First broadcast in 1964 The Great War was the definitive film account of the world shattering events of World War I (1914 - 1918) a landmark history series widely regarded as a documentary masterpiece. 26 Episodes. The main narrator was Michael Redgrave. It was a co-production involving the resources of the Imperial War Museum, the BBC, CBC and ABC. The series, unparalleled at the time for its depth of research, range of source material and historical accuracy - all presented in a sequence of clear narratives - is now considered one of the finest achievements of BBC documentary. With few exceptions, successive blocks of episodes are devoted to each year of the war episodes 1 - 6 to 1914, 7 - 10 to 1915, 11 - 14 to 1916, 15 - 19 to 1917, 20 - 23 and 26 to 1918 ...

Controversial historian Professor Niall Ferguson argues that in the last century there were not in fact two World Wars and a Cold War but a single Hundred Years' War. It was not nationalism that powered the conflicts of the century, but empires. It was not ideologies of class or the advent of socialism driving the century, but race. Ultimately, ethnic conflict underpinned 20th century violence. Finally, it was not the west that triumphed as the century progressed, in fact, power slowly and steadily migrated towards the new empires of the East. Episode 6 The Descent of the West - Controversial historian Professor Niall Ferguson concludes the series by challenging the received wisdom that the fall of the Berlin Wall represented ultimate triumph for Western values, pointing to racial conflict in the last decades of the 20th century. He also considers the possibility of a further global war in the future ...

Dukedoms are created by the monarch for reasons ranging from a grateful nation rewarding a major war leader to a king acknowledging his illegitimate son. The last dukedom to be created was by Queen Victoria. As they gradually become extinct what will become of those that remain? Do they still have power and wealth? What is it to be a duke in the 21st century? Answers come from a surprising variety of extraordinary character ...

Simon Armitage presents the extraordinary story of the most disturbing witch trial in British history and the key role played in it by one nine year old girl. Jennet Device a beggar girl from Pendle in Lancashire, was the star witness in the trial in 1612 of her own mother, her brother, her sister and many of her neighbours and, thanks to her chilling testimony, they were all hanged. Armitage explores the lethal power and influence of one child's words a story of fear, magic and demonic pacts retold partly with vivid and innovative hand drawn animation ...

A great granddaughter of Queen Victoria Prince Philip's mother married into the Greek royal family, only to see the Greek monarchy overthrown by revolution. Fleeing into exile, she suffered a severe nervous breakdown. She was locked away in mental hospitals and subjected to experimental treatments by psychiatrists, including Sigmund Freud himself but eventually fought her way back from mental illness, and became an unlikely hero of World War Two ...

In The Ascent of Money Niall Ferguson traces the evolution of money and demonstrates that financial history is the essential back story behind all history. By learning how societies have continually created and survived financial criseswe can find solid solutions to today's worldwide economic emergency. As he traverses historic financial hot spots around the world, Ferguson illuminates fundamental economic concepts and speaks with leading experts in the financial world. Episode 1 Dreams of Avarice - From Shylock's pound of flesh to the loan sharks of Glasgow, from the promises to pay on Babylonian clay tablets to the Medici banking system. Professor Ferguson explains the origins of credit and debt and why credit networks are indispensable to any civilization ...

In The Ascent of Money Niall Ferguson traces the evolution of money and demonstrates that financial history is the essential back story behind all history. By learning how societies have continually created and survived financial criseswe can find solid solutions to today's worldwide economic emergency. As he traverses historic financial hot spots around the world, Ferguson illuminates fundamental economic concepts and speaks with leading experts in the financial world. Episode 2 Human Bondage - How did finance become the realm of the masters of the universe? Through the rise of the bond market in Renaissance Italy. With the advent of bonds, war finance was transformed and spread to north west Europe and across the Atlantic. It was the bond market that made the Rothschilds the richest and most powerful family of the 19th century ...

