01: Why Britain? | Empire: How Britain Made The Modern World

Episode 1 | Empire with David Olusoga

David Olusoga tells the story of the British Empire, from its origins under Elizabeth I to the establishment of colonies in America, th...

Episode 2 | Empire with David Olusoga

David Olusoga reveals how the loss of the American colonies led to the colonisation of Australia and how the Indian indenture system wa...

01: Profit and Loss | Britain's Forgotten Slave Owners

In 1834 Britain abolished slavery, a defining and celebrated moment in our national history. What has been largely for...

Episode 3 | Empire with David Olusoga

David Olusoga reveals how the Empire reached its maximum size after the First World War but within a generation had begun to collapse, ...

The Windrush Generation | Black and British: A Forgotten History

David Olusoga discusses the Windrush Generation.

Shifting historical opinions on the British Empire | A Timewatch Guide

David Olusoga explains how historical perspectives of the British Empire have shifted through time.

06: Age of Empire | Seven Ages of Britain

David Dimbleby travels through Britain, America and India, tracing the British Empire from 1750 to 1900.

Bunce Island | Black and British: A Forgotten History

David Olusoga visits Bunce Island, where the first slave fortress was built in the 17th century.

Slave plantation system | Britain's Forgotten Slave Owners

David Olusoga discusses the slave plantation system in the Caribbean.

03: The Jewel in the Crown | British History's Biggest Fibs with Lucy Worsley

Lucy explores how British history is a concoction of fibs. She debunks the fibs that surround t...

Granville Sharp | Black and British: A Forgotten History

David Olusoga discusses Granville Sharpe and Jonathan Strong's roles in the abolition of slavery.

The beginnings of the British slave trade | Britain's Forgotten Slave Owners

David Olusoga investigates the beginnings of the British slave trade in Barbados.

05: Maxim Force | Empire: How Britain Made The Modern World

The 'scramble for Africa' by competing European nations during the last years of Queen Victoria's reign is the co...

Mississippi cotton | Black and British: A Forgotten History

David Olusoga discusses the cotton industry in Mississippi and how it fuelled Britain's industrial revolution.

Transportation of Convicts to Australia | Empire with David Olusoga

David explains how Britian sent their problem convicts abroad to the colonies for cheap labour, and many ...

04: Heaven's Breed | Empire: How Britain Made The Modern World

In this programme we discover how a few thousand British people ruled over India, a country of more than 250 m...

First English traders in West Africa | Black and British: A Forgotten History

David Olusoga investigates the first English traders in West Africa.

First slave society in Barbados | Britain's Forgotten Slave Owners

David Olusoga discusses the first slave society in Barbados.

Implements of torture | Britain's Forgotten Slave Owners

David Olusoga views the implements of torture that slave owners used to enforce the slave plantation system.

Jamestown colony | Empire with David Olusoga

In Jamestown, David looks at evidence of the first English colonies in the Americas and their tobacco plantations.