Great Continental Railway Journeysis now a firmly established series on BBC2, following in the illustrious tracks of its predecessor - Great British Railway Journeys. Both series are fronted by ex-politician Michael Portillo and in this European odyssey he travels around continental Europe, using George Bradshaw's1913 Continental Railway Guide. Now coming up for its fourth instalment this autumn, Portillo guides the train-travelling fan across Europe arriving at a myriad of magical and his...

Great Continental Railway Journeys is now a firmly established series on BBC2, following in the illustrious tracks of its predecessor – Great British Railway Journeys. Both series are fronted by ex-politician Michael Portillo and in this European odyssey he travels around continental Europe, using George Bradshaw's 1913 Continental Railway Guide. Now coming up for its fourth instalment this autumn, Portillo guides the train-travelling fan across Europe arriving at a myriad of magical and h...

Specially selected history series presented by Michael Portillo, exploring the most significant events before, during and after the First and Second World WarsJournalist and broadcaster Michael Portillo has always been fascinated by the past. A former politician and history graduate, he has presented several TV documentaries, including Portillo's Empire Journey and Great British Railway Journeys. Now, in these fascinating radio programmes, he turn...

Discover the hidden history of Britain through the stories of its 'lost' or abandoned places and buildings.Portillo’s Secret History of Britain presents a compelling and wonderfully evocative history of Britain through the stories of its ‘lost’ or abandoned places and buildings. The chapters cover a variety of historical themes: Crime and Punishment, Health and Medicine, D...

Michael Portillo presents these specially selected shows exploring the history of democracy and the modern political systemIn a parliamentary career spanning over 20 years, Michael Portillo served as a Conservative MP and held numerous Cabinet posts. Few people are better placed to comment on politics than him, and in these thought-provoking programmes, he gives us his take on the development of democracy and contemporary political theory.In the three-part ...

Michael Portillo uncovers the forgotten events concealed by famous moments in historyHistory is complicated, and to make sense of it, we construct a narrative, editing and shaping the past to form a coherent story. But in doing so, there is much we leave out, leading to gaps in our collective memory. In this series, broadcaster and former politician Michael Portillo revisits some of history's best-known moments to fill in some of these gaps, rediscovering forgotten...

Great American Railroad Journeys sees the famous brand of social-history-cum-travelogue venture to the New World. Across multiple programmes and using Appleton's General Guide To The United States & Canada as reference, Michael Portillo now undertakes an epic trip by train from New York and Boston on the East Coast down to the Deep South of Atlanta and New Orleans, then on to Chicago, Colorado, New Mexico and ultimately finishing in San Francisco. This lavishly illustrate...

Major public figures go back to their beginnings and uncover where they really startedJohn Wilson (acclaimed arts and culture reporter and journalist, and presenter of Front Row, Newsnight Review and Pick of the Week) meets up with a variety of public figures from such diverse fields as food, mathematics, politics, writing and music, and takes them back to the influential schools, teachers, and early workplaces they may have forgotten, but which have not forgotten ...

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BYThe New York Times Book Review • The Economist • The Christian Science Monitor • Bloomberg Businessweek • The Globe and MailFrom the bestselling and award-winning author of Paris 1919 comes a masterpiece of narrative nonfiction, a fascinating portrait of Europe from 1900 up to the outbreak of World War I.The century since the end of the Napoleonic wars had been the most peaceful era Europe h...

PULITZER PRIZE WINNER • WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD • NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A gripping, groundbreaking biography of the combative man whose genius and force of will created modern capitalism.In this groundbreaking biography, T.J. Stiles tells the dramatic story of Cornelius “Commodore” Vanderbilt, the combative man and American icon who, through his genius and force of will, did more than perhaps any other in...

Love history? Know your stuff with History in an Hour.The ‘Great War’, from July 1914 to November 1918, was without parallel. It brought to an end four dynasties, ignited revolution, and forged new nations. It introduced killing on an unprecedented scale, costing an estimated nine million lives. It was the war that destroyed any notion of romance or chivalry in battle; it pulled in combatants from nations across the globe and shattered them, body and mind.The War involved a...

Slavery existed throughout the western Hemisphere, but after its abolition in the British empire it persisted for decades in much of the U.S. Even in states where slavery was illegal, slaves were subject to capture and return to their owners. The only sure escape was to cross the border into Canada.The Underground Railway was an informal network of secret routes and safe houses, an organized escape route run by blacks and whites who opposed slavery and who helped black Americans fi...