The Koh-i-Noor

Historian and author William Dalrymple and BBC journalist Anita Anand join us to discuss their new history of the Koh-i-Noor, the famed Indian diamond, which was controversially brought to Britain in the 19th century

Living through Partition

We speak to Kavita Puri, presenter of the new BBC Radio 4 series Partition Voices, which tells the story of the turbulent birth of India and Pakistan through interviews with those who lived through it

The brilliance of Henry James

In advance of a major new Henry James season on BBC Radio 4, Professor Sarah Churchwell explores the life and work of the great Anglo-American author, whose books offer insights to changes in the USA and in the role of women in the late 19th and early…

The English in America

Historian and author James Evans talks to us about his new book Emigrants, which explains why hundreds of thousands of English people decided to make a new life in the Americas during the 17th century. He also explores the challenges of migrating to…

Germany’s World War Two

In a talk that he delivered at our recent World War Two event in Bristol, Professor Nicholas Stargardt reflects on how the Second World War was experienced by ordinary Germans, both on the front line and back home

Hans Sloane and the British Museum

Author and historian James Delbourgo discusses his new book Collecting the World, which explores the life of the 18th-century natural historian Hans Sloane whose collections went on to form the basis of the British Museum in London