Montesquieu

In Our Time: History

06/14/18

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49m

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Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the ideas of Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu (1689-1755) whose works on liberty, monarchism, despotism, republicanism and the separation of powers were devoured by intellectuals across Europe and New England in the eighteenth century, transforming political philosophy and influencing the American Constitution. He argued that an individual's liberty needed protection from the arm of power, checking that by another power; where judicial, executive and legislative power were concentrated in the hands of one figure, there could be no personal liberty.

With

Richard Bourke Professor in the History of Political Thought at Queen Mary, University of London

Rachel Hammersley Senior Lecturer in Intellectual History at Newcastle University

And

Richard Whatmore Professor of Modern History at the University of St Andrews and Director of the St Andrews Institute of Intellectual History

Producer: Simon Tillotson.

Previous Episode

Persepolis

June 7, 2018

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51m

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the role of the great 'City of the Persians' founded by Darius I as the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire that stretched from the Indus Valley to Egypt and the coast of the Black Sea. It was known as the richest city under the sun and was a centre at which the Empire's subject peoples paid tribute to a succession of Achaemenid leaders, until the arrival of Alexander III of Macedon who destroyed it by fire supposedly in revenge for the burning of the Acropolis in Athens. The image above is a detail from a relief at the Apadana, the huge audience hall, and shows a lion attacking a bull. With Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones Professor of Ancient History at Cardiff University Vesta Sarkhosh Curtis Curator of Middle Eastern Coins at the British Museum And Lindsay Allen Lecturer in Greek and Near Eastern History at King's College London Producer: Simon Tillotson.

Next Episode

The Mexican-American War

June 28, 2018

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49m

Melvyn and guests discuss the 1846-48 conflict after which the United States of Mexico lost half its territory to the United States of America. The US gained land covered by the states of Texas, Utah, California, New Mexico, Nevada, Arizona and part of Colorado. The outcome had a profound impact on Native Americans and led to civil war in defeated Mexico. It also raised the question of whether slavery would be legal in this acquired territory - something that would only be resolved in the US Civil War, which this victory hastened.

With

Frank Cogliano Professor of American History at the University of Edinburgh

Jacqueline Fear-Segal Professor of American and Indigenous Histories at the University of East Anglia

And

Thomas Rath Lecturer in Latin American History at University College London

Producer: Simon Tillotson.