Modern Global History

Episode 4 | Ameireaga air Film/America in Colour

To Americans the 1950s are the golden years. Having recovered from World War II, the life of the nation was on the up. The n...

5: 1968 Vietnam | Peter and Dan Snow: 20th Century Battlefields

Peter and Dan Snow reveal the techniques use by US marines to flush out Communist fighters who lived in a net...

4: 1951 Korea | Peter and Dan Snow: 20th Century Battlefields

Peter and Dan Snow, at the border between North and South Korea, tell of two key moments in the years of fighti...

1: Lyndon Johnson's War | Wheeler on America

A look back at the classic series Wheeler on America from 1996. Charles Wheeler traces changes in US society since the liberal r...

12: Mr Kennedy and Mr Khruschev | Twentieth Century History

The contest between the United States and the Soviet Union between 1961 and 1963 leading to the Cuban Missile Cri...

11: The Cold War Confrontation | Twentieth Century History

The Berlin blockade of 1948-49 and the Korean War 1950-53.

10: The Weight of Memory (March 1973-Onward) | The Vietnam War

While Watergate forces Nixon to resign, the Vietnamese continue to savage one another.

9: Fratricide (May 1970-March 1973) | The Vietnam War

Massive US airpower makes the difference in halting an unprecedented North Vietnamese offensive.

8: A Sea of Fire (April 1969-May 1970) | The Vietnam War

With morale plummeting in Vietnam, President Nixon begins withdrawing American troops. As news breaks of an unthinka...

6: Things Fall Apart (January 1968-June 1968) | The Vietnam War

North Vietnamese and Viet Cong forces launch surprise attacks on cities and military bases.

7: Chasing Ghosts (June 1968-May 1969) | The Vietnam War

Public support for the war declines, and American men of draft age face difficult decisions.

5: This is What We Do (July 1967-December 1967) | The Vietnam War

American casualties and enemy body counts mount as marines face deadly North Vietnamese ambushes.

3: Hell Come to Earth (January 1964-December 1965) | The Vietnam War

With South Vietnam in chaos, Hanoi hardliners seize the initiative and send combat troops.

4: Doubt (January 1966-June 1967) | The Vietnam War

Defying American airpower, North Vietnamese troops stream down the Ho Chi Minh Trail into the south.

2: Riding the Tiger (1961-1963) | The Vietnam War

President Kennedy and his advisers wrestle with how deeply to get involved in South Vietnam. As the increasingly autocratic...

1: Deja Vu (1858-1961) | The Vietnam War

Revolutionaries led by Ho Chi Minh end French colonial occupation. Vietnam is divided in two at Geneva.

S3E8: The Road To Revolution: The Execution of Ceaușescu | Days That Shook the World

This program covers the execution of Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu and his wife b...

8: Age of Extremes | Andrew Marr's History of the World

In this episode, Andrew Marr brings the story right up to date with the twentieth century.

S9E1: Orphans Of The Airlift | Secret History

Documentary looking at the airlift of over one hundred orphans from Saigon in 1975, orchestrated by the editor of the Daily Mai...

23: 1975: War of the Flea | People's Century

While in the second half of the century there are fewer conventional wars, civil conflicts under the backdrop of superpower riva...

Episode 3 | The Australian Wars

Colonists spread across the continent, assisted by the proliferation of rifles and horses. Everywhere, they were met with resistance from Fir...

Episode 2 | The Australian Wars

Film-maker Rachel Perkins examines what happened when the increasing number of arriving European colonists encroached upon the prime hunting ...

Episode 1 | The Australian Wars

Sydney was the first frontier war battleground. No treaty between European occupying forces and the First Nations people meant conflict, and ...

04: Mandela | Primary History

An introduction to the life and times of Nelson Mandela. Schools programme for seven- to 11-year-olds.

10: India: The Brightest Jewel | Twentieth Century History

Programme covers events in India from the 1930s to Independence and Partition in 1947.

2: Conspiracy | Suez: A Very British Crisis

This episode provides an insight into the way in which Eden secretly plotted with France and Israel, behind the USA's back, not o...

