Simon Dixon
The Sir Bernard Pares Professor of Russian History at University College London
6 episodes
Covers topics in categories such as:
Peter Kropotkin
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the life and ideas of the Russian prince who became an anarchist and who argued that mutual aid was the key to evolution not survival of the fittest
24 February 2022
Also featuring: Ruth Kinna, Lee Dugatkin
HistorySocial philosophersPhilosophy writers20th-century atheists19th-century atheists20th-century essayistsAnti-consumeristsHistorians of the French Revolution19th-century essayists19th-century non-fiction writers from the Russian EmpireAnarchist writersRussian atheistsBurials at Novodevichy CemeteryHuman geographersMembers of the International Workingmen's AssociationRussian anarchistsEmigrants from the Russian Empire to the United Kingdom, 19th-century philosophers from the Russian Empire, Russian communists, 20th-century Russian philosophers, Russian revolutionaries, Emigrants from the Russian Empire to SwitzerlandThe Russo-Japanese War
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Japan's unexpected victory over Russia in 1904-5 which gave Japan a new status in the world and pushed Russia into revolution.
1 April 2021
Also featuring: Naoko Shimazu, Oleg Benesch
The Emancipation of the Serfs
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Tsar Alexander II's 1861 decree that freed 30 million Russians from serfdom, an act of reform that followed Russia's defeat in the Crimean War.
17 May 2018
Also featuring: Sarah Hudspith, Shane O'Rourke
Eugene Onegin
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss Eugene Onegin by Alexander Pushkin (1799-1837), often described as his masterpiece, which tells the tragic story of Onegin, Lensky and Tatyana.
22 June 2017
Also featuring: Andrew Kahn, Emily Finer
The Building of St Petersburg
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the building of St Petersburg, Peter the Great's showcase city for a modern, European Russia.
23 April 2009
Also featuring: Janet Hartley, Anthony Cross
Catherine the Great
Melvyn Bragg discusses Catherine the Great who set out to transform Russia from a semi-barbaric country into a model of the ideals of the 18th century French Enlightenment.
23 February 2006
Also featuring: Janet Hartley, Tony Lentin