A new history programme, hosted by broadcaster and historical novelist Sarah Dunant, begins this weekend on BBC Radio 4.
In the first series of When Greeks Flew Kites the programme will look at moments and stories “which speak to the present, bringing to life worlds that span the centuries.”
The first episode will examine the idea that the future for generations to come doesn’t look as good as it did for past ones. In exploring tension between the generations, Sarah Dunant will look at Catholic teens in Britain and Europe after the Reformation who pushed for choice in the face of parental control.
This episode will also look at social mobility and Britain in the 1950s and celebrate the historian Lawrence Stone.
Sarah Dunant says: “For many years now it has been my passion to bring alive the past in ways that blend accurate, often startling new, history with compulsive story telling; and along the way, through imagination, encourage understanding. I cannot think of anything more exciting than adapting that same journey from the page to the listener’s ear.”
Presenter Sarah Dunant has written 12 novels, including The Birth Of Venus (2004) and In The Name Of The Family (2017). She has also presented The Late Show on BBC Two and Night Waves on Radio 3.
Gwyneth Williams, Controller of BBC Radio 4, said: “These times are most characterised, perhaps, by unpredictability. This new history programme is one way to try to analyse and explore some fixed points in the past in the hope of providing greater understanding.”
The programme takes its name from Ford Motor Company founder Henry Ford. In 1921, quoted under a New York Times headline calling history “bunk”, the industrialist asked: “What difference does it make how many times the ancient Greeks flew kites?”
The first of nine editions of the programme airs on Sunday 30 July at 1pm. It will also be available as a podcast and on the BBC Radio 4 website.