Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the Cotton Famine in Lancashire from 1861-65. The Famine followed the blockade of Confederate Southern ports during the American Civil War which stopped the flow of cotton into mills in Britain and Europe. Reports at the time told of starvation, mass unemployment and migration. Abraham Lincoln wrote, "I know and deeply deplore the sufferings which the working-men of Manchester, and in all Europe, are called to endure in this crisis." While the full cause and extent of the Famine in Lancashire are disputed, the consequences of this and the cotton blockade were far reaching.WithLawrence Goldman
Director of the Institute of Historical Research at the University of LondonEmma Griffin
Professor of History at the University of East AngliaAndDavid Brown
Senior Lecturer in American Studies at University of ManchesterProducer: Simon Tillotson.
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45:12
Tagore
Rabindranath Tagore was the first non-European to win a Nobel Prize for Literature. He has been called one of the outstanding thinkers of the 20th century and the greatest poet India has ever produced. His Nobel followed publication of Gitanjali, his English version of some of his Bengali poems. WB Yeats and Ezra Pound were great supporters. Tagore was born in Calcutta in 1861 and educated partly in Britain; King George V knighted him, but Tagore renounced this in 1919 following the Amritsar Massacre. A key figure in Indian nationalism, Tagore became a friend of Gandhi, offering criticism as well as support. A polymath and progressive, Tagore painted, wrote plays, novels, short stories and many songs. The national anthems of India and Bangladesh are based on his poems. WithChandrika Kaul
Lecturer in Modern History at the University of St AndrewsBashabi Fraser
Professor of English Literature and Creative Writing at Edinburgh Napier UniversityAndJohn Stevens
Leverhulme Postdoctoral Fellow at SOAS, University of LondonProducer: Simon Tillotson.
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46:36
The California Gold Rush
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the California Gold Rush. In 1849 the recent discovery of gold at Coloma, near Sacramento in California, led to a massive influx of prospectors seeking to make their fortunes. Within a couple of years the tiny settlement of San Francisco had become a major city, with tens of thousands of immigrants, the so-called Forty-Niners, arriving by boat and over land. The gold rush transformed the west coast of America and its economy, but also uprooted local populations of Native Americans and made irreversible changes to natural habitats.With:Kathleen Burk
Professor of Modern and Contemporary History at University College LondonJacqueline Fear-Segal
Reader in American History and Culture at the University of East AngliaFrank Cogliano
Professor of American History at the University of Edinburgh.
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45:52
The Eunuch
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the history and significance of eunuchs, castrated men who were a common feature of many civilisations for at least three thousand years. Eunuchs were typically employed as servants in royal households in the ancient Middle East, China and classical antiquity. In some civilisations they were used as administrators or senior military commanders, sometimes achieving high office. The tradition lingered until surprisingly recently, with castrated singers remaining a feature of Vatican choirs until the nineteenth century, while the last Chinese eunuch of the imperial court died in 1996.With:Karen Radner
Professor of Ancient Near Eastern History at University College LondonShaun Tougher
Reader in Ancient History at Cardiff UniversityMichael Hoeckelmann
British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of History at King's College LondonProducer: Thomas Morris.
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46:41
Ashoka the Great
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the Indian Emperor Ashoka. Active in the 3rd century BC, Ashoka conquered almost all of the landmass covered by modern-day India, creating the largest empire South Asia had ever known. After his campaign of conquest he converted to Buddhism, and spread the religion throughout his domain. His edicts were inscribed on the sides of an extraordinary collection of stone pillars spread far and wide across his empire, many of which survive today. Our knowledge of ancient India and its chronology, and how this aligns with the history of Europe, is largely dependent on this important set of inscriptions, which were deciphered only in the nineteenth century.With:Jessica Frazier
Lecturer in Religious Studies at the University of Kent and a Research Fellow at the Oxford Centre for Hindu StudiesNaomi Appleton
Chancellor's Fellow in Religious Studies at the University of EdinburghRichard Gombrich
Founder and Academic Director of the Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies and Emeritus Professor of Sanskrit at the University of OxfordProducer: Thomas Morris.
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