S7E4: Mau Mau | Secret History

The story behind a bitter conflict during the last phase of the British Empire, which saw the Mau Mau attack white settlers in a savage bid fo...

6: Empire for Sale | Empire: How Britain Made The Modern World

The fall of the British empire is usually attributed to nationalist groups fighting for independence, yet as N...

13: 1947: Freedom Now | People's Century

European powers are forced to relinquish their colonies in Africa following the Second World War, but in most cases the newly indepe...

Mau Mau Uprising | This World

History and witness experiences of the Mau Mau Uprising in Kenya.

S2E6: Gurinder Chadha | Who Do You Think You Are?

Director Gurinder Chadha learns about her father's life in Kenya and her grandmother's experiences during the partition of ...

03: High Tide | Empire of the Seas: How the Navy Forged the Modern World

Dan Snow presents a series on the Royal Navy's role in British history. Dan looks at the evolution o...

3: Pomp and Power | Lost World of the Raj

Set against the backdrop of British India from the 1920s to Independence in 1947, this third and last programme in the series tells...

2: Sex and Sensibility | Lost World of the Raj

Raj society was based on a formal order of precedence, but behind the scenes there was a great deal of flirtation, fun, affair...

1: Home from Home | Lost World of the Raj

The first episode recreates the era of the 1930s, when British expatriates attempted to create an idyllic version of English life i...

6: Freedom | Michael Wood: The Story of India

Michael Wood examines the British Raj and traces the events that led to the Partition of India in 1947.

8: The Cult of Progress | Civilisations

David Olusoga explores the artistic reaction to imperialism in the 19th century.

6: Clash of Civilisations | Africa's Great Civilisations

The final episode reviews the 19th century, when a fierce competition for resources and trade led to conflicts.

4: Cities | Africa's Great Civilisations

This episode looks at the powerful, cosmopolitan cities that dotted Africa at the time when Europe was in its Middle Ages.

3: Empires of Gold | Africa's Great Civilisations

Henry Louis Gates travels to the shores of the Sahara Desert to see the transformation of north and west Africa.

1: Origins | Africa's Great Civilisations

Henry Louis Gates Jr looks at the discoveries that point to Africa as the genetic home of all currently living humanity.

1: First Encounters | Black and British: A Forgotten History

Historian David Olusoga explores the enduring relationship between Britain and people whose origins lie in Afric...

4: Living and Dying | History File

The Great War was the first 'world' war, there were soldiers from Africa, Australia and India as well as Europe. In this section we look a...

5: Maxim Force | Empire: How Britain Made The Modern World

The 'scramble for Africa' by competing European nations during the last years of Queen Victoria's reign is the com...

3: The Mission | Empire: How Britain Made The Modern World

Following the religious revival that started in the late 18th century, missionaries began working in Africa and In...

2: White Plague | Empire: How Britain Made The Modern World

The concept of 'plantation' is explored in this programme, referring not to crops but the settlement of British p...

5: Activists | Icons

Exploring the achievements of the greatest figures of the 20th century. Examining the lives of Emmeline Pankhurst, Mahatma Gandhi, Helen Keller and Mart...

The British in India | Timewatch

Tonight's programme follows historian Andrew Roberts across the Indian subcontinent as he argues that Britain should take pride in its imper...

Episode 2 | Empire State of Mind

Sathnam Sanghera goes on a very personal journey to unearth the roots that bind his country to its colonial past. Travelling across Britain ...

Challenge of the Sixties | Panorama

Panorama reports from India, Africa, America and Russia to highlight the problems and challenges that the next ten years will bring. The ...

Leif Ericsson | Horrible Histories

HH Movie Pitch: Leif Ericsson tries to explain that the film he's pitching about discovering America isn't a fantasy.

Postwar: E17: A New Jerusalem? | Politically

Episode 2 | How Facebook Changed the World: The Arab Spring

Mishal Husain meets those who spread the revolt to Libya and Bahrain, and those who are still fighting the Syrian...

Episode 1 | How Facebook Changed the World: The Arab Spring

The story of how the Arab world erupted in revolution. Mishal Husain charts events in Tunisia and Egypt, meets le...

