Programme three - Military
Pray, tell
The power of religion over people's lives through the ages is tracked in the records of the church.
Duty recalls
The rank and file can be connected with as easily as the top brass if you examine military records.
To fight for your country may be a noble calling. But over the last thousand years, it has rarely been entirely voluntary, as Bettany Hughes discovers as she once again travels the country in search of the stories told in the archives of Britain’s military past.
What happened when a thirteenth century duke refused to supply the King with fighting men? Why did Wellington try and stop the story of Waterloo being told? Why did Glasgow send a Regiment of Bantams to fight on the Somme?
And as two schoolboys pursue the story of one man’s extraordinary wartime courage, we learn that truth may not be a casualty of war but it is certainly a fragile survivor.
Find out more - in depth - with the programme transcript.
Content last updated: 14/02/2000
