BBC HomeExplore the BBC


Accessibility help
Text only
BBC Homepage
BBC Radio
BBC Radio 4 - 92 to 94 FM and 198 Long WaveListen to Digital Radio, Digital TV and OnlineListen on Digital Radio, Digital TV and Online

PROGRAMME FINDER:
Programmes
Podcasts
Schedule
Presenters
PROGRAMME GENRES:
News
Drama
Comedy
Science
Religion|Ethics
History
Factual
Messageboards
Radio 4 Tickets
Radio 4 Help

Contact Us

Like this page?
Send it to a friend!

 

History
IN OUR TIME
MISSED A PROGRAMME?
Go to the Listen Again
PROGRAMME INFO
Thursday 9.00-9.45am
repeated 9.30pm

The big ideas which form the intellectual agenda of our age are illuminated by some of the best minds in the world. Melvyn Bragg and three guests investigate the history of ideas and debate their application in modern life.
LISTEN AGAINListen
Listen to this edition of In Our Time.
PRESENTER
Melvyn Bragg
Melvyn Bragg
"I'm fascinated by the fact that we live in a time when so many people are doing fantastic work, and thinking in areas which it's not remotely possible for me to keep up with & and these people are prepared to talk about it. They're prepared to come on In Our Time and other programmes on Radio 4 and try and talk to the rest of us ..."
LATEST PROGRAMME
Thursday 17 October 2002

SLAVERY AND EMPIRE

Slavery and empire are two themes that run right through this country’s history. Britain’s imperial project dominated at least the last three centuries of our national life. Its advocates claim it was a civilising mission by which Britain spread enlightenment and improvement across the globe. Opponents have long seen it as a brutal business, with Britons cast as cruel oppressors out to exploit a conquered world.

Is our imperial history so clear cut? What if Britons were themselves captives, either as prisoners of an imperial enterprise that sucked them in, generation after generation or, in some startling cases, as slaves to foreign peoples? Is slavery an inevitable part of empire: does it come with the territory? And how did Britain finally shake it off?

Guests

Linda Colley
School Professor of History, LSE and author of Captives (Jonathan Cape; ISBN: 0224059254)

Catherine Hall
Professor of Modern British Social and Cultural History, University College London, author of Civilising Subjects (Polity Press; ISBN: 0745618219)

Felipe Fernandez Armesto
Professorial Research Fellow, Queen Mary College London


Listen Live
Audio Help

In Our Time

Message Board

Join the  debate on the
BBC History messageboard
USEFUL BBC LINKS
Find out more about the British Empire at BBC History.
DON'T MISS
In Our Time
Thursday 9.00-9.45am, rpt 9.30-10.00pm. Melvyn Bragg explores the history of ideas. Listen again online or download the latest programme as an mp3 file.
RELATED PROGRAMMES
The Long View
Radio 3 Nightwaves
Radio 3 Ideas and Culture

News & Current Affairs | Arts & Drama | Comedy & Quizzes | Science | Religion & Ethics | History | Factual

Back to top

About the BBC | Help | Terms of Use | Privacy & Cookies Policy