People: England
-
Chivalry and Betrayal: The hundred years war
A documentary on The Hundred Years’ War, produced in 2013 by the BBC. Presented by cultural historian Janina Ramirez. This documentary takes us back to the time when the ruling classes of France and England were relatives. They shared the same values, had the same codes of behavior and language, and disputed the same lands. France…
-
The Dark Ages: An Age of Light
Another nice BBC documentary, this time on the Dark Ages. Waldemar Januszczak shows that this period wasn’t just a gloomy and backward one. Because there are so few written sources from this period, the main focus lies on art, and how society is reflected therein. Episode 1: The Clash of the Gods The emergence of…
-
Blutige Weihnachten: Die Schlacht von Ortona
In 1943 the Allies planned a massive attack on the small coastal town of Ortona in Central Italy. They are confident of a quick and easy victory. But the German troops were prepared. What follows is the bloodiest battle in Fascist Italy. This documentary explaines how the battle commences and the terrible consequences for the…
-
The Vikings, by Neil Oliver
Episode one: Who were the Vikings Vikings with their known helmets, boats and Norse religion seam to suddenly appear in European history as they started to sack monasteries and cities at the end of the 8th century. In fact, Vikings have a long prehistoric heritage. This mysterious world is examined in this episode. Episode two:…
-
The Crimean War: A clash of empires
The devastating details of a long ago war are eloquently presented in this documentary. The Crimean War: A Clash of Empires is a well-researched look into the conflict that shook Europe during the years 1853-56. The bloody conflict that pitted Russia against a large European coalition is shown here to be part of a chain…
-
The fall of Singapore – The Great Betrayal
The Japanese took out Pearl Harbor and subsequently captured Singapore in August 1941 in no-time. How did the newly established Eastern power manage to defeat the two world great naval and air forces on their own game? As this documentary shows, espionage by the Japanese gave them the knowhow to achieve this extraordinary feat. For…
-
The power of art (5): Turner
J.M.W. Turner, born in 1775, attended the Royal Academy aged 14 and grew out to one of Britain’s most celebrated artist. He is still considered a controversial figure. Wellknown as a landscape artist, there was another Turner, as Schama puts it: ‘extreme Turner, the cockney poet just short of madness, the Turner we ought to…