Episodes

EpisodeFirst
Broadcast
Comments
0120100309

The Alps form a vast mountain barrier stretching from Vienna to Nice, dividing German north from Latin south. Misha Glenny tackles our shared European history in a totally unexpected way, exploring the impact of the Alps on our culture, our economy and the formation of eight European states.

In this first programme, Misha focuses on the mountain passes, and why controlling these cracks in the Alps was the key to moving from north to south.

Why controlling the cracks in the Alps was the key to moving from north to south.

Misha Glenny presents a history of Europe as shaped by the Alps

0220100316

The Alps form a vast mountain barrier stretching from Vienna to Nice, dividing German north from Latin south. Misha Glenny tackles our shared European history in a totally unexpected way, exploring the impact of the Alps on our culture, our economy and the formation of eight European states.

Why are the Alps riddled with frontiers, and how have so many countries managed to take a bite of this famous mountain range? Misha reveals how areas such as Savoy and Tyrol were ripped apart by competing powers, and why Switzerland - which has no real reason to exist - has managed to survive.

With contributions from nationalist leader of La Ligue Savoisienne Patrice Abeille, author of the White War Mark Thompson, and Jon Mathieu, the founding director of the Institute of the Alps.

Misha Glenny explains how Switzerland willed itself into existence.

Misha Glenny presents a history of Europe as shaped by the Alps

0320100323

The Alps form a vast mountain barrier stretching from Vienna to Nice, dividing German north from Latin south. Misha Glenny tackles our shared European history in a totally unexpected way, exploring the impact of the Alps on our culture, our economy and the formation of eight European states.

Misha travels to Switzerland and France in pursuit of a myth - that it was the British who invented alpine sports. At the launch for the 125th anniversary of the Cresta Run, he discovers that the first British travellers to the Alps were either very rich or very ill. With interviews from Fergus Fleming, Jim Ring - author of How the English Made The Alps, and Swiss hotelier Art Furrer who confirms that, yes, it is all true.

Misha Glenny explores the long-standing myth that the British invented alpine sports.

Misha Glenny presents a history of Europe as shaped by the Alps