The Invention Of... Folgen

Misha Glenny presents a compelling new history of Italy from 1494 to the end of the First World War.In October 1860, on a misty road north of Naples, Giuseppe Garibaldi met the future king of Italy and handed over control of the south. This brief moment in the story of the new Italian state has been often mythologised, but it is not as straightforward as it seems. Violence, civil war, the birth of the mafia - these elements in the story are often overlooked.Beginning with Napoleon's call to the peoples of Italy in 1796, Misha Glenny picks his way through Italian unification with clarity and care. Rome only became part of this new European country under a century and a half ago - and even then the Pope ordered his followers neither to stand in nor vote in elections for the new state. Small wonder some claim that Italy is not really unified yet.With expert contributions from Christopher Duggan, Marco Meriggi, Leoluca Orlando, Lucy Riall, Lucy Hughes-Hallet, Filippo de Vivo, David Gilmour, Beppe Severgnini, Simon Winder, Joze Serbec and David Laven.The presenter is Misha Glenny, who previously collaborated with producer Miles Warde on the Invention of Germany and the Invention of Spain.

Misha Glenny presents a compelling new history of Italy from 1494 to the end of the First World War.Piedmont, the Venetian Republic, Mantua, Modena, the Grand Duchy of Florence, the kingdom of Naples, the Papal States - the arrival of Italy as a unified state is a surprisingly recent affair. "We are a new nation," says Professor Marco Meriggi, and this is true - but the 150th anniversary was celebrated two years ago in quite muted style. So forget what you may know about the Roman empire, and enter a country which doesn't really feel unified yet."Italy is a divided country, no doubt about that. The Italian equivalent of nationalism is campanalismo, from the word for bell tower - this is the attachment of Italians to their city square." Dr Filippo de Vivo.Beginning with the French invasion of 1494, when Charles VIII's mercenaries reached Naples and then spread syphilis to all points north of the Alps, the Invention of Italy tells a story of fragmentation, foreign occupation and nationalist false starts. The second programme looks at how unification finally occurred, and why many believe that the mafia emerged at the same time. the third programme focuses on why Italians were so eager to shed blood in the First World War.With expert contributions from Christopher Duggan, Marco Meriggi, Leoluca Orlando, Lucy Riall, Lucy Hughes-Hallet, Filippo de Vivo, David Gilmour, Beppe Severgnini, Simon Winder, Joze Serbec and David Laven.The presenter is Misha Glenny, who previously collaborated with producer Miles Warde on the Invention of Germany and the Invention of Spain.

Misha Glenny ends his Netherlandish travels in Brussels, and asks why does Belgium exist. With details on the brief Kingdom of the Netherlands - a union with the Dutch in the north - and the reason why the British went to war with Germany in 1914. There is a faultline in Europe, running from the North Sea to the Alps, and this is one reason Belgium exists. With contributions from Gita Deneckere of Ghent University; Simon Winder, who's at work on a new book called Lotharingia; and Paul Arblaster, author of A History of the Low Countries.The producer is Miles Warde.