Get to the bottom of the world's great cities - literally! Sink into subterranean discovery lead by intrepid explorers Eric Geller and Don Wildman. With each step below street level you travel back decades even centuries, into the fascinating past of the world's great cities. What mysteries await discovery in the dark corners of these subterranean realms? This is the stuff of fantasy exploring secret chambers and forbidden passages beneath city streets, unlocking mysteries of the past and discovering forgotten relics. Episode 5 Catacombs of Death, Paris, France - Many call Paris the most beautiful city in the world, but its past is one of the bloodiest and most macabre in history. While the dead tell no tales, Eric Geller has a lot to say about their hidden underground realm. And a lot to discover as he explores the eerie, millennia-old secret tunnels and crypts below the streets of Paris ...

Get to the bottom of the world's great cities, literally! Sink into subterranean discovery lead by intrepid explorers Eric Geller and Don Wildman. With each step below street level you travel back decades even centuries, into the fascinating past of the world's great cities. What mysteries await discovery in the dark corners of these subterranean realms? This is the stuff of fantasy exploring secret chambers and forbidden passages beneath city streets, unlocking mysteries of the past and discovering forgotten relics. City of Caves Budapest - Exploring caves beneath Budapest, Hungary. Included an underground World War II hospital ...

Get to the bottom of the world's great cities - literally! Sink into subterranean discovery lead by intrepid explorers Eric Geller and Don Wildman. With each step below street level you travel back decades even centuries, into the fascinating past of the world's great cities. What mysteries await discovery in the dark corners of these subterranean realms? This is the stuff of fantasy exploring secret chambers and forbidden passages beneath city streets, unlocking mysteries of the past and discovering forgotten relics. New York The Big Apple - Subterranean New York City is explored. Included aqueducts, and a classified World War II site ...

Channel 4 Written and presented by Dr David Starkey, this is the compelling story of two of England's most striking monarchs a brother and sister, tied by blood and affection, and torn apart by religion, power, and some of the bloodiest episodes in English history. Mary (who was to become England's first reigning Queen since Matilda but who is best known to generations of British schoolchildren as Bloody Mary) was the first born child of Henry VIII. For 20 years she was heir to her adored father. Then came the birth of her little half brother Edward, and Mary found herself cast into the shadows, ignored by her father and declared illegitimate by Act of Parliament. Nonetheless she became very attached to the motherless boy, and he to her, declaring her his dearest sister ...

The series features various subjects related to science and technology. Some of the views expressed might be considered fringe or pseudo-science. Episode 2 Super Volcano - In spring 2003, strange things began happening in America's most famous national park, Yellowstone. The tallest geyser in the world, which can go 50 years without erupting, burst into life. There were new cracks in the ground, the ground heated up to the point where the National Park Service had to close some trails. Not long after, a group of bison collapsed and died, victims of poisonous fumes from below the ground. Satellite pictures revealed that something ominous was happening beneath the earth ...

The series features various subjects related to science and technology. Some of the views expressed might be considered fringe or pseudo-science. Episode 3 Angry Earth - In the last century, more than 1 million people died in earthquakes. Over the next century, it is feared that number could increase ten-fold. Why? Because Earthquakes don't kill people. Buildings do. And urban populations are increasing so fast that we now have "mega-cities". We discover the seismic vulnerability of some of the world's mega cities and the threat posed to millions of people all over the world ...

The series features various subjects related to science and technology. Some of the views expressed might be considered fringe or pseudo-science. Episode 4 Who Built Stonehenge? - This episode demonstrates how these stones could have been carried such a vast distance, and raised into place, using just the primitive technology possessed by Ancient Britons almost 5000 years ago. And, for the first time, the film employs modern forensic investigation techniques to examine human skeletons found near the site and recreates the face of one man who may have worked on the construction of this astonishing, ancient structure ...

First broadcast in 1964 The Great War was the definitive film account of the world shattering events of World War I (1914 - 1918) a landmark history series widely regarded as a documentary masterpiece. 26 Episodes. The main narrator was Michael Redgrave. It was a co-production involving the resources of the Imperial War Museum, the BBC, CBC and ABC. The series, unparalleled at the time for its depth of research, range of source material and historical accuracy - all presented in a sequence of clear narratives - is now considered one of the finest achievements of BBC documentary. With few exceptions, successive blocks of episodes are devoted to each year of the war episodes 1 - 6 to 1914, 7 - 10 to 1915, 11 - 14 to 1916, 15 - 19 to 1917, 20 - 23 and 26 to 1918 ...