Douglas Hurd
Thursday 21 June 2007 21:45-22:30 (Radio 3)
Matthew Sweet is joined by former Foreign and Home Secretary, Douglas Hurd, who has written a new biography of Sir Robert Peel, one of the most important figures in Conservative Party history.
Leading the party during a turbulent time in the 19th century, Peel made many important political reforms such as creating the modern police force and repealing the infamous Corn Laws. So does Douglas Hurd believe Peel's legacy has resonance for today's Conservative Party?
Matthew also explores the history of one of the most influential weapons of our age, the AK47.
Temptation in Eden by Lucas Cranach
Temptation in Eden by Lucas Cranach
Playlist
Douglas Hurd
The former Foreign Secretary Douglas Hurd is Matthew Sweet's guest on tonight's Night Waves. Hurd was a member of the Conservative Party which was in serious conflict over Europe. The last time that the party nearly split was over Robert Peel's repeal of the Corn Laws in the 1840s. Now Hurd has written the first biography of Robert Peel for over thirty years - the controversial Prime Minister who helped create the modern police force and was a driving force behind globalisation. In tonight's Night Waves, Douglas Hurd describes Peel's impact on modern Britain and the lessons he learnt himself from Peel as a politician.
Robert Peel: A Biography by Douglas Hurd is published by Weidenfeld and Nicholson
The Cult of the Amateur
Andrew Keen explains why he thinks - as the subtitle of his new book The Cult of the Amateur makes clear - today's internet culture is killing our culture and damaging our economy. He is concerned that the web revolution has turned culture into cacophony and threatens previously trusted sources of information such as professional newspapers and magazines. Digital media researcher Dr Jo Twist joins the discussion to tell him why she thinks he's wrong.
The Cult of the Amateur by Andrew Keen is published by Nicholas Brealey Publishing
Lucas Cranach
The Temptation in Eden is the first exhibition in Britain devoted to Lucas Cranach the elder. Cranach, a friend of the theologian Martin Luther, was one of the most important and inventive painters of sixteenth Century Germany. The show, at the Courtauld Institute in London, revolves around one major work, the moment before mankind's fall from grace in the painting Adam and Eve. Bill Feaver talks about Cranach and this new exhibition on tonight's Night Waves.
Temptation in Eden: Lucas Cranach's Adam and Eve runs at The Courtauld Institute of Art in London from 21 June - 23 September 2007
The Kalashnikov
It is one of the most reliable guns and one of the easiest to use. One estimate suggests that there are over 100 million of them in worldwide circulation. The gun is the invention of Mikhail Kalashnikov and is the AK 47. It is, argues Michael Hodges in his new book on the weapon, one of the great icons of the last century and will remain one in the present century. In tonight's Night Waves Hodges, a former musician turned globe trotting reporter, tells the remarkable history of the AK 47 and describes what its like to be shot at with one.
AK47 The Story of the People's Gun by Michael Hodges is published by Sceptre
