26 September 2005
Monday 26 September 2005 21:30-22:15 (Radio 3)
Chris Patten talks to Paul Allen about his new book Not Quite the Diplomat, which presents a personal view of Britain, Europe and America in the 21st Century.
Programme Details
Chris Patten, as the last Governor of Hong Kong, oversaw the return of one of the last vestiges of the British Empire to China . He was then appointed European Commissioner for External Relations, which he describes as being in 'the engine room' of world diplomacy. Now, freed of the bonds of diplomatic restraint, he's written an insider's account of the world stage (called Not Quite the Diplomat). He gives his thoughts on coming back to, amongst other things, a culture 'totally transformed by New Labour's political sorcery and the Conservative Party's stupidity'.
BBC Radio 4's long running history series This Sceptred Isle returns for another 90 programmes - this time on the subject of Empire. Linda Colley, Professor of History at Princeton University listens to the initial week which starts with Henry II and "the first colony" - Ireland .
And director Jatinder Verma talks about his latest Tara Arts production which translates The Merchant of Venice to 16 th century Cochin in the southern Indian state of Kerala - a thriving trading place with dynamic communities of Christians and Jews - and finds parallels between Elizabethan theatre and Kathakali - one of the oldest theatre forms in the world.
That's all on this evening's Night Waves at 9.30 here on BBC Radio 3 presented by Paul Allen
Presenter: Paul Allen
Producer: Ian Willox
Further details:
Not Quite the Diplomat by Chris Patten is published by Allen Lane on 26 th September 2005 .
The Tara Arts production of The Merchant of Venice tours from 21 st September 2005 . See www.tara-arts.com for details.
This Sceptred Isle: Empire is on BBC Radio 4 weekdays at 3.45pm . See www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/history/empire/ for details.
