Synopsis
Examining the 20th century through the lives of Winston Churchill and George Orwell, who both wrote about the Depression, empire, world wars and the Cold War.
- Programme: A History of Britain by Simon Schama
- Series: 3
- Episode: 4: The Two Winstons
- Channel: BBC Two
- Broadcast year: 2002
- History
Licence: ERA Licence required
UK only
Staff and students of licensed education establishments only
Cannot be adapted
Add Notes
More clips from A History of Britain by Simon Schama
S3E1: Forces of Nature | A History of Britain by Simon Schama
S3E1: Forces of Nature | A History of Britain by Simon Schama
The French Revolution sent shockwaves through Britain. While some watched transfixed, others were horrified. Si...
S3E2: Victoria and Her Sisters | A History of Britain by Simon Schama
S3E2: Victoria and Her Sisters | A History of Britain by Simon Schama
A look at the social and economic changes which took place during Queen Victoria's reign, such as indus...
S3E3: The Empire of Good Intentions | A History of Britain by Simon Schama
S3E3: The Empire of Good Intentions | A History of Britain by Simon Schama
How the liberal politics and free-market economics of the British Empire unravelled, leading to th...
S3E1: Forces of Nature | A History of Britain by Simon Schama
S3E1: Forces of Nature | A History of Britain by Simon Schama
The French Revolution sent shockwaves through Britain. While some watched transfixed, others were horrified. Si...
S3E2: Victoria and Her Sisters | A History of Britain by Simon Schama
S3E2: Victoria and Her Sisters | A History of Britain by Simon Schama
A look at the social and economic changes which took place during Queen Victoria's reign, such as indus...
S3E3: The Empire of Good Intentions | A History of Britain by Simon Schama
S3E3: The Empire of Good Intentions | A History of Britain by Simon Schama
How the liberal politics and free-market economics of the British Empire unravelled, leading to th...
More resources about Britain’s changing role in the world
5: New Britannia | Andrew Marr's History of Modern Britain
5: New Britannia | Andrew Marr's History of Modern Britain
In the final part of Andrew Marr's national saga, Britain enters the post-Thatcher era. Many have done well during...
4: Revolution | Andrew Marr's History of Modern Britain
4: Revolution | Andrew Marr's History of Modern Britain
Andrew Marr revisits the Britain of Margaret Thatcher and comes to some surprising conclusions about the British nati...
2: Under Pressure | The 80s with Dominic Sandbrook
2: Under Pressure | The 80s with Dominic Sandbrook
Dominic Sandbrook looks at a dynamic decade. By the mid-80s, Britain felt like an embattled nation, struggling to establis...
1: The Sound of the Crowd | The 80s with Dominic Sandbrook
1: The Sound of the Crowd | The 80s with Dominic Sandbrook
Dominic Sandbrook takes a look at a dynamic decade. This episode looks at how the early 80s saw new forces of choi...
2: Power | Thatcher: A Very British Revolution
2: Power | Thatcher: A Very British Revolution
Mrs Thatcher struggles to cling to power as the economy collapses, riots break out and she is subverted by members of her own ...
3: Enemies | Thatcher: A Very British Revolution
3: Enemies | Thatcher: A Very British Revolution
Mrs Thatcher confronts her enemies, leading the country to war, taking the economic fight to her opponents in the trade unio...
1: Building a New Society | New Elizabethans with Andrew Marr
1: Building a New Society | New Elizabethans with Andrew Marr
Andrew Marr examines the way in which Britain went from a rigid, class-obsessed society in the 1950s toward a m...
Miners' Strike: A Frontline Story
Miners' Strike: A Frontline Story
Featuring compelling testimony, this is the story of 15 men and women and one life-changing year on the front line of the most divisive con...
1: Making Margaret | Thatcher: A Very British Revolution
1: Making Margaret | Thatcher: A Very British Revolution
Margaret Thatcher's inner circle reveals how she managed to overcome her outsider status to become a prominent polit...
2: Distant War | The World at War
2: Distant War | The World at War
An uneasy calm settles on Britain as Churchill replaces Chamberlain as prime minister.
4: The Winner Takes It All 77-79 | The 70s
4: The Winner Takes It All 77-79 | The 70s
Dominic Sandbrook looks at the final years of the decade, marked by concerns that appear startlingly current.
5: Downfall | Thatcher: A Very British Revolution
5: Downfall | Thatcher: A Very British Revolution
Mrs Thatcher's leadership style and judgement on Europe and the poll tax create splits in her cabinet and public anger, lea...
S2E4: The Great Train Robbery | Days That Shook the World
S2E4: The Great Train Robbery | Days That Shook the World
The Great Train Robbery on August 8, 1963.
17: 1959: Endangered Planet | People's Century
17: 1959: Endangered Planet | People's Century
Rising consumption patterns extract a huge toll on nature. Toxic contamination in Minamata and Love Canal and the Torrey Canyo...
2: Churchill | Secrets of Leadership
2: Churchill | Secrets of Leadership
Andrew Roberts reveals many of Churchill's weaknesses as a subordinate in charge of the Royal Navy, and the great strengths they became ...
2: Doomwatch 73-74 | The 70s
2: Doomwatch 73-74 | The 70s
Dominic Sandbrook looks at the impact of a fast-changing world on British life and the effects of the oil price hike of the 70s.
21: 1968: New Release | People's Century
21: 1968: New Release | People's Century
The baby boom produced a cohort of children in the affluent and secure post-war world who for the first time would question establis...
Episode 2 | The Major Years
Episode 2 | The Major Years
Tonight looks at Black Wednesday and the damage it did to Major's leadership. Both Major and Norman Lamont speak very frankly about their roles i...
Episode 3 | The Major Years
Episode 3 | The Major Years
In November 1994, John Major ordered the whip to be withdrawn from eight rebel backbenchers. By the following summer the cabinet itself was divid...
Liverpool in the sixties | A House Through Time
Liverpool in the sixties | A House Through Time
David Olusoga explores the boom in art, music and culture in Liverpool during the swinging sixties.
More from Simon Schama
S3E1: Forces of Nature | A History of Britain by Simon Schama
S3E1: Forces of Nature | A History of Britain by Simon Schama
The French Revolution sent shockwaves through Britain. While some watched transfixed, others were horrified. Si...
Simon Schama: The Road to Auschwitz
Simon Schama: The Road to Auschwitz
In the most personal and unflinching film of his career, historian Simon Schama confronts the Holocaust as not just a Nazi obsession but ...
1: Second Moment of Creation | Civilisations
1: Second Moment of Creation | Civilisations
Simon Schama looks at the formative role art and the creative imagination have played in the forging of humanity itself.
2: Among Believers | The Story of the Jews
2: Among Believers | The Story of the Jews
Simon Schama examines the story of the medieval Jews and their struggle to preserve their identity under the rule of Christianity ...
6: Van Gogh | Simon Schama's Power of Art
6: Van Gogh | Simon Schama's Power of Art
Simon Schama investigates what drove Van Gogh to paint Wheat Field with Crows.