6: 1973 Middle East | Peter and Dan Snow: 20th Century Battlefields

Peter and Dan Snow unpick the fighting that broke out in 1973. Known by some as the Yom Kippur War, it wa...

1: Wellspring of Holiness | Jerusalem: The Making of a Holy City

Simon Sebag Montefiore begins a history of Jerusalem by exploring how it came into being and how it became s...

4: Eyewitness to History: Norma Percy | Israel and the Arabs - Elusive Peace

Film-maker Norma Percy looks back on her 2005 series The Elusive Peace, sharing memories of her ...

2: Arafat | Israel and the Arabs - Elusive Peace

US Secretary of State Colin Powell tries to make peace between Israel and Palestine, but his efforts are derailed by his own...

3: Sharon | Israel and the Arabs - Elusive Peace

The war in Iraq forces President Bush to court Arab allies. He needs to push Israel's prime minister Ariel Sharon back towar...

1: Clinton | Israel and the Arabs - Elusive Peace

What happened behind closed doors at the Middle East Peace Summit at Camp David in 2000 - and the reasons why the talks rea...

14: Israel and the Arab States | Twentieth Century History

Schools history programme narrated by John Tidmarsh, looking at Palestine in the 1930s and the relationship betwee...

S3E8: The Iranian Revolution | Days That Shook the World

The departure of the Shah of Iran while Ayatollah Khomeini awaited in Paris.

S3E6: Battle for the Holy City: The Six-Day War | Days That Shook the World

The Six-Day War, which began on June 5, 1967, resulted in Israeli control of the Gaza Strip, Sina...

S2E8: Terrorism: Assassination of Abraham Lincoln | Days That Shook the World

How the commercial airplane has been used as a terrorist weapon: the Black September hijacking ...

S1E8: Lockerbie | Days That Shook the World

How the commercial airplane has been used as a terrorist weapon: the Lockerbie disaster in 1988.

S1E8: Black September Hijackings | Days That Shook the World

How the commercial airplane has been used as a terrorist weapon: the Black September hijacking in 1970.

S1E6: The Birth of Israel | Days That Shook the World

Two days defined the fortunes of 20th-century Jews: Kristallnacht on September 9, 1938, a turning point in Nazi persecu...

S1E6: Kristallnacht | Days That Shook the World

Two days defined the fortunes of 20th-century Jews: Kristallnacht on September 9, 1938, a turning point in Nazi persecution, ...

2: Conspiracy | Suez: A Very British Crisis

This episode provides an insight into the way in which Eden secretly plotted with France and Israel, behind the USA's back, not o...

1: Betrayal | Suez: A Very British Crisis

Archive material, interviews, and dramatisations provide an insight into to the Suez crisis of 1956; the Egyptian uprising that bro...

17: Good Guys, Bad Guys: 1967-1978 | Cold War

Under Détente the superpowers continued their rivalry, but carefully avoided direct conflict by courting allies in the developi...

6: The Age of Revolution | The Story of China

Michael Wood explores the history of the world's newest superpower. Michael investigates three cataclysmic revolutions which sh...

13: One Man's Revolution: Mao Tse-Tung | Twentieth Century History

Mao Tse Tung's 42-year leadership of the Chinese Communist Party changed the face of China, the world's mo...

20: 1949: Great Leap Forward | People's Century

Communism helps modernise China, but the decisions and personality cult of CCP Chairman Mao Zedong has a traumatic effect on ...

15: China: 1949-1972 | Cold War

Following the Chinese Revolution Mao Zedong aligns China firmly with the Soviet Union. China becomes the recipient of Soviet aid, supports Co...

Morning Sun | Storyville

A multi-perspective view of the Chinese Cultural Revolution as seen through the eyes of its supporters and opponents.

Mao's cultural revolution | Storyville

Mao secured his socialist revolution by promoting a new proletariat art.

8: Pearl Harbour to Hiroshima | Twentieth Century History

On 7th December 1941, Japanese planes bombed the US fleet at Pearl Harbour. Programme looks at what caused Japan to...

S7E8: Miracle On The River Kwai | Secret History

The hospital created by the doctors and medical orderlies among prisoners of war of the Japanese in Thailand.

