The Invention Of...

Misha Glenny investigates the borders, the histories and the people that make different nations what they are.

Radio 4,54 episodes

Episodes

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The Balkans
What Are the Balkans?
Misha Glenny returns to the Balkans, powder keg of eastern Europe.
30 Mar 2026,42 mins
The Balkans
Episode 2
Misha Glenny returns to the Balkans on a 19th-century road trip.
06 Apr 2026,42 mins
The Balkans
The Birth and Death of Yugoslavia
Misha Glenny returns to the Balkans to report on the birth and death of Yugoslavia.
13 Apr 2026,42 mins
Hungary
Hungary and Mohacs 500
Misha Glenny heads to Budapest to find where Hungary came from.
09 Jun 2025,42 mins
Hungary
The Butcher and the Poet
Misha Glenny heads to Hungary in a series about history and power.
16 Jun 2025,42 mins
Hungary
Two World Wars and One Failed Revolution
Misha Glenny on Hungary's dramatic and tragic history in two world wars.
23 Jun 2025,42 mins
Taiwan
When did countries become countries? Misha Glenny on what is happening in Taiwan now.
11 Sep 2024,28 mins
China
The First Emperor
Misha Glenny on where China came from and what it is now.
22 Apr 2024,42 mins
China
To Kowtow or Not Kowtow
Misha Glenny and producer Miles Warde head to Hong Kong.
29 Apr 2024,42 mins
China
Imperial Collapse
Misha Glenny on the end of the Qing, and what happened next.
06 May 2024,42 mins
China
The Life and Times of Chairman Mao
Misha Glenny completes our travels round China with the story of Chairman Mao
13 May 2024,42 mins
Turkey
The Ottomans: East or West
Misha Glenny in Istanbul on the 100th anniversary of the Turkish Republic.
27 Oct 2023,28 mins
Turkey
The Military
East versus west, secular versus religious, how the empire came to the point of collapse.
03 Nov 2023,28 mins
Turkey
A Balancing Act
Misha Glenny on the birth of Turkey from the ruins of the old Ottoman Empire in 1923.
10 Nov 2023,28 mins
Turkey
Ottoman or Turk
A bonus episode with Hannah Lucinda Smith, Christopher de Bellaigue and Misha Glenny.
20 Nov 2023,27 mins
Russia
A Tale of Two Ivans
What is Russia and where did it come from? Misha Glenny presents.
09 Jan 2023,28 mins
Russia
The Empire Strikes Back
How little Moscow expanded into the biggest country in the world.
16 Jan 2023,28 mins
Russia
Catherine the Great and the Question of Europe
The Bear moves west.
23 Jan 2023,28 mins
Russia
The Sacred Song of War
Misha Glenny on Russia and defensive war.
30 Jan 2023,28 mins
Return to Spain
With Sir John Eliot, plus exciting news.
06 Jan 2023,21 mins
Poland
Obliterated From the Map
Misha Glenny on how Poland, Lithuania and Ukraine were wiped from the map.
28 Mar 2022,28 mins
Poland
A Nation Without a State
For 123 years Poland was divided between Russia, Prussia and Austria - how did it survive?
04 Apr 2022,28 mins
Poland
Stalin on One Side, Hitler From the Left
In August 1939, the Russians and the Germans agreed to slice Poland up.
11 Apr 2022,28 mins
Scandinavia
The Bridge
Misha Glenny looks at the people, the borders and the histories of Scandinavia.
10 Nov 2020,28 mins
Scandinavia
The Viking Inheritance
Why Sweden has not always been the peace-loving nation it is today, with Misha Glenny.
17 Nov 2020,28 mins
Scandinavia
The Narcissism of Small Differences
Misha Glenny looks at how Norway emerged as the richest Scandinavian nation of all.
24 Nov 2020,28 mins
Ireland
Escalation
Declan Lawn talks to Micha Glenny about the differences between the north and the south.
01 Oct 2019,16 mins
Ireland
Plantation and Conflict
Dr Joan Redmond talks to Misha Glenny about Ireland, England and the early seeds of war.
19 Sep 2019,18 mins
Ireland
Catholics and Protestants
Fintan O'Toole talks to Misha Glenny about Catholics, Protestants, and Top of the Pops.
09 Sep 2019,24 mins
Britain
Like Quicksand for the Uninitiated
A four-part history of us - our borders, our peoples, the stories we tell ourselves.
24 Feb 2019,28 mins