How to Invent a Country
Channel Details
How to Invent a Country
Misha Glenny investigates the borders, the histories and the people that make different nations what they are.
Recent Episodes
121 episodes
The Balkans: The Birth and Death of Yugoslavia
Misha Glenny returns to the Balkans to report on the birth and death of Yugoslavia.
With contributions from Lea Ypi, Radina Vucetic, Ivan Veyvod...
The birth and death of Yugoslavia
Misha Glenny returns to the Balkans to report on the birth and death of Yugoslavia.
With contributions from Lea Ypi, Radina Vucetic, Ivan Veyvod...
The Balkans: Episode 2
Churchill may have said that the Balkans produce more history than it can consume, but in this episode Misha Glenny and Miles Warde head out to discov...
More history than you can consume!
Churchill may have said that the Balkans produce more history than it can consume, but in this episode Misha Glenny and Miles Warde head out to discov...
The Balkans: What Are the Balkans?
June 28 1914 - a young Bosnian on a street corner in Sarajevo fired a shot that triggered World War One. Why is this region so unstable, and what less...
What are the Balkans?
June 28 1914 - a young Bosnian on a street corner in Sarajevo fired a shot that triggered World War One. Why is this region so unstable, and what less...
Hungary: Two World Wars and One Failed Revolution
It's easy to forget how entwined Hungary has been in some of the worst events of the last 100 years – losers in the first world war, the country initi...
Two World Wars, One Failed Revolution
It's easy to forget how entwined Hungary has been in some of the worst events of the last 100 years – losers in the first world war, the country initi...
Hungary: The Butcher and the Poet
"Brussels is abusing its power," said Victor Orban, "just as Vienna once did." The date, March 15 2025 - this year - but the reference was to March 18...
The Butcher And The Poet
"Brussels is abusing its power," said Victor Orban, "just as Vienna once did." The date, March 15 2025 - this year - but the reference was to March 18...
Hungary: Hungary and Mohacs 500
Misha Glenny and producer Miles Warde travel from Vienna to Budapest and beyond to find out how Hungarian hardman Viktor Orban stays in power. With an...
Hungary and Mohacs 500
Misha Glenny and producer Miles Warde travel from Vienna to Budapest and beyond to find out how Hungarian hardman Viktor Orban stays in power. With an...
Taiwan
At the beginning of this year the president of the Chinese People's Republic, Xi Jinping, claimed that people living on both sides of the Taiwan Strai...
Taiwan
At the beginning of this year the president of the Chinese People's Republic, Xi Jinping, claimed that people living on both sides of the Taiwan Strai...
China: The Life and Times of Chairman Mao
Misha Glenny and Miles Warde travel east to tell the story of China - what it is and where it came from.
"Twentieth century China is the most ex...
China: The Life and Times of Chairman Mao
Misha Glenny and Miles Warde travel east to tell the story of China - what it is and where it came from.
"Twentieth century China is the most ex...
China: Imperial Collapse
"You could do a whole programme on why you shouldn't build a capital in Beijing. It's a Mongolian camel camp." Paul French
Beijing means capital...
China: imperial collapse
"You could do a whole programme on why you shouldn't build a capital in Beijing. It's a Mongolian camel camp." Paul French
Beijing means capital...
China: To Kowtow or Not Kowtow
Britain was late in its contacts with China and the Qing dynasty - the Portuguese, the Dutch and the Spanish had all headed east long before Lord McCa...
China - to kowtow or not to kowtow
Britain was late in its contacts with China and the Qing dynasty - the Portuguese, the Dutch and the Spanish had all headed east long before Lord McCa...
China: The First Emperor
Misha Glenny and Miles Warde travel east to tell the story of China - what it is and where it came from.
"The empire long united must divide, lo...
China - the first emperor
Misha Glenny and Miles Warde travel east to tell the story of China - what it is and where it came from.
"The empire long united must divide, lo...
Turkey - Ottoman or Turk
A bonus episode with Hannah Lucinda Smith, Christopher de Bellaigue and Misha Glenny.
Turkey: A Balancing Act
Misha Glenny and Miles Warde take a ride over the Bosphorus to see the old Hyderpasha railway station - the Asian bulkhead of the Berlin to Baghdad ra...
Turkey - A Delicate Balancing Act
Misha Glenny and Miles Warde take a ride over the Bosphorus to see the old Hyderpasha railway station - the Asian bulkhead of the Berlin to Baghdad ra...
Turkey: The Military
On September 12 1683, an army led by Kara Mustafa Pasha, Grand Vizier of the Ottoman empire, lined up on a hill just outside Vienna. The Ottomans had...
Turkey - The Military and Decline
On September 12 1683, an army led by Kara Mustafa Pasha, Grand Vizier of the Ottoman empire, lined up on a hill just outside Vienna. The Ottomans had...
Turkey: The Ottomans: East or West
When Mehmet the Conqueror arrived in Constantinople, now Istanbul, he turned the main cathedral into a mosque and threatened to move much further west...
Turkey - The Ottomans: East or West
When Mehmet the Conqueror arrived in Constantinople, now Istanbul, he turned the main cathedral into a mosque and threatened to move much further west...
Russia: A Tale of Two Ivans
Countries look so cohesive on the map - sturdy borders, familiar shapes. Don't be misled; they didn't always look like this. This is the story of Rus...
Russia: The Empire Strikes Back
Russia's empire was not like that of Britain or France. It was built by expanding across the land, so much more like the United States of America. Pre...
Russia: Catherine the Great and the Question of Europe
The extraordinary tale of how a small fortressed city became the centre of the largest contiguous landmass in the world, presented by Misha Glenny. It...
Russia: The Sacred Song of War
Misha Glenny's final programme on Russia looks at the country's attitude to war, and in particular the great patriotic wars against Adolf Hitler and N...
Russia - A Tale of Two Ivans
Countries look so cohesive on the map - sturdy borders, familiar shapes. Don't be misled; they didn't always look like this. This is the story of Rus...
Russia - the Empire Strikes Back
Russia's empire was not like that of Britain or France. It was built by expanding across the land, so much more like the United States of America. Pre...
Russia - the bear moves west
The extraordinary tale of how a small fortressed city became the centre of the largest contiguous landmass in the world, presented by Misha Glenny. It...
Russia - the sacred song of war
Misha Glenny's final programme on Russia looks at the country's attitude to war, and in particular the great patriotic wars against Adolf Hitler and N...
Poland: Stalin on One Side, Hitler From the Left
Misha Glenny on the extraordinary history of Poland - includes the Miracle on the Vistula in 1920, the 1944 Warsaw Uprising, and how Solidarity set in...
Poland - Stalin on one side, Hitler to the left
Misha Glenny on the extraordinary history of Poland - includes the Miracle on the Vistula in 1920, the 1944 Warsaw Uprising, and how Solidarity set in...