It was an honour to be joined by Martyn Rady to discuss one of history's most thrilling families, the Habsburgs. Ruling for almost a millennium, their imperial vision was perhaps best realised in Emperor Frederick III's AEIOU motto: Austriae est imperare orbi universe, "Austria is destined to rule the world." Indeed, Frederick's descendants would control the Holy Roman Empire, Italy, Spain, the New World, and the Pacific, a dominion that Charles V called "the empire on which the sun never sets." Weathering religious warfare, revolution and all kinds of political storms, it came to a tumultuous end with the 1914 assassination of the Habsburg heir presumptive Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo, which of course, marked the start of another epochal chapter of history.
Dan talks to Simon Jenkins about his new book, A Short History of Europe, and about Britain's in-out relationship with the continent of Europe as a whole.
Dan picks up from where he and Professor Ali Ansari left off as they discuss the history of Iran in the 20th century. Ali Ansari breaks down the White Revolution, the Islamic Revolution and why western negotiators have struggled to agree terms about Iran's nuclear program in recent years. Produce...
David Shariatmadari dives into the words we say. How did language come about, how and why do we use it?
