A History of Britain by Simon Schama
A History of Britain by Simon Schama is a TV show on BBC2. The long-running program has been available since 2013. A total of 29 episodes have been broadcast, most recently in April 2023.
Last broadcast:18/04/2023 at 21:00
Last episode
1:00:00
A History of Britain by Simon Schama
Examining the 20th century through the lives of Winston Churchill and George Orwell, who both wrote about the Depression, empire, world wars and the Cold War.
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1:00:00
How the liberal politics and free-market economics of the British Empire unravelled, leading to the potato famine in Ireland and mutiny in India.
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A look at the social and economic changes which took place during Queen Victoria's reign, such as industrialisation and changing roles for women.
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In a programme focusing on the French Revolution, Simon Schama explores why the British proved immune to the siren call of liberty, equality and fraternity.
Series 2
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Simon Schama traces the steps of the empire-makers, asking how a trading enterprise based on the idea of liberty became an empire built on slavery.
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Simon Schama's epic history reaches the 18th century, where an economic explosion gives birth to the consumer society and agriculture becomes big business.
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Featuring the revolutionary period in Britain after the execution of Charles I, from Cromwell's iron rule to Charles II's attempts to restore the lustre of the monarchy.
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Simon Schama looks beyond the romantic stories of Cavaliers and Roundheads to the real story of the English Civil War, in which hundreds of thousands died.
Series 1
Simon Schama begins his history of Britain with a visit to the miraculously preserved Stone Age cottages of Skara Brae in Orkney and then moves all the way to the world of Anglo-Saxon England, newly converted to Christinanity, and plagued by Vikings. He describes how a nation was conceived by war, trade, migrations of peop...