
In Our Time: History
Historical themes, events and key individuals from Akhenaten to Xenophon.
Latest episodes

Apr 4, 2019 • 57min
The Great Irish Famine
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss why the potato crop failures in the 1840s had such a catastrophic impact in Ireland. It is estimated that one million people died from disease or starvation after the blight and another two million left the country within the decade. There had been famines before, but not on this scale. What was it about the laws, attitudes and responses that made this one so devastating?The image above is from The Illustrated London News, Dec. 29, 1849, showing a scalp or shelter, "a hole, surrounded by pools, and three sides of the scalp were dripping with water, which ran in small streams over the floor and out by the entrance. The poor inhabitants said they would be thankful if the landlord would leave them there, and the Almighty would spare their lives. Its principal tenant is Margaret Vaughan."With Cormac O'Grada
Professor Emeritus in the School of Economics at University College DublinNiamh Gallagher
University Lecturer in Modern British and Irish History at the University of CambridgeAnd Enda Delaney
Professor of Modern History and School Director of Research at the University of EdinburghProducer: Simon Tillotson

Mar 28, 2019 • 50min
The Danelaw
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the effective partition of England in the 880s after a century of Viking raids, invasions and settlements. Alfred of Wessex, the surviving Anglo-Saxon king and Guthrum, a Danish ruler, had fought each other to a stalemate and came to terms, with Guthrum controlling the land to the east (once he had agreed to convert to Christianity). The key strategic advantage the invaders had was the Viking ships which were far superior and enabled them to raid from the sea and up rivers very rapidly. Their Great Army had arrived in the 870s, conquering the kingdom of Northumbria and occupying York. They defeated the king of Mercia and seized part of his land. They killed the Anglo-Saxon king of East Anglia and gained control of his territory. It was only when a smaller force failed to defeat Wessex that the Danelaw came into being, leaving a lasting impact on the people and customs of that area.With Judith Jesch
Professor of Viking Studies at the University of NottinghamJohn Hines
Professor of Archaeology at Cardiff UniversityAndJane Kershaw
ERC Principal Investigator in Archaeology at the University of OxfordProducer: Simon Tillotson

Mar 7, 2019 • 51min
William Cecil
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the impact on the British Isles of William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley, the most poweful man in the court of Elizabeth I. He was both praised and attacked for his flexibility, adapting to the reigns of Protestant and Catholic monarchs and, under Elizabeth, his goal was to make England strong, stable and secure from attack from its neighbours. He sought control over Ireland and persuaded Elizabeth that Mary Queen of Scots must die, yet often counselled peace rather than war in the interests of prosperity. With Diarmaid MacCulloch
Professor of the History of the Church at the University of OxfordSusan Doran
Professor of Early Modern British History at the University of Oxfordand John Guy
Fellow of Clare College, University of CambridgeProducer: Simon Tillotson

Feb 28, 2019 • 50min
Antarah ibn Shaddad
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the life, works, context and legacy of Antarah (525-608AD), the great poet and warrior. According to legend, he was born a slave; his mother was an Ethiopian slave, his father an elite Arab cavalryman. Antarah won his freedom in battle and loved a woman called Abla who refused him, and they were later celebrated in the saga of Antar and Abla. One of Antarah's poems was so esteemed in pre-Islamic Arabia that it is believed it was hung up on the wall of the Kaaba in Mecca. With James Montgomery
Sir Thomas Adams's Professor of Arabic at the University of CambridgeMarlé Hammond
Senior Lecturer in Arabic Popular Literature and Culture at SOAS, University of LondonAnd Harry Munt
Lecturer in Medieval History at the University of YorkProducer: Simon Tillotson

Jan 31, 2019 • 49min
Owain Glyndwr
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the life of the Welsh nobleman, also known as Owen Glendower, who began a revolt against Henry IV in 1400 which was at first very successful. Glyndwr (c1359-c1415) adopted the title Prince of Wales and established a parliament and his own foreign policy, until he was defeated by the future Henry V. Owain Glyndwr escaped and led guerilla attacks for several years but was never betrayed to the English, disappearing without trace.With Huw Pryce
Professor of Welsh History at Bangor UniversityHelen Fulton
Professor of Medieval Literature at the University of BristolChris Given-Wilson
Emeritus Professor of Medieval History at the University of St AndrewsProducer: Simon Tillotson

