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The USA: Borderlands Jun 04, 2018

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Just two centuries ago, no one had a clue where the borders of the USA actually were. Hemmed in by the Atlantic, the Appalachian mountains and Canada to the north, early Americans could only dream of the massive territory Donald Trump and his government control today. So why is the border with Mexico where it runs today? For that matter what fixed the Canadian border? The answer to both questions is war.

Misha Glenny and producer Miles Warde travel across Texas and into Mexico to find out what defined the USA in the south. This is fringeland where multiple cultures collide. Local response to the President's wall proposal is not what you'd expect. With contributions from Andres Resendez, Kate Betz of the Bullock Texas State History Museum in Austin and Clive Webb on the history of the line in the south; plus Margaret MacMillan, Kathleen Burk and Alan Taylor on the numerous wars that shaped the frontier in the north.

The USA: It'll Never Work Jun 04, 2018

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The United States of America is an invention. Before it existed, it needed to be created. Where would its borders be? Who was going to live there? How would it be run? As America's new president approaches his first hundred day, Misha Glenny follows up acclaimed programmes on Germany, Brazil, and France with a timely investigation of the USA.

To build a country you need a system of power, but independence from Britain immediately set up a clash - the politicians of the north against the slave owning south. When the Founding Fathers gathered in the capital Philadelphia, which sat half way between the two, they knew that there was going to be a fight. Donald Trump loves to quote the Founding Fathers but what did they actually say? Misha Glenny travels from New York to Philly and on to Washington in pursuit of the origins of the constitution, and discovers few people imagined it would last more than ten years.

Featuring contributions from double Pulitzer winner Alan Taylor; novelist Zoe Heller; Kathleen Burk, author of Old World, New World; Philly native Joe Queenan; and Carol Berkin, author of A Brilliant Solution.Future programmes focus on the history of the Mexican border; plus the peoples of America - who do you let in, who do you keep out?

Misha Glenny is the BBC's former Central Europe correspondent. The producer in Bristol is Miles Warde.

Germany: Germany Unified Jun 04, 2018

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In 1871, at the Palace of Mirrors in Versailles, the king of Prussia was crowned emperor of the newly unified German empire - a quite staggering event. This is the story of Germany's journey to define itself, indeed to stamp itself, on the European map.

"Everything was decided by military strength, but also by a revolutionary idea that there were parts of the map reserved for particular nations - blood and soil, and that if you pick up a handful of soil, this is German, and if you move fifty yards to the left, this is French." Professor Norman Davies.

Travelling from the great areas of conflict - Alsace Lorraine in the west to Konnigratz in the east - Misha Glenny brings to life moments in European history that have huge resonance today. Contributors include Dr Abigail Green of Oxford University, and Professor Michael Sturmer, a former advisor to Helmut Kohl.

The producer is Miles Warde.

Germany: The Rise of Prussia May 29, 2018

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Germany history is often obscured by the fog of Nazism, making it easy to forget both the high culture, and its often feeble past. There is for example in Koblenz a fountain, marked in 1812 by Napoleon's army heading east, and by the Russians in 1813 heading west. In this series Germany is the turntable, the chess board, the stomping ground of Europe.

"It's very difficult to think of Germany at this time as having a future of unity and power," says Professor Norman Davies. "It was in many ways retarded."

In this second programme, Misha Glenny explores the rise of Prussia - from Frederick the Great in 1740 to humiliation by Napoleon in 1806. He discovers a state far removed from the images of Iron Crosses, spiked helmets and officious bureaucrats of popular imagination. It is Prussia that will eventually create modern Germany, but first there are several myths to dispel.

Misha Glenny is a former BBC central European correspondent and winner of a Sony gold. The producer is Miles Warde, who collaborated with Misha Glenny on previous series about the Alps, the Habsburgs and Garibaldi.

Germany: The Thirty Years War May 29, 2018

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Misha Glenny presents a new history of Germany before the Nazis and two world wars, when this region was the stomping ground for foreign invaders.

The Alps: Episode 3 Mar 23, 2010

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The Alps form a vast mountain barrier stretching from Vienna to Nice, dividing German north from Latin south. Misha Glenny tackles our shared European history in a totally unexpected way, exploring the impact of the Alps on our culture, our economy and the formation of eight European states.

Misha travels to Switzerland and France in pursuit of a myth - that it was the British who invented alpine sports. At the launch for the 125th anniversary of the Cresta Run, he discovers that the first British travellers to the Alps were either very rich or very ill. With interviews from Fergus Fleming, Jim Ring - author of How the English Made The Alps, and Swiss hotelier Art Furrer who confirms that, yes, it is all true.

The Alps: Episode 2 Mar 16, 2010

Show notes

Why are the Alps riddled with frontiers, and how have so many countries managed to take a bite of this famous mountain range? Misha reveals how areas such as Savoy and Tyrol were ripped apart by competing powers, and why Switzerland - which has no real reason to exist - has managed to survive.

With contributions from nationalist leader of La Ligue Savoisienne Patrice Abeille, author of the White War Mark Thompson, and Jon Mathieu, the founding director of the Institute of the Alps.

The Alps: Episode 1 Mar 09, 2010

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In this first programme, Misha focuses on the mountain passes, and why controlling these cracks in the Alps was the key to moving from north to south.

Garibaldi's Grand Scheme: Episode 2 Nov 19, 2007

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Misha Glenny traces the career of Italian nationalist hero Giuseppe Garibaldi.

He explores the background to Garibaldi's most glorious exploit, the landing of a thousand men on Sicily and the heroic efforts that liberated all of southern Italy. On his travels, he meets former mayor of Palermo Leoluca Orlando, the man who stood up to the mafia.

Garibaldi's Grand Scheme: Episode 1 Nov 12, 2007

Show notes

Misha Glenny traces the career of Italian nationalist hero Giuseppe Garibaldi.

1/2. Born in Nice in 1807, Garibaldi became a merchant seaman, a guerrilla fighter in South America, a defeated hero of the Roman Republic and the man who liberated the south of Italy before giving up all of his powers to the north.

Misha's journey takes him to Sicily, Rome, Sardinia and Milan. Among the people he meets is Anita Garibaldi, a descendant of the General himself.

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