This Sceptred Isle

Thank God for the BBC. I really mean that. Today, whilst surfing the BBC History pages, I discovered that Radio 4 has been broadcasting a history of the British Empire, in 90 - yes, ninety - parts. Bless them - they can always be relied upon to do this sort of thing properly.

The programme, called This Sceptred Isle, is broadcast weekdays from 11.45 am to noon Atlantic time, so it's the perfect opportunity for me to have a coffee break and a listen. The series started back in September, in the 12th century (!), but today's installment covered the 1780s. So we had the aftermath of the US Revolutionary War and its implications for Canada, as the 'Tories' (United Empire Loyalists) streamed across the border in their tens of thousands, to Nova Scotia and other parts east. We'll probably hit the nineteenth century by the end of this week, so I'm looking forward to seeing how the series treats that.

I'll have to catch myself up at the weekend, I think - most of the previous installments seem to be available for download on the site, which is excellent.