15: 1951: Asia Rising | People's Century

Through thrift, hard work and discipline, Japan and later South Korea enjoy economic miracles that bring growth, prosperity and conf...

14: 1945: Fallout | People's Century

Nuclear weapons make the world more dangerous than ever before. The destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 by atom bombs is haile...

11: Thinking Ahead | Inside Japan

Film about the Japanese adaptability and flexibility in industry, shown through the organisation of the Mitsubishi company.

8: Love the Criminal, Hate the Crime | Inside Japan

A look at the treatment of prisoners at one of Japan's largest prisons.

4: Factory Flower Office Lady | Inside Japan

Looking at the life of two working girls in Japan, their opportunities and expectations as women in Japan today.

3: Harmony of the Team | Inside Japan

Baseball has been played in Japan for more than 100 years, and it's now the country's most popular sport.

Inside Japan

Most people think of Japan as an urban, industrial country. In many important ways, however, life in Japan is still an extension of life in a Japanese village.

Episode 2 | Japan with Sue Perkins

Sue Perkins enjoys a night out with Kyoto's geishas, goes free diving with some ama divers and visits Hiroshima. In Tokyo, she explores ho...

S1E4: Hiroshima | Days That Shook the World

Documentary recalling 6 August 1945, when the atom bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, with testimony from American colonel Paul Tibbe...

Hiroshima

Dramatic reconstruction of the devastating impact of the first atomic bomb to be used against people on the citizens of Hiroshima.

S3E1: Forces of Nature | A History of Britain by Simon Schama

The French Revolution sent shockwaves through Britain. While some watched transfixed, others were horrified. Si...

3: Bohemian Rhapsody | Paris

Sandrine Voillet tells how the city embraced technology, counter-culture and immigration.

2: Blood and Chocolate | Paris

Art historian Sandrine Voillet continues her history of Paris and meets top fashion designer Christian Lacroix, leading porn star Ovidie and r...

1: City of Dreams | Paris

Documentary series about the history of Paris. Art historian Sandrine Voillet tells how Paris rose up from the French Revolution to become the worl...

Episode 2 | Napoleon

This edition charts the transformation of a political leader of the French to emperor and global statesman. Presented by British historian Andrew Roberts.

Episode 3 | Napoleon

Andrew Roberts charts the fall of Napoleon, a defining moment in global history. Grave military misjudgements led to his defeat at Waterloo and exile to...

S2E1: The French Revolution | Royal History's Biggest Fibs with Lucy Worsley

Lucy Worsley explores the fibs of the French Revolution. Marie Antoinette's comment, 'Let them e...

1: The American Revolution | American History's Biggest Fibs with Lucy Worsley

Lucy Worsley explores how the history of the American Revolution has been mythologised and man...

6: Revolution | Andrew Marr's History of the World

Andrew explores the Age of Revolution, when people across the world rose up in the name of freedom and equality.

2: Revolutionary Paris | Filthy Cities

Dan Snow sniffs out the French revolution to explore how Paris was once buried in an inescapable stench.

Waterloo | War Walks

Wellington's victory against Napoleon in 1815 ended the most powerful European empire since the Romans. Professor Holmes visits the farms and fields whe...

Terror! Robespierre and the French Revolution

Drama-documentary on the 365 days that Robespierre sat on the Committee of Public Safety - known as 'The Terror' - during which...

Episode 2 | Mandela: The Living Legend

David Dimbleby narrates the second of a two-part of documentary profiling former South African President and ANC leader, Nelson Mandel...

Episode 1 | Mandela: The Living Legend

Former South African President and global statesman, Nelson Mandela offers a unique glimpse into his hectic daily life. David Dimbleby...

S1E3: The Release of Nelson Mandela | Days That Shook the World

Nelson Mandela's release from prison on February 11, 1990.

16: 1957: Skin Deep | People's Century

Through nonviolent and more direct methods, people rally to fight segregation in South Africa, and several states in the United States.

1: Leaders | Icons

Trevor examines the lives of Winston Churchill, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Margaret Thatcher and Nelson Mandela. He discovers exactly what made each of th...

