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The Invention Of...

Misha Glenny investigates the borders, the histories and the people that make different nations what they are.

Radio 4,46 episodes

Episodes

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Hungary
Hungary and Mohacs 500
Misha Glenny heads to Budapest to find where Hungary came from.
09 Jun 2025,42 mins
Hungary
The Butcher and the Poet
Misha Glenny heads to Hungary in a series about history and power.
16 Jun 2025,42 mins
Hungary
Two World Wars and One Failed Revolution
Misha Glenny on Hungary's dramatic and tragic history in two world wars.
23 Jun 2025,42 mins
Taiwan
When did countries become countries? Misha Glenny on what is happening in Taiwan now.
11 Sep 2024,28 mins
China
The First Emperor
Misha Glenny on where China came from and what it is now.
22 Apr 2024,42 mins
China
To Kowtow or Not Kowtow
Misha Glenny and producer Miles Warde head to Hong Kong.
29 Apr 2024,42 mins
China
Imperial Collapse
Misha Glenny on the end of the Qing, and what happened next.
06 May 2024,42 mins
China
The Life and Times of Chairman Mao
Misha Glenny completes our travels round China with the story of Chairman Mao
13 May 2024,42 mins
Turkey
The Ottomans: East or West
Misha Glenny in Istanbul on the 100th anniversary of the Turkish Republic.
27 Oct 2023,28 mins
Turkey
The Military
East versus west, secular versus religious, how the empire came to the point of collapse.
03 Nov 2023,28 mins
Turkey
A Balancing Act
Misha Glenny on the birth of Turkey from the ruins of the old Ottoman Empire in 1923.
10 Nov 2023,28 mins
Russia
A Tale of Two Ivans
What is Russia and where did it come from? Misha Glenny presents.
09 Jan 2023,28 mins
Russia
The Empire Strikes Back
How little Moscow expanded into the biggest country in the world.
16 Jan 2023,28 mins
Russia
Catherine the Great and the Question of Europe
The Bear moves west.
23 Jan 2023,28 mins
Russia
The Sacred Song of War
Misha Glenny on Russia and defensive war.
30 Jan 2023,28 mins
Poland
Obliterated From the Map
Misha Glenny on how Poland, Lithuania and Ukraine were wiped from the map.
28 Mar 2022,28 mins
Poland
A Nation Without a State
For 123 years Poland was divided between Russia, Prussia and Austria - how did it survive?
04 Apr 2022,28 mins
Poland
Stalin on One Side, Hitler From the Left
In August 1939, the Russians and the Germans agreed to slice Poland up.
11 Apr 2022,28 mins
Scandinavia
The Bridge
Misha Glenny looks at the people, the borders and the histories of Scandinavia.
10 Nov 2020,28 mins
Scandinavia
The Viking Inheritance
Why Sweden has not always been the peace-loving nation it is today, with Misha Glenny.
17 Nov 2020,28 mins
Scandinavia
The Narcissism of Small Differences
Misha Glenny looks at how Norway emerged as the richest Scandinavian nation of all.
24 Nov 2020,28 mins
Britain
Like Quicksand for the Uninitiated
A four-part history of us - our borders, our peoples, the stories we tell ourselves.
24 Feb 2019,28 mins
Britain
Anglocentrism… or Why Britons Never Will Be Slaves
Misha Glenny on the role of England in the Invention of Britain
03 Mar 2019,28 mins
Britain
Insecurity… From Dover to Dublin and Beyond
A four-part history of us - our borders, our peoples and the stories we tell ourselves.
10 Mar 2019,28 mins
Britain
So Many Different Little Corners
Who are the Scots, the Irish, the English and the Welsh? What do these words even mean?
17 Mar 2019,28 mins
The Netherlands
Orange Fever
Misha Glenny explores a pivot of western history, the Netherlands.
21 May 2018,28 mins
The Netherlands
The Golden Age
Misha Glenny on the astonishing golden age of the Netherlands.
28 May 2018,28 mins
The Netherlands
Why Belgium?
Misha Glenny ends his travels in the Netherlands in Brussels, home of the EU.
04 Jun 2018,28 mins
The USA
It'll Never Work
The USA is an invention. So how do you build the most powerful country in the world?
01 May 2017,30 mins
The USA
Borderlands
The USA is an invention. So how do you build the most powerful country in the world?
08 May 2017,30 mins