19th-century English novelists
Jane Austen (16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels, which interpret, critique, and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots often explore the dependence of women on marriage in the pursuit of favourable social standing and economic security.
6 episodes
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Benjamin Disraeli
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss one of the most famous politicians of the Victorian age, who broadened his fame and spread his ideas through popular novels.
19 September 2024
Featuring: Lawrence Goldman, Emily Jones, Daisy Hay
HistoryFellows of the Royal SocietyEnglish AnglicansVictorian eraVictorian novelists19th-century English novelists19th-century AnglicansEnglish male novelistsUK MPs 1865–1868Members of the Privy Council of the United KingdomKnights of the GarterRectors of the University of GlasgowEnglish biographers19th-century English dramatists and playwrightsLords Privy Seal19th-century English poets19th-century English politiciansWriters from the London Borough of CamdenEnglish non-fiction writersPeople of the Victorian eraDickens
Melvyn Bragg discusses the achievements of Charles Dickens What is his political and literary legacy to our age?
12 July 2001
Featuring: Rosemary Ashton, Michael Slater, John Bowen
English travel writersEnglish prisoners and detaineesEnglish male dramatists and playwrightsEnglish AnglicansLiteracy and society theoristsAnglican writersEnglish male short story writersWriters of Gothic fictionEnglish philanthropistsEnglish historical novelistsTrope theoristsBurials at Westminster AbbeyVictorian novelists19th-century English novelists19th-century travel writers19th-century English non-fiction writers19th-century British journalists19th-century English historians19th-century British philanthropistsEnglish male novelistsBritish critics of religionsCritics of the Catholic ChurchPeople from Somers Town, LondonEnglish male poets19th-century pseudonymous writersLecturersEnglish reformers19th-century English dramatists and playwrights19th-century English poets19th-century British short story writersEnglish satiristsWriters about activism and social changeEnglish male non-fiction writersWriters from the London Borough of Camden19th-century English essayistsBritish social reformersBritish male essayistsFanny Burney
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the life and work of the 18th-century writer Fanny Burney, also known as Frances D'Arblay and Frances Burney, best known for her novel Evelina.
23 April 2015
Featuring: Nicole Pohl, Judith Hawley, John Mullan
CultureWriters from LondonWriters from King's LynnConversationalists19th-century English dramatists and playwrightsEnglish pamphleteersEnglish essayists18th-century English diaristsEnglish satiristsStreathamites18th-century English women writers18th-century English novelistsEnglish women poets19th-century English novelistsEnglish women dramatists and playwrights19th-century English women writersEnglish women novelistsBritish women essayistsHarriet Martineau
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Harriet Martineau who wrote extensively in the C19th on a wide range of subjects including abolition, and is called the mother of sociology.
8 December 2016
Featuring: Valerie Sanders, Karen O'Brien, Ella Dzelzainis
History19th-century English short story writersEnglish travel writersEnglish atheistsPositivistsFeminism and historyEnglish suffragistsEnglish women philosophersEnglish writers with disabilitiesEnglish abolitionistsEnglish historical novelistsWriters from NorwichVictorian novelists19th-century English novelists19th-century English historiansBritish women essayists19th-century British economists19th-century English philosophers19th-century atheists19th-century English women writersEnglish UnitariansVictorian women writersEnglish people of French descentBritish atheism activistsBritish scientists with disabilitiesEnglish women novelistsRudyard Kipling
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the life and work of Rudyard Kipling, a writer sometimes described as the poet of empire.
16 October 2014
Featuring: Howard Booth, Daniel Karlin, Jan Montefiore
Culture20th-century English novelistsMythopoeic writers19th-century English short story writersNobel laureates in Literature20th-century English male writers20th-century English poetsEnglish male short story writersBurials at Westminster AbbeyEnglish hymnwritersVictorian novelists19th-century English novelistsEnglish-language poets from IndiaMaritime writers19th-century English non-fiction writersEnglish children's writersFreemasons of the United Grand Lodge of EnglandRectors of the University of St AndrewsEnglish science fiction writersEnglish male novelistsFellows of the Royal Society of Literature20th-century English memoiristsBritish Nobel laureates19th-century English poetsDeaths from ulcersEnglish Nobel laureatesEnglish anti-fascistsEnglish people of Scottish descentPeople of the Victorian eraThomas Hardy's Poetry
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Hardy's poems, which he prized far above the novels which made him famous and rich, and his ambition to be ranked alongside Shelley and Byron.
13 January 2022
Featuring: Mark Ford, Jane Thomas, Tim Armstrong
CultureMembers of the Order of MeritBritish male poetsPantheistsEnglish male novelists19th-century English poets19th-century British short story writersBurials at Westminster Abbey20th-century English male writersFellows of the Royal Society of LiteratureVictorian novelistsAlumni of King's College London19th-century English novelistsEnglish male short story writersVictorian poetsEnglish short story writers