Apartheid in the 1950s | Witness History

Following the death of Nelson Mandela we remember the system he was fighting against. Using BBC archive we present a snapshot of the...

Nelson Mandela: Accused No1 | Storyville

Documentary focusing on the trial in 1964 which sentenced eight men, including Nelson Mandela, to life imprisonment.

Mandela, The Myth and Me | Storyville

Documentary which raises important questions about Nelson Mandela's legacy, featuring interviews with those who knew and loved Mandela,...

Nelson Mandela | Prisoners of Conscience

Nelson Mandela has been in prison in South Africa for the past 19 years. From 1950 Mandela became increasingly important in African ...

South Africa on the eve of Republic Day | Panorama

Reporter Robin Day visits Pretoria, where Nelson Mandela and other defendants in the Rivonia Trial were sentenced, and tal...

Nelson Mandela in His Own Words | Heart of the Matter

During a visit to Stockholm, a month after his release from prison in February 1990, Nelson Mandela gives an exclusive ...

Nelson Mandela | Hardtalk

In 1997, George Alagiah spoke to Nelson Mandela for a special edition of HARDtalk and asked about his life, loves and his earliest days in South Af...

Nelson Mandela | Great Speeches

Nelson Mandela addresses the crowd in Wembley following his release from Prison.

Voices from the Island | Arena

Nelson Mandela and his fellow ex-prisoners recall their incarceration on Robben Island, South Africa's Alcatraz.

Miller Meets Mandela | Arena

Following his release from prison, Nelson Mandela opens up about his life and the turbulent times he's faced in this rare and momentous intervie...

February 11th 1990: Nelson Mandela Is Freed | A Day That Shook The World

The series recalling key news stories from the past celebrates another historic moment: 11 February ...

Race Problems Around the World | Panorama

The main feature is a report by Robin Day from Pretoria, where Nelson Mandela and other defendants in the Rivonia Trial have been s...

Union of South Africa | Panorama

Woodrow Wyatt investigates the impact of new apartheid laws, such as the Group Areas Act. Wyatt interviews politicians from all parties, inc...

Nelson Mandela: One Incredible Life

Actress Lenora Crichlow sets off to South Africa to discover the story of how Nelson Mandela brought peace to his country and what he mea...

Oti Mabuse: My South Africa

Strictly's Oti Mabuse returns to her childhood home to revisit the people and places that inspired her to be the dancer and woman she is today.

Episode 2 | The Balkans: Europe's Forgotten Frontier

Katya Adler travels to Romania, where she visits what will be Nato's largest European base, Kosovo, Europe's youngest co...

Episode 1 | The Balkans: Europe's Forgotten Frontier

The BBC's Europe editor, Katya Adler, travels to Croatia, Bosnia and Albania. Thirty years on from the Yugoslav wars of ...

7: Pax Americana | The Death of Yugoslavia

The Bafta award-winning team who made the original documentary series, shown last year, returns to Bosnia for a follow-up report o...

5: The Milosevic Interview | The Death of Yugoslavia

President of Serbia Slobodan Milosevic talks to Laura Silber about his rise to power, nationalism and the war, in an int...

6: A Safe Area | The Death of Yugoslavia

This is the story of three years of international failure in Bosnia. The main participants tell how promises to the Bosnian Muslims ...

3: Wars of Independence | The Death of Yugoslavia

Two days after Croatia and Slovenia's declarations of independence, war in Yugoslavia commenced. Witnesses testify that cen...

4: The Gates of Hell | The Death of Yugoslavia

New evidence shows that it was President Slobodan Milosevic of Serbia himself who ordered the ethnic cleansers into Bosnia. Fo...

2: The Road to War | The Death of Yugoslavia

In August 1995, President Tudjman of Croatia swept 150,000 Serbs out of the Krajina region of former Yugoslavia. He and the Serb...

1: Enter Nationalism | The Death of Yugoslavia

In this first programme, President Milosevic of Serbia and his inner circle describe how he betrayed his political patron, sei...

Ordinary People | Inside Story

A portrait of Karlovac UN transit camp in Croatia, recording the shattered lives of the Bosnian Muslims who pass through its doors.