The Inca

In Our Time: History

06/13/19

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52m

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Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss how the people of Cusco, in modern Peru, established an empire along the Andes down to the Pacific under their supreme leader Pachacuti. Before him, their control grew slowly from C13th and was at its peak after him when Pizarro arrived with his Conquistadors and captured their empire for Spain in 1533. The image, above, is of Machu Picchu which was built for emperor Pachacuti as an estate in C15th.

With

Frank Meddens Visiting Scholar at the University of Reading

Helen Cowie Senior Lecturer in History at the University of York

And

Bill Sillar Senior Lecturer at the Institute of Archaeology at University College London

Producer: Simon Tillotson

Previous Episode

President Ulysses S Grant

May 30, 2019

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55m

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the impact of Grant's presidency on Americans in the years after the Civil War in which he, with Lincoln, had led the Union Army to victory. His predecessor, Andrew Johnson, was prepared to let the Southern States decide for themselves which rights to allow freed slaves; Grant supported equal rights, and he used troops and Enforcement Acts to defeat the Ku klux Klan which was violently suppressing African Americans. In later years Grant was remembered mainly for the corruption scandals under his terms of office, and for his failure to support or protect Native Americans, but in more recent decades his support for reconstruction has prompted a reassessement.

With

Erik Mathisen Lecturer in US History at the University of Kent

Susan-Mary Grant Professor of American History at Newcastle University

and

Robert Cook Professor of American History at the University of Sussex

Producer: Simon Tillotson

Next Episode

The Mytilenaean Debate

June 20, 2019

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54m

Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss why Athenians decided to send a fast ship to Lesbos in 427BC, rowing through the night to catch one they sent the day before. That earlier ship had instructions to kill all adult men in Mytilene, after their unsuccessul revolt against Athens, as a warning to others. The later ship had orders to save them, as news of their killing would make others fight to the death rather than surrender. Thucydides retells this in his History of the Peloponnesian War as an example of Athenian democracy in action, emphasising the right of Athenians to change their minds in their own interests, even when a demagogue argued they were bound by their first decision.

With

Angela Hobbs Professor of the Public Understanding of Philosophy at the University of Sheffield

Lisa Irene Hau Senior Lecturer in Classics at the University of Glasgow

And

Paul Cartledge Emeritus AG Leventis Professor of Greek Culture, University of Cambridge and Senior Research Fellow of Clare College

Producer: Simon Tillotson