A number of fantastic podcasts here from Melvin Bragg and the "In Our Time" team. Links to each given below:

The Dreyfus Affair

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Dreyfus Affair, which tore France apart in the 1890s. With Robert Gildea, Robert Tombs and Ruth Harris.

Download 20MB (right click & "save target as / link as")


The French Revolution's Legacy

The impact and legacy of the French Revolution on European culture and politics. With Stephan Collini, Andrew Roberts and Anne Janowitz.

Download 13MB (right click & "save target as / link as")



Moses Mendelssohn

Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the work and influence of the 18th-century philosopher Moses Mendelssohn. Moses's learning earned him the sobriquet of the 'German Socrates' and he is considered to be one of the principal architects of the Haskala, the Jewish Enlightenment. Today, he is perhaps best remembered for his efforts to bring Jewish and German culture closer together and for his plea for religious toleration. Melvyn Bragg is joined by Christopher Clark, Professor of Modern European History at the University of Cambridge; Abigail Green, Tutor and Fellow in History at the University of Oxford and Adam Sutcliffe, Senior Lecturer in European History at King's College, London.

Download 20MB (right click & "save target as / link as")



Hitler in History

Melvyn Bragg examines Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany though historiographical theories. With guests Ian Kershaw, Niall Ferguson and Mary Fulbrook.

Download 20MB (right click & "save target as / link as")


History and Understanding the Past

Melvyn Bragg examines whether we can ever predict the future by understanding the past. With Eric Hobsbawm and Richard Evans.

Download 13MB (right click & "save target as / link as")

For those of you beginning your Personal Studies, don't forget to check out Simon Schama's new series, "The Story of the Jews." You can find the series on iPlayer HERE or check out the links on this page. This would make great background watching (or reading - there is also a book) for the Guiseley Personal Study.

From the BBC Website: 

"The story of the Jewish experience begins 3,000 years ago with the emergence of a tribal people in a contested land and their extraordinary book, the Hebrew Bible, a chronicle of their stormy relationship with a faceless, formless, jealous God. It was loyalty to this 'God of Words' that defined the distinct identity of the ancient Jews and preserved it despite all that history could throw their way - war, invasion, deportation, enslavement, exile and assimilation.

The story unfolds with a dazzling cast of historical characters: Sigmund Freud dying in exile in London; Victorian evangelicals and explorers following 'in the footsteps' of Moses; Jewish mercenaries living, prospering and intermarrying in the pagan land of Egypt; Messianic Jews dreaming of the Apocalypse; and a Jewish historian, Josephus, who witnessed first-hand the moment when the apocalypse finally came and the Romans destroyed the Jewish High Temple in Jerusalem."