Dec 20, 2018 • 50min
The Poor Laws
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss how, from 1834, poor people across England and Wales faced new obstacles when they could no longer feed or clothe themselves, or find shelter. Parliament, in line with the ideas of Jeremy Bentham and Thomas Malthus, feared hand-outs had become so attractive, they stopped people working to support themselves, and encouraged families to have more children than they could afford. To correct this, under the New Poor Laws it became harder to get any relief outside a workhouse, where families would be separated, husbands from wives, parents from children, sisters from brothers. Many found this regime inhumane, while others protested it was too lenient, and it lasted until the twentieth century.The image above was published in 1897 as New Year's Day in the Workhouse.WithEmma Griffin
Professor of Modern British History at the University of East AngliaSamantha Shave
Lecturer in Social Policy at the University of LincolnAnd Steven King
Professor of Economic and Social History at the University of LeicesterProducer: Simon Tillotson

Dec 6, 2018 • 51min
The Thirty Years War
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the war in Europe which begain in 1618 and continued on such a scale and with such devastation that its like was not seen for another three hundred years. It pitched Catholics against Protestants, Lutherans against Calvinists and Catholics against Catholics across the Holy Roman Empire, drawing in their neighbours and it lasted for thirty gruelling years, from the Defenestration of Prague to the Peace of Westphalia of 1648. Many more civilians died than soldiers, and famine was so great that even cannibalism was excused. This topic was chosen from several hundred suggested by listeners this autumn.The image above is a detail from a painting of The Battle of White Mountain on 7-8 November 1620, by Pieter Snayers (1592-1667)WithPeter Wilson
Chichele Professor of the History of War at the University of OxfordUlinka Rublack
Professor of Early Modern European History at the University of Cambridge and Fellow of St John’s CollegeAndToby Osborne
Associate Professor in History at Durham UniversityProducer: Simon Tillotson

Nov 29, 2018 • 50min
The Long March
Discover the historical event of the Long March, a grueling journey of 80,000 soldiers of the Chinese Red Army breaking out of a siege and facing challenges like warlords and the Japanese invasion. Explore the division within the Chinese Communist Party leadership, the role of warlords during the Long March, and the enduring impact of this event in Chinese history. Delve into Mao Zedong's leadership and the creation of Maoism through the rectification movement.

Nov 15, 2018 • 49min
Horace
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Horace (65-8BC), who flourished under the Emperor Augustus. He was one of the greatest poets of his age and is one of the most quoted of any age. Carpe diem, nil desperandum, nunc est bibendum – that’s Horace. He was the son of a freedman from southern Italy and, thanks to his talent, achieved high status in Rome despite fighting on the losing side in the civil wars. His Odes are widely thought his most enduring works, yet he also wrote his scurrilous Epodes, some philosophical Epistles and broad Satires. He’s influenced poets ever since, including those such as Wilfred Owen who rejected his line: ‘dulce et decorum est pro patria mori’.With Emily Gowers
Professor of Latin Literature at the University of Cambridge and Fellow of St John’s CollegeWilliam Fitzgerald
Professor of Latin Language and Literature at King’s College Londonand Ellen O’Gorman
Senior Lecturer in Classics at the University of BristolProducer: Simon Tillotson

Nov 8, 2018 • 49min
Marie Antoinette
In a programme first broadcast in November 2018, Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Austrian princess Maria Antonia, child bride of the future French King Louis XVI. Their marriage was an attempt to bring about a major change in the balance of power in Europe and to undermine the influence of Prussia and Great Britain, but she had no say in the matter and was the pawn of her mother, the Empress Maria Theresa. She fulfilled her allotted role of supplying an heir, but was sent to the guillotine in 1793 in the French Revolution, a few months after her husband, following years of attacks on her as a woman who, it was said, betrayed the King and as a foreigner who betrayed France to enemy powers. When not doing these wrongs, she was said to be personally bankrupting France. Her death shocked royal families throughout Europe, and she became a powerful symbol of the consequences of the Revolution. With Catriona Seth
Marshal Foch Professor of French Literature at the University of OxfordKatherine Astbury
Professor of French Studies at the University of WarwickandDavid McCallam
Reader in French Eighteenth-Century Studies at the University of SheffieldProducer: Simon Tillotson