History

Video documentaries about history of the world

Locomotion: Dan Snow's History of Railways episode 1

Locomotion: Dan Snow’s History of Railways episode 1

Locomotion: Dan Snow’s History of Railways episode 1 – Dan Snow looks at how, from their beginnings as track-ways for coal carts in the early 18th century, railways developed into the pivotal technology for modern Britain. From their beginnings as a primitive system of track-ways for coal carts in the early 18th century, railways quickly developed into the driving force behind the industrial revolution and the pivotal technology for modern Britain, and a connected world.       Rapid industrial growth during the early 19th century, coupled with the prospect of vast profits, drove inventors and entrepreneurs to develop steam […]

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Big Ben Restored: The Grand Unveiling

Big Ben Restored: The Grand Unveiling

Big Ben Restored: The Grand Unveiling – The extraordinary story of the six-year renovation of the iconic clock tower. Anna Keay, Director of The Landmark Trust, meets the dedicated team of architects, engineers, historians, scientists and master craftspeople who are tasked with stripping the tower down to its frame, then repairing or replacing every exquisite detail of this neo-Gothic masterpiece. As Big Ben rings out once more, cameras provide a close-up view of all the vibrant new details.       An £80m makeover of Big Ben is nearly complete, restoring the world’s most famous clock face to its original

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How to Get Ahead - At Versailles

How to Get Ahead – At Versailles

How to Get Ahead – At Versailles: Stephen Smith explores the flamboyant Baroque court of the Sun King, Louis XIV. Louis created the Palace of Versailles so he could surround himself with aristocrats, artists, interior designers, gardeners, wigmakers, chefs and musicians. Hordes of ambitious courtiers scrambled to get close to the king, but unseemly goings-on in the royal bedchamber reflected the quickest path to power.       Versailles was a royal palace in France, located in the town of Versailles, about 10 miles southwest of Paris. It was the primary residence of the kings of France from 1682 until

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How to Get Ahead - At Renaissance Court

How to Get Ahead – At Renaissance Court

How to Get Ahead – At Renaissance Court: Writer, broadcaster and Newsnight arts correspondent Stephen Smith explores Renaissance Florence under the reign of Grand Duke Cosimo Medici. Cosimo’s fledgling court prized the finer things in life and some of the greatest painters, sculptors and craftsmen in world history came to serve the Grand Duke. But successful courtiers had to have brains as well as brawn. The canniest of them looked to theorists like Niccolo Machiavelli for underhand ways to get ahead, whilst enlightened polymaths turned their minds to the heavens, and to ice cream.       Florence, Italy was

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How to Get Ahead - At Medieval Court

How to Get Ahead – At Medieval Court

How to Get Ahead – At Medieval Court: Writer, broadcaster and Newsnight arts correspondent Stephen Smith looks back at the Medieval Age to find out what it took to get ahead at the court of Richard II. Richard presided over the first truly sophisticated and artistic court in England. Painters, sculptors, poets, tailors, weavers and builders flocked to court to make their fortunes. But these were dangerous times. Being close to Richard brought many a courtier to a sticky end. Featuring David Tennant and Clarissa Dickson Wright.       Richard II was the king of England from 1377 to

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Simon Schama's History of Now episode 3

Simon Schama’s History of Now episode 3

Simon Schama’s History of Now episode 3: Simon Schama examines how Charlie Chaplin and Ayn Rand created different visions of postwar America, while Rachel Carson drew attention to the destruction of the natural world. After the Second World War, there were deep divisions in America about how to move forward. Should it be a social democracy, in which a benevolent state would look after its most vulnerable citizens? Or should it put its faith in individual enterprise and the free market to provide plenty for all?     Simon Schama examines how the filmmaker Charlie Chaplin and author Ayn Rand

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Stalingrad: A Trilogy episode 3

Stalingrad: A Trilogy episode 3

Stalingrad: A Trilogy episode 3 – At the beginning of January 1943, the situation for the soldiers of the 6th Army was hopeless: completely exhausted, half starved and apathetic, the men lay in their positions in freezing temperatures. They can no longer defend themselves, the ammunition is almost gone. Then, on January 8, 1943, the Soviets offered the Sixth Army honorable terms of surrender. But Hitler forbids Paulus to give up the fight. The senseless death goes on.       “The Sixth Army has my word that everything possible will be done to save you. Adolf Hitler.” The radio

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Stalingrad: A Trilogy episode 2

Stalingrad: A Trilogy episode 2

Stalingrad: A Trilogy episode 2: In the early morning of November 19, 1942, one of the most moving chapters of World War II began. A dense fog lay in the lowlands between the Don and the Volga. At 5:20 a.m., several thousand Soviet guns and Stalin organs opened fire. “It was breathtaking,” Captain Gerard Dengler recalls with a shudder. The Soviet attack hit the Germans at their most vulnerable point: in the rear of the front, where allied Romanians and Italians secured the flanks of the 6th Army.       Their resistance didn’t last long. Poorly equipped and doubting

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Stalingrad: A Trilogy episode 1

Stalingrad: A Trilogy episode 1

Stalingrad: A Trilogy episode 1 – With a force of over half a million men, the German army advanced towards the Caspian Sea and Stalingrad to capture the center of Soviet military industry. Hitler’s Sixth Army faced strong resistance from all sides and German soldiers perished in bloody battles. Yet Hitler still boasted on November 8th in Munich that Stalingrad was practically conquered and the Germans would never leave the city again. With the dimensions of Russia in mind, the rapid advance of the German army to the Volga – measured against the low population density – was not an

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Tutankhamun: Allies and Enemies

Tutankhamun: Allies and Enemies

Tutankhamun: Allies and Enemies – This film marks the 100th anniversary of the discovery of King Tutankhamun’s tomb and is a journey of exploration for Egyptian co-hosts Yasmin El Shazly and Mahmoud Rashad into the mysteries and unanswered questions about the boy king’s life, his infamous father’s religious revolution, and those advising him as he takes the throne in one of the most tumultuous periods of Egyptian history.       With rare access to government officials, including Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities Dr. Mostafa Waziry, and the renowned Egyptologists Dr. Zahi Hawass, Fayza Haikal, Salima Ikram

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Simon Schama's History of Now episode 2

Simon Schama’s History of Now episode 2

Simon Schama’s History of Now episode 2: Simon Schama explores the artists at the vanguard of the fight for equality in the decades after the Second World War. He revisits his childhood as a Jewish boy in Southend and his memories of seeing James Baldwin debate William Buckley at the Cambridge Union, explores the story behind Nina Simone’s classic civil rights song Mississippi Goddam, and meets Coleman Woodson Junior, who was part of the historic Selma to Montgomery march in 1965.     Sir Simon Michael Schama is an English historian specialising in art history, Dutch history, Jewish history and

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A History of Scotland episode 10 - Project Scotland

A History of Scotland episode 10 – Project Scotland

A History of Scotland episode 10 – Project Scotland: As a partner in the British Empire, Scotland began the 20th century with an advanced economy and a world-beating heavy industry. But in the closing decades its sense of Britishness was in doubt and a Scottish Parliament sat in Edinburgh for the first time since 1707. Charting Scotland’s darkest century, Neil Oliver discovers a country driven to self-determination through a series of economic crises so deep that her most striking export became her own disillusioned population.       Documentary charting the birth and growth of the Scottish nation. Scotland’s history

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