Ray’s History Radio & TV Picks. 25.02.2015. No.05

Saints & Sinners: Britain’s Millennium of Monasteries. 2 of 4.
BBC 4: Thu 25 Feb 2015, 21.00 – 2200.
How the golden age of the British monastery was during the medieval period, when monks transformed British society and rose to a position of immense power.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b053pzv1

Digging for Ireland.
BBC 4: Thu 25 Feb, 23.00 – 00.00 (Repeat of Tue 24 Feb)
Highlights from 2014 archaeology in Ireland, including the location of the Battle of Ford of the Biscuits from the Elizabethan Nine Years’ War, and plunder from the Spanish Armada. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p021j8bm

The Great War: The People’s Story. 2 of 4.
ITV: Thu 26 Feb 2015, 22.55 – 23.55.
Repeat of 2014 drama – documentary series which uses the original diaries, letters, and memoirs of the men and women who were caught up in the conflict. Episode details original release: http://www.itv.com/presscentre/ep1week33/great-war-peoples-story

The Great War: What are our Allies Doing? 10 of 26
BBC 4: Sun 1 March 2015, 19.00 – 19.40. 1964 series continues.
The documentary continues to chronicle 1915, examining the German offensive of Gorlice-Tarnow, in which the Russians lost two million men. Having made little or no progress elsewhere, at Chantilly the Allies unanimously decided on the strategy for 1916. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0074p3f

The American Revolution. 3 of 3.
Discovery Channel, Sun 1 March 2015, 20.00 – 21.00
Last in series: The British Army launches a new campaign in the South.
http://www.discoveryuk.com/web/american-revolution/

Promises, Promises: A History of Debt.
BBC Radio 4. Mon 2 March – Fri 13 March 2015. 10 daily episodes
Anthropologist David Graeber explores the ways debt has shaped society over 5000 years. In the first week he examines the moral power that debt holds over us, the origin of money, the theology of debt, and the political impact of the invention of coinage.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05447pc

Saudi Arabia: Sands of Time. 1of 3: The Rise of the Kingdom
BBC Radio 4. Mon 2 March 2015. 20.00 – 20.30
Egyptian writer Tarek Osman examines the history of this desert kingdom and asks why it is still so relevant and yet so misunderstood.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b054zcz4

Suffragettes Forever! The Story of Women and Power. 1 of 3
BBC 4: Mon 2 March 2015, 23.20 – 00.20 (Repeat of Wed 24 Feb)
Historian Amanda Vickery explores why, in the early 20th century, thousands of British women joined a violent militant organisation.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0544j0j

Suffragettes Forever! The Story of Women and Power. 2 of 3
BBC 4: Wed 4 March 2015, 20.00 – 21.00.
Here Vickery looks back to Queen Victoria, who paradoxically thought women’s rights campaigners deserved a good whipping
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b054qbxy

Catch up on Iplayer.

Making History. BBC Radio 4. Tuesdays. 15.00 – 15.30. Earlier this week, pt 4 of 9:
Tom Holland on the trail of missing frescoes which shed light on Birmingham’s artistic heritage and its place at the centre of civic politics before the First World War, and Dr Sam Willis in Shrewsbury to explore the history of our 18th century flying men. Available on iPlayer:
Art and the rise of Birmingham: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05375l1
Previous episodes (130) http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qxrc/episodes/player