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The Wrong Empire

Simon Schama traces the steps of the empire-makers, asking how a trading enterprise based on the idea of liberty became an empire built on slavery.

Simon Schama traces the steps of the empire-makers to tell the extraordinary story of how this small set of islands came to rule an empire that stretched around the globe. How did a trading enterprise based on the idea of liberty become an empire built on the enslavement of millions of Africans? How did Britain lose control of its own colony - America - yet go on to conquer India? On a journey that takes him to Barbados, North America, Canada and India, Schama reveals how Britain came to rule 'the wrong empire'.

59 minutes

Last on

Wed 22 Mar 202302:40

Credits

RoleContributor
PresenterSimon Schama
Executive ProducerMartin Davidson
ProducerIan Bremner

Broadcasts

  • Tue 29 May 200121:00
  • Mon 11 Jun 200121:00
  • Tue 12 Jun 200100:45
  • Thu 21 Jun 200102:05
  • Sat 8 Sep 200110:00
  • Sat 8 Sep 200113:00
  • Sat 8 Sep 200116:00
  • Sat 9 Nov 200220:10
  • Fri 31 Dec 200409:00
  • Sat 23 Mar 201310:00
  • Thu 21 Aug 201421:00
  • Fri 22 Aug 201403:00
  • Wed 27 Aug 201400:00
  • Tue 21 Mar 202321:00
  • Wed 22 Mar 202302:40

Quiz: How's your British history knowledge?

Quiz: How's your British history knowledge?

Quiz featuring seven key moments between 3000 BC and 1603 AD from the first series.

Quiz: Can you answer these seven history questions?

Quiz: Can you answer these seven history questions?

Quiz featuring seven key moments between 1603 and 1776 from the second series.