forward cohesively, but has Soviet society succumbed to a totalitarian rewriting of the past?

Geoffrey Hosking, Professor of Russian History at University College London, discusses the changes in Soviet society in his first Reith lecture from the series entitled 'The Rediscovery of Politics'. In this lecture entitled 'A Great Power in Crisis', Professor Hosking discusses the relationship between the Soviet economy and the 'glasnost'. This transparency of government institutions, introduced by Mikhail Gorbachev to reduce corruption, has had a fractious effect on society. He asks is this great power in a crisis?