France

Maximilien Robespierre

Misha Glenny explores the impact of the French Revolution and the Reign of Terror.

• 28 mins

France

Le Petit Napoleon and the Franco-Prussian War

Misha Glenny explores the crucial events of 1870 and the Franco-Prussian war.

• 28 mins

The USA

'It'll never work!'

The USA is an invention. So how do you build the most powerful country in the world?

• 30 mins

The USA

Borderlands

The USA is an invention. So how do you build the most powerful country in the world?

• 30 mins

The USA

The Melting Pot

The USA is an invention. So how do you build the most powerful country in the world?

• 30 mins

The Netherlands

Orange Fever

Misha Glenny explores a pivot of western history, the Netherlands.

• 28 mins

The Netherlands

The Golden Age

Misha Glenny on the astonishing golden age of the Netherlands.

• 28 mins

The Netherlands

Why Belgium?

Misha Glenny ends his travels in the Netherlands in Brussels, home of the EU.

• 28 mins

Britain

Like Quicksand for the Uninitiated

A four-part history of us - our borders, our peoples, the stories we tell ourselves.

• 28 mins

Britain

Anglocentrism... or why Britons Never Will Be Slaves

Misha Glenny on the role of England in the Invention of Britain

• 28 mins

Britain

Insecurity... from Dover to Dublin and beyond

A four-part history of us - our borders, our peoples and the stories we tell ourselves.

• 28 mins

Britain

So Many Different Little Corners

Who are the Scots, the Irish, the English and the Welsh? What do these words even mean?

• 28 mins

Scandinavia

The Bridge

Misha Glenny looks at the people, the borders and the histories of Scandinavia.

• 28 mins

Scandinavia

The Viking Inheritance

Why Sweden has not always been the peace-loving nation it is today, with Misha Glenny.

• 28 mins

Scandinavia

The Narcissism of Small Differences

Misha Glenny looks at how Norway emerged as the richest Scandinavian nation of all.

• 28 mins

Poland

Obliterated from the map

Misha Glenny on how Poland, Lithuania and Ukraine were wiped from the map.

• 28 mins

Poland

A nation without a state

For 123 years Poland was divided between Russia, Prussia and Austria - how did it survive?

• 28 mins

Poland

Stalin on one side, Hitler from the left

In August 1939, the Russians and the Germans agreed to slice Poland up.

• 28 mins

Russia

A Tale of Two Ivans

What is Russia and where did it come from? Misha Glenny presents.

• 28 mins

Russia

The Empire Strikes Back

How little Moscow expanded into the biggest country in the world.

• 28 mins

Russia

Catherine the Great and the question of Europe

The Bear moves west.

• 28 mins

Russia

The sacred song of war

Misha Glenny on Russia and defensive war.

• 28 mins

Turkey

The Ottomans - East or West

Misha Glenny in Istanbul on the 100th anniversary of the Turkish Republic

• 28 mins

Turkey

The Military

East versus west, secular versus religious, how the empire came to the point of collapse.

• 28 mins

Turkey

A Balancing Act

Misha Glenny on the birth of Turkey from the ruins of the old Ottoman Empire in 1923.

• 28 mins

China

The First Emperor

Misha Glenny on where China came from and what it is now.

• 42 mins

China

To kowtow or not kowtow

Misha Glenny and producer Miles Warde head to Hong Kong.

• 42 mins

China

Imperial Collapse

Misha Glenny on the end of the Qing, and what happened next.

• 42 mins

China

The life and times of Chairman Mao

Misha Glenny completes our travels round China with the story of Chairman Mao

• 42 mins

Taiwan

When did countries become countries? Misha Glenny on what is happening in Taiwan now.

• 28 mins